Though center Steve Everitt played only one year with the Ravens, the legacy he left was a lulu. Everitt wore Megadeth T-shirts, had a blond ponytail and hosted a weekly radio show on 98 Rock on which he played heavy metal music.
He kept pet frogs in his apartment, skipped showers now and then after practice and filled the cargo pockets of his camouflage shorts with leftovers right off the plate during team meals.
Cleveland's first-round draft pick in 1993, Everitt marched to a different drummer (his favorite was Eric Singer of the rock group Kiss). Browns fans embraced the free-spirited lineman, and when the club moved east in 1996, Everitt staged a one-man protest.
He had a dagger tattooed down his spine to symbolize the knife in the back that Everitt felt Cleveland got from team owner Art Modell. Moreover, at halftime of the Ravens' inaugural game, against the Oakland Raiders, Everitt wrapped his head in a Browns bandanna for all to see when he removed his helmet on the sideline.
For that caper, the NFL fined him $5,000.
"I had nothing against Baltimore or its fans," said Everitt, recalling the episode. "But I'd left so many friends in Cleveland that I felt [the bandanna] was the best way to thank them and to get in a dig at the owners.
"The Modells can burn in hell for all I care."
A talented artist, Everitt spent his time in Ravens team meetings doodling caricatures of players such as quarterback Vinny Testaverde and offensive tackle Orlando Brown. He drew the line at sketching coach Ted Marchibroda.
"He was too iconic a figure to mess with," Everitt said.
Now married and retired to the Florida Keys, Everitt spends his time painting and fishing. His Ravens jersey is mounted and hanging in the house alongside Salvador Dali prints and the framed covers of Metallica LPs.
"I'm still a kid at heart, though the rest of me is falling apart," said Everitt, 37. Eight years in the NFL left him with painful neck and back injuries that demand surgery.
He still keeps tabs on old teammates. The next call will be to Testaverde.
"Vinny said that if he got picked for the Pro Bowl [in 1996] that he would buy each of his offensive linemen an SUV," Everitt said. "What he bought us were crappy watches.
"I should get on him for that."
Steve Everitt
• With the Ravens: 1996
• Other teams: Cleveland Browns (1993-1995); Philadelphia Eagles (1997-1999); St. Louis Rams (2000).
• Current job: Retired.
• Fun fact No. 1: Hasn't had a haircut since 1991.
• Fun fact No. 2: He literally has a screw loose. Surgeons inserted a metal plate in his jaw after he broke it in college. Somehow, one of the screws holding the plate in place fell out - whereabouts unknown.
• College: University of Michigan, where he majored in fine arts and took his team to the 1989 Rose Bowl. Before the game, he slid down a steep cliff to reach the famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign and have his picture taken hanging precipitously from the letter "L."
mike.klingaman@baltsun.com
He kept pet frogs in his apartment, skipped showers now and then after practice and filled the cargo pockets of his camouflage shorts with leftovers right off the plate during team meals.
Cleveland's first-round draft pick in 1993, Everitt marched to a different drummer (his favorite was Eric Singer of the rock group Kiss). Browns fans embraced the free-spirited lineman, and when the club moved east in 1996, Everitt staged a one-man protest.
He had a dagger tattooed down his spine to symbolize the knife in the back that Everitt felt Cleveland got from team owner Art Modell. Moreover, at halftime of the Ravens' inaugural game, against the Oakland Raiders, Everitt wrapped his head in a Browns bandanna for all to see when he removed his helmet on the sideline.
For that caper, the NFL fined him $5,000.
"I had nothing against Baltimore or its fans," said Everitt, recalling the episode. "But I'd left so many friends in Cleveland that I felt [the bandanna] was the best way to thank them and to get in a dig at the owners.
"The Modells can burn in hell for all I care."
A talented artist, Everitt spent his time in Ravens team meetings doodling caricatures of players such as quarterback Vinny Testaverde and offensive tackle Orlando Brown. He drew the line at sketching coach Ted Marchibroda.
"He was too iconic a figure to mess with," Everitt said.
Now married and retired to the Florida Keys, Everitt spends his time painting and fishing. His Ravens jersey is mounted and hanging in the house alongside Salvador Dali prints and the framed covers of Metallica LPs.
"I'm still a kid at heart, though the rest of me is falling apart," said Everitt, 37. Eight years in the NFL left him with painful neck and back injuries that demand surgery.
He still keeps tabs on old teammates. The next call will be to Testaverde.
"Vinny said that if he got picked for the Pro Bowl [in 1996] that he would buy each of his offensive linemen an SUV," Everitt said. "What he bought us were crappy watches.
"I should get on him for that."
Steve Everitt
• With the Ravens: 1996
• Other teams: Cleveland Browns (1993-1995); Philadelphia Eagles (1997-1999); St. Louis Rams (2000).
• Current job: Retired.
• Fun fact No. 1: Hasn't had a haircut since 1991.
• Fun fact No. 2: He literally has a screw loose. Surgeons inserted a metal plate in his jaw after he broke it in college. Somehow, one of the screws holding the plate in place fell out - whereabouts unknown.
• College: University of Michigan, where he majored in fine arts and took his team to the 1989 Rose Bowl. Before the game, he slid down a steep cliff to reach the famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign and have his picture taken hanging precipitously from the letter "L."
mike.klingaman@baltsun.com