Why "The Ravens"?

I've had such a busy weekend.  This is the first moment that I have had to sit down at my computer.  The reason why I have been parted from my most beloved computer can be summarized in one word:  Football.  All of my children are obsessed with the game.  They spend their free moments either watching football on tv, watching football clips on youtube, or playing football in the back yard (which is what they are doing right now).  The two oldest boys play on a flag football team named after the Baltimore Ravens.  Their coach is a former NFL player who played on the Ravens when they won the Super Bowl during their 2000 season.  As I was whiling away the hours on the football field today, I began to wonder how the Baltimore Ravens got their name.  I had a pretty good guess.  I thought that it had something to do with the famous story, but I had no idea how it was connected to the city.  So here is a little history of the Baltimore franchise.


Baltimore used to have a football team named the Baltimore Colts, but the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984.  The residents of Baltimore still loved football and were able to lure a new team to their town in 1996.  The Cleveland Browns were ready to make the move, but the city of Cleveland insisted that they retain the name.  Therefore, they had to come up with a new name for their team.  They held a fan contest in Baltimore and "The Ravens" won the vote.  The rejected choices were the Marauders and the Americans.  The reason why the city of Baltimore chose the name is because the famous author, Edgar Allen Poe, spent several years of his life in that city.  In fact, he died there at the age of 40.  One of his most famous works was called "The Raven."