Ravens

UPDATE: Check out a photo gallery of images from Joe Flacco's wedding here. The photos can also be found on the website of photographer Jason Prezant , but the site has been inaccessible due to the high interest in the Flacco pictures. . Joe Flacco's wedding photos have been posted out in the blogosphere, and simply put, they are amazing. The photos, which were published to the blog of wedding photographer Jason Prezant, shed a little light onto what the Ravens quarterback is like away from the television cameras and our microphones.

It came down to a matter of split seconds, but Joe Flacco got the ball out of his hands a little faster last season. The Ravens quarterback, whose completion percentage, passing yards and passer rating all rose from 2011, on average released the ball 2.5 seconds after the snap in 2012, which was fifth-fastest among qualifying QBs according to Pro Football Focus. In 2011, Flacco ranked in the middle of the quarterback pack at 2.62 seconds. That difference -- nearly an eighth of a second -- may not seem like much, but in some cases, it may have been the difference between a first-down pass and a defensive end crashing into Flacco.

Within a couple of hours of picking up his first ring, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was back on a football field, a champagne bottle in his right hand and his bride and his groomsmen crouched down in front of him like hulking offensive linemen. Flacco barked out commands to his tuxedo-clad teammates as he waited for his new wife to toss him the bouquet from underneath her lacy white dress. The steel bleachers at Audubon High School were empty, save for a few friends and family members.

The Ravens today agreed to a four-year deal with linebacker Arthur Brown , leaving them with just two unsigned picks. Brown, a standout at Kansas State, was the second of the Ravens' 10 picks in last month's draft. The only two that have not signed are first-rounder Matt Elam , a safety from the Florida, and third-rounder Brandon Williams , a nose tackle who played at Missouri Southern. Brown's deal will be worth roughly $3.55 million and include a signing bonus of $964,896.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh isn't sitting idly by waiting for the 2013 NFL draft to roll around on Thursday. This weekend, Harbaugh and other members of the Ravens organization, including senior vice president of public and community relations Kevin Byrne, competed in a Tough Mudder race in Gerrardstown, W.Va. This short video -- set to ear-rattling heavy metal music, of course -- posted on the team's official website shows the coach of the reigning Super Bowl champions climbing cargo nets and other obstacles, carrying logs or his teammates, cannon-balling into muddy ponds, swimming under obstacles, and crawling through mud. You know, if you're into that sort of thing.

With their 2013 draft class in town for their rookie minicamp, the Ravens announced the jersey numbers that their 10 draft picks will wear. The Ravens rookies wore their new shiny jerseys Friday afternoon at The Castle. First-round pick Matt Elam will wear No. 31, the number that fellow safety Bernard Pollard wore for two years. Linebacker Arthur Brown, their second-round draft pick, will wear the No. 59 formerly worn by Dannell Ellerbe. The full list of draft pick jersey numbers: Matt Elam, S, No. 31 Arthur Brown, ILB, No. 59 Brandon Williams, NT, No. 98 John Simon, OLB, No. 47 Kyle Juszczyk, FB, No. 40 Ricky Wagner, G/T, No. 71 Kapron Lewis-Moore, DE, No. 67 Ryan Jensen, C, No. 77 Aaron Mellette, WR, No. 80 Marc Anthony, CB, No. 36

The reunion between former Dallas Cowboys defensive linemen Marcus Spears and Chris Canty was prompted by the Ravens' need for an influx of size and toughness at the line of scrimmage. The veteran defensive linemen entered the league together as rookies in Dallas in 2005, with Canty signing with the New York Giants five years ago. Now, they're going to work in tandem again after Spears signed a two-year, $3.55 million maximum value deal with the Ravens and Canty signed a three-year, $8 million deal.

“You don't replace Anquan” Boldin. Those are the words of Tandon Doss, the man who is expected to be one of the leading combatants in the offseason royal rumble to replace the veteran receiver who was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in March. In fact, the Ravens selected Doss in the fourth round of the 2011 draft -- two rounds after fellow wide receiver Torrey Smith -- with an eye toward this very moment, when the Ravens would be moving on without Boldin. The story goes that in the months leading up to the 2011 draft, quarterback Joe Flacco scribbled his name on a list of the wide receivers he would like the Ravens to draft.

In NFL circles, Marvin Demoff is the power broker you never see and only occasionally hear about, often after the fact, like some sort of twister that levels the local trailer park.Oh, you mean he was the attorney who backed Bob Irsay into a dark corner in 1983 and forced the Baltimore Colts' infamous trade of No. 1 draft pick John Elway to the Denver Broncos?Yes, he is that attorney -- a man so esteemed in those NFL circles he sometimes is referred to as the "Monsignor"; a man so trustworthy it is said he is a confidant of Al Davis, the inscrutable owner of the Oakland Raiders; a man so powerful he is the contractual voice for Dan Marino and Jeff Hostetler, Rick Mirer and Jim Everett, Rod Woodson and Leslie O'Neal, to name a few of the league's elite.

Orlando Brown, the Ravens offensive tackle known for his mean streak on the field and his loyalty off it, died from diabetic ketoacidosis. The state medical examiner ruled that the 6-foot-7, 370-pound Brown died of an ailment common among diabetics and caused by high blood sugar and lack of insulin. Brown was found dead Sept. 23 at his South Baltimore apartment. He was 40 years old and is survived by three sons between the ages of 9 and 15, according to the Ravens. According to court documents, he also had a younger daughter and was fighting for custody.

More than three months after playing the final football game of a storied 17-year career, Ray Lewis has apparently found his next challenge. The former Ravens linebacker said today on his Twitter page that he will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money and awareness for clean water projects in East Africa. Lewis will undertake the mission, which he has billed TackleKili, next month. Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world and is over 19,000 feet above sea level.

As I expected, there was a lot more made of who didn't show up at this week's organized team activities than who did. The absences of Terrell Suggs , Haloti Ngata and Vonta Leach in particular seemed to spur the most questions. Again, the workouts are voluntary and some players choose to stay home and work out on their own. Coach John Harbaugh pointed out that the team didn't see Ray Lewis much - if at all - in the offseason. Ed Reed wasn't exactly a fixture at OTAs either.

“You don't replace Anquan” Boldin. Those are the words of Tandon Doss, the man who is expected to be one of the leading combatants in the offseason royal rumble to replace the veteran receiver who was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in March. In fact, the Ravens selected Doss in the fourth round of the 2011 draft -- two rounds after fellow wide receiver Torrey Smith -- with an eye toward this very moment, when the Ravens would be moving on without Boldin. The story goes that in the months leading up to the 2011 draft, quarterback Joe Flacco scribbled his name on a list of the wide receivers he would like the Ravens to draft.

Elvis Dumervil had just settled in to meet the media after the Ravens' workout Wednesday when a voice rang out behind the semi-circle of TV cameras, tape recorders and notebooks. "What the hell, Elvis?!" Joe Flacco yelled in mock outrage. The Ravens' quarterback was pretending to be upset that Dumervil was going before him at the podium, even though talking to reporters is something Flacco enjoys about as much as heartburn. Dumervil just shrugged and smiled. There are perks for being a three-time Pro Bowl passrusher and the Ravens' biggest offseason acquisition, too. And maybe he was getting his first taste of that in Baltimore with a breeze to the podium.

Joe Flacco is no longer barraged with questions about former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, finding consistency or even his capability to win the big game. Now the owner of one of the richest contracts in the history of the sport and two weeks away from receiving a sparkling Super Bowl ring, Flacco's status as the Ravens' franchise quarterback will probably never be this secure. Yet as he took the field Tuesday, the 28-year-old felt no different than he did during organized team activities the previous five years.

Elvis Dumervil had just settled in to meet the media after the Ravens' workout Wednesday when a voice rang out behind the semi-circle of TV cameras, tape recorders and notebooks. "What the hell, Elvis?!" Joe Flacco yelled in mock outrage. The Ravens' quarterback was pretending to be upset that Dumervil was going before him at the podium, even though talking to reporters is something Flacco enjoys about as much as heartburn. Dumervil just shrugged and smiled. There are perks for being a three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher and the Ravens' biggest offseason acquisition, too. And maybe he was getting his first taste of that in Baltimore with a breeze to the podium.

For so long, they had been the two faces of one of the league's most dominant defenses, Ray Lewis the punishing tackler and Ed Reed the unrelenting ball hawk. Now, they are both gone and the mass exodus from the Ravens defense continues. About six weeks after Lewis retired following his last game as a Raven, Reed moved closer to signing a two-year deal with the Houston Texans, who aggressively pursued the 34-year-old safety over the last week. Terms of the deal aren't known and there are still a few things that have to be worked out, but it's clear that Reed and the organization that he had played with for the last 11 years have parted ways.

On Monday night, Eric DeCosta was in our house for once. The Ravens assistant general manager visited our offices down on Calvert Street to speak and answer reader questions in our latest Baltimore Sun Sports Forum. Among the highlights was DeCosta acknowledging that the team's “hunt goes on” for a veteran wide receiver . "We're still working. The roster is not set. We're always evaluating. We're always looking at guys,” DeCosta said. “Our pro personnel department looks at all available players and we'll make a decision at some point of what we want to do at that position.

I am a big believer that you can tell a lot about a person based on whom they choose to follow on Twitter. My Twitter feed is a blur of football players, NFL analysts, beat reporters, and other sports personalities (plus the occasional swimsuit model), so even though this is a down time in the NFL offseason, my feed is blowing up around the clock with about 20 football tweets a minute. I'll let you decide what that says about me. Sometimes it is necessary for me to follow certain people -- I won't name names -- but otherwise, I've whittled my feed down to the folks I enjoy most.

Starting today and continuing over the next three weeks, Ravens' rookies and veterans will come together for organized team activities. The three day OTAs, which will be held at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills from May 21-23, May 29-31 and June 4-6, will serve as a prelude to the mandatory veteran minicamp, held on June 11-13. The OTAs are voluntary and several Ravens veterans traditionally have skipped them or at least gone to only one or two of the sessions.  There will also be a group of players who aren't ready to participate in the scaled-down workouts after sustaining injuries last year or had an offseason surgery.