AND THE BAND PLAYED ON : NFL’s Return Has Some Going Berserk, but Baltimore Not Totally Raven Mad

Dr. Jack Vaeth, acknowledged as one of the country’s top psychiatrists, went, well, crazy a few weeks ago, prompting a standing ovation and the kind of emotion pulsating feeling that sports history can provide.

Dr. Jack, dressed all in white, assumed his rightful position as drum major--that’s drum major--in front of the Baltimore Colts Marching Band--that’s the Baltimore Colts Marching Band.

For 12 years the band had played on, left behind on a snowy night when the Mayflower Van had hauled off the Colts to Indianapolis, but always knowing Baltimore would have its day again.

“It’s a melody so distinct and arousing, much like the Notre Dame Fight Song, but more so,” said Dr. Jack, and with more than 60,000 diehards packed into Memorial Stadium, he blew his whistle, and the band began to play:

Fight on you Baltimore Colts

Rise up and strike the lightning bolts

Rear up you Colts

And let’s fight through

And show them your might

For Baltimore and Maryland

We will march on to victory

Over and over again goes the refrain with more than 130 musicians following Dr. Jack onto the field, but wait, what is this?

“Suddenly, he just takes this mighty leap into the air,” said John Ziemann, the band’s director, “and then he comes down, drops to the ground on his knees and kisses the emblem on the field.

“Well let me tell you that place went wild. People were screaming and hollering and clapping and it was just wonderful.”

Today the band will return to the field in pregame festivities marking the official return of the NFL to Baltimore against the Raiders--the first regular-season game here since Dec. 18, 1983. The band will greet 75 Colt legends with their very own musical fight song blast from the past, and then they will turn and form a tunnel to greet their new heroes--the Ravens.

“Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the band and for the final game of the season we will perform in pregame warmups as the Baltimore Colts Marching Band,” Ziemann said, “and then at halftime come back in new uniforms as the Baltimore Ravens Marching Band. That will be the close to Memorial Stadium, and then we will move with the team into the new stadium the following year.”

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Kenny Grove will be mowing his lawn today about the time of kickoff in Memorial Stadium.

“I don’t have any interest,” Grove said. “We had season tickets for the Colts when they were here, but when they left that was a big-time blow and I just quit watching football.

“There was a time when I would be sitting in my living room watching the Colts with headphones on listening to the Redskins. But the interest just isn’t there anymore, and I don’t even like that name they picked.”

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The Browns have been left behind in Cleveland. The trophies, the team’s nickname, the records, the colors are now being held in escrow for the new team that will become the Cleveland Browns in 1999.

“I was interested in getting the Colts’ name from Indianapolis and I told Jimmy Irsay that since his dad is deathly ill, why not do what I did in leaving the club name behind in Cleveland,” said Art Modell, Baltimore Ravens’ owner. “I told him what a great thing it would be to return the Colts name to Baltimore. He said he’d think about it, and a few days later his lawyer called and said we could have it--for $25 million. I suddenly fell in love with the Ravens’ name.”

A local newspaper, with the assistance of community focus groups, conducted a contest to determine the team’s name. Marauders finished third behind the Americans--both runner-ups to the Ravens--in honor of favorite son, Edgar Allan Poe, and his famous work of poetry.

“The name’s fine, but the uniforms look like something worn by a World League team,” said Steve Everitt, Ravens’ center. “I hope whoever designed them didn’t get too much money for them.”

The purple, black and white uniforms include a logo that appears to have been ripped off the screen of some video game. As an added accessory, Everitt included a Cleveland headband a few weeks ago, which drew a $5,000 fine from the NFL.

“I still have friends back there and those fans were so great and I never really got the chance to thank them,” Everitt said. “I just wanted to let them know we hadn’t forgot about them. The funny thing is after I got fined I started getting letters from people in Cleveland with a buck or two in them to help me out.”

Across the locker room teammate Michael Jackson is wearing a Cleveland Browns practice jersey. “There will always be a part of me in Cleveland,” Jackson said. “Just because you move cities doesn’t mean you switch teams. If you grew up in Dallas and moved to Pittsburgh you’re still a Cowboys’ fan. You go upstairs I’m sure Art Modell has some Cleveland in him and bleeds orange.”

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Jim Phillips deposited $800 with the Maryland Sports Authority years ago as a part of Baltimore’s efforts to lure an expansion team. In 1993 when the NFL rejected Baltimore for a second time, more than 2,000 fans requested refunds for the money they had put down on tickets.

Phillips, and 572 others, kept the faith.

“I agree it was looking dimmer,” Phillips said, but because of devotion and those who stayed with him, they became entitled to first priority on tickets this season. “We’ve had so many ups and downs. Al Davis was here looking to move, the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Rams. We were told the Cardinals were coming and the next day Bill Bidwill is cutting a deal in Phoenix.

“I will never forget that date: March 29, 1984. I can’t remember my own wedding anniversary, but I will never forget that snowy night and those moving trucks and what Bob Irsay did to this area.”

Phillips is now president of the Council of Baltimore Ravens, a new organization replacing the Council of Colts Corrals.

“There are 25 roosts now,” he said. “I’ve got my Ravens shirt on--got about nine of them so far. We’ve got a Raven perched on a goalpost with its wings spread. I mean we’re learning to love this team. No one is expecting them to win, and it doesn’t matter, it’s the first year.”

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After the Colts left Baltimore, the Marching Band contacted NFL teams and asked to perform during halftime shows. They didn’t hear anything at first for fear they might react as a protest group, but then they got their chance.

“Art Modell invited us to play in Cleveland Stadium and paid for our transportation and hotel rooms,” Ziemann said. “We played 10 times in Cleveland and the team won every time.”

The band never considered disbanding. It marched in Fourth of July parades, sold candy to raise funds, continued to practice every Wednesday night and remained a loud symbol of what went wrong and what might go right in Baltimore.

“When Irsay left he point-blank said Baltimore no longer has the enthusiasm for pro football,” Ziemann said. “Our response: We’re staying together as Maryland’s marching ambassadors.”

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Bob Trumpy, former tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals and presently a commentator for NBC-TV, will be working today’s game. In a recent Inside Sports story, Trumpy said, “Art Modell’s actions were criminal” in leaving Cleveland.

“I distinctly remember when the Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles that Art was one of the most outspoken critics of Al Davis,” Trumpy said. “Now he’s joined with a group (of owners that have moved) that I don’t have a lot respect for.”

Unlike Davis, an agitated Modell said, “I went through the proper process.”

Since leaving Cleveland, Modell has been hounded by criticism--even death threats. His health has suffered and his wife suggested that he sell the team.

“I can’t imagine any human being saying some of the things about another human being like I’ve heard people in Cleveland saying about Art,” Phillips said. “I can’t believe how vicious they have been. Let’s face it, he did not commit murder.”

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Bob Miller and son, Michael, spent their Sundays together watching the Colts play. They had season tickets to Memorial Stadium, and although Michael now lives in Cleveland, he will be here today with his father--two fans of Baltimore again.

“Sure, I can live with Vinny Testaverde at quarterback,” said Miller, almost delirious about the Ravens’ arrival. “I think Coach Ted Marchibroda can take Vinny and turn him into one of the NFL’s top five quarterbacks.”

Almost delirious.

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There were fireworks, a ball relay down the streets of Baltimore featuring the main characters who put the deal with Modell together, 2,000 Raven-gold “glow sticks” for the fans and a concert by the “Ravyns,” a renowned Baltimore rock group as part of “Celebrate the Return” Saturday night downtown.

The NFL is back in Baltimore and a hole is already being dug beyond Camden Yards for the new football stadium, which will open in 1998.

Former Gov. William Donald Schaefer began the quest for a replacement for the Colts immediately after their departure. A vote by the General Assembly in 1984 established a fund of $259 million to build a new stadium upon the acquisition of a new team. Funding for the money came through a bonding authority and scratch-off lottery tickets.

The money established Baltimore as a go-to place last year with Cincinnati coming within hours of signing a deal to move here. Tampa was within days, and John Moag, Maryland Stadium Authority Chairman, said Baltimore ultimately had the pick of four or five teams to move here.

“We could have had the Raiders,” Moag said. “The money put us apart from any other city and I had the luxury of picking the owner.

“But the way we got there was trauma. After we lost the Colts we were stunned. We had a terrible owner who would walk down on the field drunk . . . call plays, fire coaches, fire players, trade Unitas and drag the payroll down. He was making more money than anybody else because his costs were so low. . . . All he wanted was a $10-million loan to fix Memorial and everybody said let him go.

“One of the problems here in Baltimore is 12 years is a long time, and everybody had turned off their TV sets. The Little League football teams over time suspended themselves and now soccer is flourishing. There was a real serious retreat from football, and present TV ratings for the Ravens in the preseason have shown that people are slow in coming back.”

Memorial Stadium will be sold out today, but the Ravens have not begun their personal seat license campaign yet. PSLs will range in price from $500 to $3,000 a seat with more than $65 million being generated to pay for the move from Cleveland.

“It’s the right thing for Baltimore, and as it turns out it will be the right thing for Cleveland,” Moag said. “They were not going to get a new football stadium. They were not going to do a deal with Art Modell, and like Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and [NFL Vice President] Roger Goodell they never thought Art would leave Cleveland. Nobody thought he would.”

Modell and Baltimore intended to keep their relocation agreement secret until after last season, but the news was leaked and Modell confirmed the move in a Baltimore news conference on Nov. 6. His Cleveland Browns, who had been 4-4 at one point last season, won only once after his announcement.

“I don’t recall ever feeling the electricity for a game that I feel here,” Modell said. “That includes the year I bought the team in Cleveland.

“It’s been an arduous eight or nine months since the announcement, but no second thoughts. My only regret is that when the Gateway area in Cleveland gave birth in 1989 and asked me not to make any demands, I trusted them. I was told I would be taken care of when they built the baseball and basketball stadiums. You don’t live in a community for 35 years and leave because you like crab cakes.”

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Dr. Jack, who is now married to the piccolo player, receives fan mail because of his showmanship. Several years ago, however, he threw his band-directing stick into the air only to catch it in the mouth. It wasn’t part of the act; he lost a tooth.

“I know there are still people in Baltimore who won’t believe it until the ball leaves the tee,” he said. “But when we play that fight song before the game and the fans get on their feet and start screaming, screaming so loud that I can’t hear the music, wow, I just hope I don’t faint from the excitement.”