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The Baltimore Ravens apparently take care of their players in a way few other organizations do. The players currently on the roster have spoken highly of the entire team, from owner Steve Bisciotti all the way down to the coaches and training staff. But you can really tell just how great an organization is by talking to former players and that’s where Baltimore seems to separate themselves from the pack.
Before joining the team this offseason as a free agent, defensive lineman Derek Wolfe talked to two former Ravens players to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to play for Baltimore. Wolfe said he turned to his “mentor” Elvis Dumervil and was told he’d be a perfect fit.
“I talked to Dumervil and Dumervil was like ‘you’re going to love it,'” Wolfe said at his introductory press conference. “Doom was like a mentor for me in my rookie year, like a big brother to me. So anything he says I usually listen to and take it to heart because he’s a very straight forward guy, if he doesn’t like you, he’s going to tell you and he had nothing but good things to say about the organization and he said I’m a perfect fit there.”
But it wasn’t just defensive players that pointed Wolfe to Baltimore but the Ravens’ former franchise quarterback, Joe Flacco.
Flacco was traded to the Denver Broncos last offseason after being supplanted by Lamar Jackson for the final seven games of the 2018 season. In spite of what could be called a tumultuous end to his tenure in Baltimore, Flacco apparently held no ill feelings for the Ravens, telling Wolfe “how great of an organization the Ravens were” and that it was like a “big family.”
It was all enough to get Wolfe very interested in Baltimore. Wolfe said he nearly asked for a trade to the Ravens at the trade deadline last season and kept close tabs on Baltimore this offseason before signing a one-year contract.
Flacco and Dumervil join other former Ravens with glowing recommendations. Safety Tony Jefferson, released this offseason, helped convince Calais Campbell to agree to a contract extension to facilitate his trade from the Jacksonville Jaguars in March. Eric Weddle has repeatedly spoken highly of Baltimore and how they treated him, saying he’d like to retire with the Ravens and potentially join the front office.
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