Steve Bisciotti

Coming off the most successful season in his three-year run as Ravens owner, Steve Bisciotti has dealt with significant issues this offseason, from signing coach Brian Billick to a new four-year contract to raising ticket prices by an average of $16 to losing two marquee players in Jamal Lewis and Adalius Thomas. In his lengthiest interview this offseason, Bisciotti talked yesterday with Sun reporter Jamison Hensley at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix about the reasons for his long-term commitment to Billick, his sadness over losing Thomas and his expectations of winning a Super Bowl.

Steve Bisciotti has had to deal with some difficult issues in his first two years as the Ravens' majority owner, from an unsettled quarterback situation to a coach on the hot seat to an underachieving 6-10 season. In his lengthiest interview since initially taking over the team, Bisciotti talked yesterday with Sun reporter Jamison Hensley at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Fla., about his faith in quarterback Kyle Boller, his support of coach Brian Billick and his expectation to reach the playoffs for the first time in his ownership.

Coming off his worst season in his four-year run as Ravens owner, Steve Bisciotti made his most significant move by firing coach Brian Billick and replacing him with John Harbaugh. In his lengthiest interview since the coaching change in January, Bisciotti talked with Sun reporter Jamison Hensley at the NFL annual meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., and reflected on his reasons for Billick's dismissal, how disgruntled players influenced his decision and hopes for the future. Billick said he was never given a reason for his firing.

After drawing national attention for his attempt to muzzle a football player who supported gay rights, a Maryland delegate walked back his position Sunday and said Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo should be allowed to speak out in favor of same-sex marriage. "Upon reflection, he has his First Amendment rights," Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat, said in a telephone interview. "And I have my First Amendment rights. … Each of us has the right to speak our opinions.

The four new LED boards will give Ravens' fans constant updates of out-of-town scores and fantasy football stats, along with different vantage points on replays. Two new high-definition boards will greet those who enter M&T Bank Stadium from Gates A or D, showing live game broadcasts and Ravens' highlights. The lower concourse will have a completely new look with open-kitchen styled concession stands, expanded team retail stores, wood and steel columns and purple lighting. The upper concourse will undergo a similar transformation one year later.

NEW ORLEANS -  Jonathan Ogden, the first draft pick in Ravens history and the quintessential left tackle of his generation, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in his first year of eligibility. Late Ravens owner Art Modell, who brought pro football back to Baltimore and was also one of 15 modern-era finalists, fell short of election. Modell has been a divisive candidate in part because he moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season. Ogden's selection came the day before his former team will play for its second Super Bowl title against the San Francisco 49ers here in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

On his weekly radio show on WBAL, Brian Billick said he has not been told by Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti that he will return as coach next season because the evaluation process doesn't begin until the season ends. But Billick did not back off his stance that he thinks he will remain coach of the Ravens. "It's my intention to be back. I have no reason to believe I won't be back," Billick said. "There's no guarantees for anybody but I'm very confident in the direction that we're going and [that]

It's hard to think of my life without The Sun in it. I delivered The Sun when I was a kid in Northeast Baltimore. I answered phones for it when I was a college student. I covered the Ravens for it for over half of my adult life. Now, in this blog, I am saying goodbye to it. Today is my final day covering the hometown team for my hometown newspaper. It's time for a change and new challenges as I move on to ESPN.com. I've grown so much as a reporter and a person here. I joined the newsroom as a part-time editorial assistant for sports in 1993, when I was a 20-year-old student at the University of Maryland.

The sight couldn't have been easy for Ravens fans: Ed Reed wearing a Houston Texans' hat and later holding up a blue No. 20 jersey. For Reed, a Raven for 11 seasons and one of the franchise's best ever players, it wasn't an easy decision either. At a news conference Friday in Houston in which he was introduced as the newest Texan, Reed called leaving the Ravens “probably the hardest thing ever in life.” “It's not so much as leaving, because like I said, I'm going to be part of the community, and I'm going to be part of this community.

Former Ravens and Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell is among 103 candidates eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2012. Modell, who brought the Browns to Baltimore in 1996 and remained control of the team until selling to Steve Bisciotti in 2004, is among 18 contributors to the game eligible. That group includes former commissioner Paul Tagliabue, and owner Bud Adams Jr., Jack Kent Cooke and Ed DeBartolo Jr. Among 11 first-year eligible candidates are quarterback Drew Bledsoe, wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, cornerback Troy Vincent, and coaches Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer.