Ravens celebrate with 200,000 fans

By Jeanne Naujeck
Associated Press

BALTIMORE — Ray Lewis danced on stage with the Super Bowl trophy on a cold and rainy day that was simply beautiful for a crowd of about 200,000 Baltimore Ravens fans.

Lewis and the rest of team were entertained in a victory parade Tuesday that ended in front of City Hall, where the MVP in the 34-7 Super Bowl victory over the New York Giants was the first to come on the stage.

The linebacker then broke into his sliding, side-to-side dance he does before each game.

“Baltimoooooooore. Hey, this is me and all my teammates and we need you to help us,” Lewis said, asking the crowd to join him in the team’s traditional pregame chant.

Lewis then joined Art Modell on stage. The 75-year-old owner tried to imitate the linebacker’s dance, prompting Lewis to hug him, perhaps to stop the dancing.

By the time the parade reached War Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall, thousands had packed the square, strained for a view of the stage.

Coach Brian Billick followed, telling the crowd, “This team taught me that the word team is really just an extension of the word family, and you all are a part of that family.”

“Believe me when I tell you it’s you people that brought Art Modell and this organization here, and you all are the reason that I am here.”

The crowd also was entertained by Baha Men, who performed their hit single, “Who Let the Dogs Out?,” which the team adopted as its unofficial season theme.

The Marching Ravens band started the parade, along with the team’s three mascots, Edgar, Allan and Poe — named for the 19th century writer of the macabre poem from which the team derived its name.

The Ravens returned home Monday, 156 years to the day after Poe’s poem “The Raven” was first published in the New York Evening Mirror. Poe lived briefly in Baltimore and is buried in the city.