Ravens Enjoy Their Special Day at the White House

The Ravens have gone from being homeless to the White House.

Once the scourge of the NFL and the country after moving from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996, the defending Super Bowl champions were the honored guests of President George W. Bush Thursday at the White House.

Talk about a long journey. Talk about more vindication. The Ravens didn’t have a winning season in their first four years here.

“Respect--we got it on the field, now off of it across the country,” said the latest Adams to visit the White House, Ravens defensive tackle Sam Adams.

“Some of us haven’t seen each other in months. What better place to meet and celebrate than the White House?” said the outlandish one, defensive tackle Tony Siragusa.

What made the occasion even better was that the Ravens celebrated in the backyard of Washington Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder, and in the former stomping grounds of league commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who didn’t favor Baltimore in the expansion derby during the early 1990s.

But this visit was intriguing for other reasons:

* Would Ravens head Coach Brian Billick give George W a copy of his new book “Competitive Leadership”? How bad would George W butcher such names as Edwin Mulitalo, Femme Ayanbadejo and Siragusa?

* Would former quarterback Trent Dilfer appear and then go down the street to the Department of Labor, where he could check the nation’s latest unemployment figures? How many members of George W’s cabinet might be enticed into wearing a Ray Lewis doo-rag? Who could talk more, the president, Shannon Sharpe or Billick?

In a sense, the president has trivialized these days of champions by inviting so many groups like the NCAA hockey and volleyball champions.

But anytime a team gets invited to the White House, it’s a big deal. As expected, security was at a maximum. There were all of these Secret Service guys running around with bad, tight, cropped haircuts, each with a huge wire running from the back of the neck into an ear.

They kept talking into their sports-jacket lapels. Some of them wore sunglasses--inside. They kept pulling on your shoulder, which meant for you to move. That gesture might provoke a fight on the streets. But in the White House, it’s, “Which way do you want me to move, sir?”

Security was so restrictive that you were afraid to use the bathroom because Big Brother was watching, but then tension went away on entering the East Room, where the ceremony was to take place. Portraits of presidents lined the wall, and you felt so swept up until Siragusa entered the room.

“OK, which one of you guys called me fat?” he asked members of the local media, walking across the room.

Everybody raised his or her hand. Some raised them twice. He is that big. Moments later, about 50 Ravens and coaches walked into the room. Linebacker Jamie Sharper was dressed like Indiana Jones on a safari hunt, only in black. Adams had on a stylish three-piece suit. Linebacker Brad Jackson’s hair looked a lot like Don King’s and offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden looked as if he’d just woken up, which is the way he always looks.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Qadry Ismail was standing at the podium like the president, requesting that photographers snap his picture.

The Ravens’ locker room had moved to Pennsylvania Avenue.

The only difference was that someone other than Billick and Sharpe (a no-show along with Dilfer) was running the show.

George W had been well coached. He referred to team vice-president Ozzie Newsome as “Big Ozzie,” and knew his age. He was aware that there were five Texans on the roster last season and asked Adams where was Priest Holmes, the former running back out of the University of Texas.

Only three hours earlier, Bush had a ceremony to honor his passed tax cuts, which later drew an ovation from the Ravens. He gave special recognition to defensive end Michael McCrary for his work with Special Olympics, and saluted Billick for strong leadership.

And the president even used the Ravens to set a tone for an upcoming trip in Europe.

“One of those discussions over in Europe will be about defense,” said Bush. “Our allies need to take a look at the Baltimore Ravens. They’ll realize good defense wins. A good defense is one that adjusts to the times. A good defense is modern. A good defense is clear. If (Department of Defense) Sec. (Donald) Rumsfeld gets tired of his job, Sec. Marvin Lewis sounds pretty good.”

Bush was laying it on thick now. But he didn’t even blow a last name, although he may have called Rod Woodson Rob one time. Maybe that’s why Woodson didn’t vote for him. After short speeches from Billick and Ravens owner Art Modell, Rob, er, Rod Woodson, presented Bush with the customary jersey.

Afterwards, the president shook hands with the players.

“It was great to receive this type of recognition and make this visit,” said Billick, laughing. “Some of the guys kept telling me, ‘Coach, you can do it, (politics, possibly president).’ I don’t know if they were serious or trying to get rid of me.”

Ah, Billick can posture just as well as the president. Both have been known to take tough stances initially, then back off. Last summer Billick said the team wasn’t going to negotiate a contract with Siragusa until he reported to training camp, and the two sides reached an agreement the night before Siragusa joined the team.

Billick said the team wasn’t going to improve the offer to running back Sam Gash Wednesday, but a day later Gash signed a deal that was increased by nearly $600,000 over three years.

George W or Bill Clinton? Billick is on his way to the White House.

Either way, it was a special day for the Ravens, who were honored for about 15 minutes by the president.

The memory will last a lifetime.