The Ravens open training camp today, and as players report to the world-famous Best Western Hotel high atop scenic Route 140 in Westminster, they'll be directed to a side room and measured for their Super Bowl rings.
Sure, most teams wait until they've actually won the Super Bowl before worrying about ring sizes.
But what's the point of waiting with this stacked Ravens team? Isn't just about every NFL pundit picking them to go all the way to the big dance?
So why not get the ring measurements out of the way before they get on with that other business of preparing for a new season?
OK, we kid about the rings. But there sure has been a lot of talk about the Ravens this summer.
Unfortunately, there's also been a lot of talk by the Ravens. And much of that has come from — of all players — Ed Reed.
Here's a guy who doesn't talk to the media very often.
But when we last left the great Ravens safety, he was giving interviews to everyone but the Home Shopping Network and Archaeology Today magazine.
And his comments were all over the map.
He talked about wanting a new contract even though he wasn't sure when he'd be healthy enough to play for the Ravens after having hip surgery in the offseason.
He said the Ravens haven't given him "support." But the only evidence he cited was a vague claim that the team wouldn't give him game film when he requested it.
He said: "I don't have to be playing for them. I could retire. I don't need the money." But then he said he didn't have any "ill will" toward the Ravens and could play another eight to 10 years.
Look, I like Ed Reed. The guy's a gamer. He played last season with so many injuries they should have had an ambulance take him home after every game.
But if anyone can figure out where his head's at right now, please give me a call.
Of course, Reed wasn't the only guy blabbing a little too much to the media this summer.
Quarterback Joe Flacco also raised a few eyebrows with his comments about how the addition of backup Marc Bulger would affect the chemistry of the remaining quarterbacks.
Here's a guy — Flacco — who's so laid-back he makes you want to take a nap when you're around him.
Generally he's super-cautious in interview situations.
All he was trying to say was that he was a little sad that current backups Troy Smith and John Beck were in danger of being cut now that Bulger was here.
But he phrased it awkwardly.
And suddenly it became: Flacco's dissing the new QB! Story at 11!
Poor Flacco. The guy can't win. He finally lets his guard down and tells you what he really thinks. And right away some fans are coming after him with pitchforks and flaming torches.
Assuming everyone now shuts up and gets down to work at McDaniel College, the big issue at this training camp will be the Ravens' new autograph policy.
As you may have heard — this made national headlines, telling you what a slow news day it was — the Ravens are now limiting autographs to kids ages 6 to 15.
They're doing this for safety reasons because there are often adults pushing and shoving and elbowing kids aside when the Ravens stop to sign after practice.
But you'd have thought the Ravens were now threatening to whack fans with baseball bats, so loud was the outcry.
Internet message boards lit up, and sports talk shows were filled with the bleating of adult Ravens fans, who bemoaned the fact they were being excluded from getting autographs of their favorite players.
At the time, I wrote a column about the whole thing that essentially said: Get a life, people.
But now I'm looking at this new policy as a golden opportunity for a lot of little kids to cash in.
If I were a little kid, I'd walk up to one of these fat guys looking to get a football signed for the shelf in his downstairs rec room and say: "Want Ray Lewis' autograph? Sure, I can score one. But it'll cost you 10 bucks."
Anyway, we'll see how the whole thing works out after the Ravens' first official practice. If you see a lot of little kids whistling and walking around with a wad of cash, you'll know the answer.
In the meantime, the Ravens get ready for a new season. And maybe even a Super Bowl.
Or so everybody says.
Listen to Kevin Cowherd on Tuesdays from 4p.m. to 6 p.m. with Jerry Coleman on Fox1370 AM Sports.
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