Super Bowl Xxxv

Super Bowl XXXV found its place in history in the third quarter. Despite minimal production from the offenses, the quarter featured 21 points in a span of 36 seconds this quarter. The touchdowns were scored on an interception return by Ravens cornerback Duane Starks, then on consecutive kickoffs by the Giants and Ravens. It was the first time that a Super Bowl had back-to-back kickoffs returned for touchdowns. The main storyline continued to be the Ravens' defense, which surrendered only 14 yards this quarter and started the scoring barrage.

Jermaine Lewis, who in recent years has been convicted on traffic-related charges, now lives in a two-story Reisterstown home with his wife and children, relying on savings. He hopes to get back into the workforce, he said, and be a part of a team again surrounded by co-workers. He thinks back to what could have been. “I wish I would've been building businesses instead of always focusing on football,” he said. “I wish I could have had something that I could fall back on that was already in place.

Jamal Lewis doesn't know how his first test will begin, but the Ravens running back has a vision of how it will end. Whether it's a grinding run up the gut of the defense or a swing pass with yards of open grass ahead, Lewis wants to initiate contact and squash the doubts. His yearlong comeback from reconstructive surgery to his left knee heats up tonight, when Lewis returns to the starting lineup and goes under the microscope. Likely to endure his first tackle since last year's training camp, Lewis has seen his expected six-play appearance turn into the main event at Ravens Stadium, where the Ravens' next preseason game comes against the New York Jets.

The Ravens aren't expected to take a cannonball dive into the talent pool when free agency begins Tuesday at 4 p.m. So here are my condolences in advance if you purchased a custom-made, purple Vincent Jackson or Mario Williams jersey in anticipation of the Ravens signing one of those stars this offseason. Making a splash by throwing around cash on talent from other teams isn't usually their style, though that's not to say that the Ravens haven't made significant signings in their 16-year, going-on-17-year history.

TAMPA, Fla. - There is no cheering in the press box, but it's still a noisy place. Men and women type on portable computers and chat right through the national anthem, but any who choose to interrupt the moment of silence for John Steadman that will precede Super Bowl XXXV run the risk of getting glared at by eight gray-haired men. This will be the first Super Bowl without Steadman, the Baltimore newspaperman who died of cancer Jan. 1. With his passing,...

History beckons, and how the Ravens' defense responds likely will determine the outcome of Super Bowl XXXV in 11 days. If it delivers another stifling performance, laced with turnovers and intimidation, the Ravens should be world champs. If it delivers a masterpiece against the New York Giants, it would be the closing argument in a season-long debate. Do the Ravens have to win in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 28 to be recognized as one of the greatest defenses in NFL history? "It would be a lot easier," said defensive end Rob Burnett.

The men who run special teams are to coaches what offensive linemen are to players. They only get face time when something goes wrong. "Every play on special teams is a disaster waiting to happen," said Russ Purnell, the Ravens' special teams coach. "You can have a bad snap, somebody can drop a football, a guy can miss a block, there's the risk of miscommunication. It seems like every week you've got to put your finger in another hole in the dike. You fix one, then move over and plug another."

TAMPA, Fla. - The differences between yesterday's plane ride and all the others the New York Giants made earlier this season were mostly minor. Except for one. There were camcorders galore. So many camcorders, in fact, it must have looked like a rehearsal for Sunday's Super Bowl XXXV, where the Giants will face the Ravens. The Ravens will arrive today. Giants receiver Ike Hilliard estimates at least one-third of his teammates played the role of amateur cameraman on the plane ride. That made the ride itself - a more than two-hour trip that landed the Giants in Tampa around 5 p.m. - a bit more jovial than normal.

TAMPA, Fla. - Super Bowl week for New York Giants quarterback Kerry Collins means more than preparing for the biggest game of his career. It also means he has to open up about his sordid past. So Collins met the challenge head-on yesterday in what turned into an emotional news conference where he discussed his problems with alcohol, accusations of being a racist and the difficulties he had growing up. Collins said he had his first drink at age 13 and became a binge drinker while at Penn State and later with the Carolina Panthers.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Bullied? "Put it like this: I'm not worried about it," Giants receiver Ike Hilliard said. "It'll be interesting to see who tries to bully who." Intimidated? "If something bleeds, you can kill it," center Dusty Zeigler said. "I don't think it's an issue of us being intimidated by their physical assets or anything. Having accomplished some of the things we have this year, we have a certain confidence about ourselves." Scared? "Listen," tight end Howard Cross said.

Last Thursday, the topic in this space was the worst moment in Ravens history. We got more than 2,000 votes -- thanks for that -- and 56 percent of you picked the three painful playoff losses to Pittsburgh . Let's go with a rosier topic this time around: What has been the greatest moment in franchise history to date? Three things immediately come to mind, the first being the Super Bowl run in 2000. It was the only title in the team's 15 years in Baltimore, and it was the city's first major sports championship since the Orioles won the World Series in 1983.

A key figure in Ravens history retired from the NFL on Thursday: Titans quarterback Kerry Collins, whom the Ravens intercepted four times in their 34-7 victory over the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. After Collins completed just 15 of his 39 attempts for 112 yards -- for a passer rating of 7.1 -- on the sweetest Sunday in Ravens history, the strong-armed quarterback was asked by The Baltimore Sun whether he had ever seen a better defense. "No, probably not," Collins said as the Ravens showered in champagne in the other locker room.

All Shannon Sharpe thought about all Saturday was whether his 88-year-old grandmother, Mary Porter ever would see him get elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "I thought if it doesn't happen today…," Sharpe began, his voice trailing. "The only thing I've ever wanted was to make my grandmother proud and I said if I don't get in, she's not going to hear me thank her and be able to give a speech. Granny, thanks for everything you did. I'm the man I am today because of you. " Sharpe, a member of the Ravens Super Bowl team, was one of seven men elected into the 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday by a 44-member panel that met for 71/2 hours to pare down a list of 15 finalists.

Gash, an assistant with the Detroit Lions, hopes to become a head coach someday Sam Gash, former Ravens fullback, recalls Super Bowl championship season Sam Gash came to town in 2000, with the shirt on his back and a hunger to hit. He left with a Super Bowl ring and the thanks of the fans. Signed quickly as a free agent at the start of training camp, when Ravens' fullback Chuck Evans got hurt, Gash arrived without a change of clothes. No matter. For three years, he wore purple and blocked with a vengence that turned opponents black and blue.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - If hurt has to look like something, it may look the way Kerry Collins did after Super Bowl XXXV. Ernie Accorsi, the New York Giants' general manager, approaches Collins in the locker room and sees his face. What do you say to a quarterback who throws four interceptions in the biggest game of his life? Accorsi pats Collins on the back and beckons Collins' agent into the room, circumventing rules, figuring Collins needs someone to talk to. Wellington Mara, the Giants' co-owner, walks over to Collins to console him. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Mara says.

The funeral for John Unitas is tomorrow, but the wake began yesterday, when the past and future of Baltimore football merged at Ravens Stadium. The afternoon ended with a sparse crowd and a somber locker room as quarterback Chris Redman and a young Ravens team were manhandled 25-0 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game was an emotional letdown from the solemn pre-game tribute to Unitas, the great Colts quarterback who died Wednesday of a heart attack at age 69. Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, will preside at a funeral Mass for Unitas tomorrow morning at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on Charles Street.

The love affair between an old, historic NFL city and its new professional football team has been rekindled in the 2000 season. An affection once reserved for the Baltimore Colts and such legends as John Unitas, Lenny Moore and John Mackey has grown to include the Ravens and their modern-day stars of Ray Lewis, Shannon Sharpe and Rod Woodson. When the Ravens play in Super Bowl XXXV against the New York Giants on Sunday in Tampa, Fla., the cycle will have been completed. The Colts created memories in Baltimore from 1947 through 1983, and now the Ravens are forming their own bond in a community that has gone Ravens-crazy.

The Ravens have spent the past month answering queries about Art Modell and the poignancy of his finally reaching a Super Bowl. The owner is one of the angles that will dominate the hype on the road to Raymond James Stadium, but some greybeards in uniform are also among the Ravens' Super Bowl rookies. Rob Burnett, Tony Siragusa and Matt Stover have combined for 33 NFL seasons and drawn paychecks for some 600 games. All entered the league in 1990. Their photos could be listed in Webster's under "veteran" or "wily," but when it comes to the Super Bowl, they have as much experience as Jamal Lewis, the Ravens' 21-year-old running back who is a first-year pro. "This has been my goal since my first day in this league," Burnett said.

Jamal Lewis doesn't know how his first test will begin, but the Ravens running back has a vision of how it will end. Whether it's a grinding run up the gut of the defense or a swing pass with yards of open grass ahead, Lewis wants to initiate contact and squash the doubts. His yearlong comeback from reconstructive surgery to his left knee heats up tonight, when Lewis returns to the starting lineup and goes under the microscope. Likely to endure his first tackle since last year's training camp, Lewis has seen his expected six-play appearance turn into the main event at Ravens Stadium, where the Ravens' next preseason game comes against the New York Jets.

So now what do you do? One week after the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV, Baltimore fans were in withdrawal yesterday as they entered a long layoff from football. Yesterday was the first Sunday in 21 weeks -- excluding two weeks ago, on the weekend between the playoffs and the Super Bowl -- that Baltimore fans were left without bone-crunching, trash-talking games between two National Football League teams. And, with the high from the Ravens' victory starting to wear off, it was a day that gave another meaning to the phrase "Purple Pain."