ricky williams

Mt. Hebron and Hammond are both 1-1 after two weeks

Vikings aim to be much improved this fall

The Canadian Football League quickly threw up a stop sign against any potential overtures to former Ravens star running back Ray Rice.

The football life of former NFL running back Ricky Williams, who played the final season of his career in Baltimore, has been an adventure.

Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce took turns tearing through defenses last season. But in the second quarter of the Super Bowl, the Ravens sent the Pro Bowl running back and his rookie understudy onto the field together for the first time all season.

The Ravens liked Bernard Pierce so much coming out of Temple, they traded up in the 2012 draft to select him. He might have exceeded their early expectations for him in his rookie season. Pierce should have a larger role in 2013, but make no mistake, Ray Rice is still their best option out of the backfield.

Williams is a former Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Texas who abruptly retired following the 2011 season with the Ravens, ending his NFL career by rushing for 444 yards and two touchdowns as the primary backup to Pro Bowl runner Ray Rice.

The 6-foot, 218-pound third-round draft pick from Temple played with a bruising style in his first seaosn in Baltimore, rushing for 532 yards and a touchdown on 109 carries for a 4.9 average per run. During the postseason, Pierce was even more effective with 202 yards on 39 carries for a 5.2 average.

Ravens veteran free safety Ed Reed has never embraced an unconventional approach.

As the Ravens and 49ers prepare to meet at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday in Super Bowl XLVII, Bernard Pierce and LaMichael James have emerged as potential key players

Baltimore Ravens rookie running back Bernard Pierce has rushed for 169 yards in playoffs, averaging 6.3 yards per carry

Students at Immaculate Heart of Mary School and Stoneleigh Elementary will have the Ravens' visit to their schools in mind when the team heads to the Super Bowl next week.

The Baltimore Ravens training facility is state of the art and larger than life.

Each Wednesday, Baltimore Sun blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore Ravens backs Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce have found success in last four games

As the Ravens enter their final game of the regular season today against the Cincinnati Bengals, Ravens rookie Bernard Pierce is giving the organization a glimpse of what he can do with a little experience and a healthy body.

Both Baltimore Ravens running backs eclipse century mark

Defensive coordinator Dean Pees stuck with an aggressive approach, blitzing defenders and using unusual alignments. He lined up safeties James Ihedigbo and Omar Brown as edge pass rushers lined up outside the tackles and shifted outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw to nose guard.

Purple Santa dresses up to greet children at Ravens fundraisers

Stoneleigh Elementary School in Towson will hold a special "Purple Tuesday" on Nov. 27 to welcome a handful of Ravens players and celebrate their designation as Baltimore's 2012 NFL Play 60 Super School.

Every Tuesday, Baltimore Sun blogger Matt Vensel breaks down a critical play, sometimes with input from Baltimore Ravens players, from that week's game. Today, he looks at Ravens rookie running back Bernard Pierce's 21-yard again against the Cleveland Browns.

Despite impressive showings from rookies Bernard Pierce and Bobby Rainey, Allen and Berry eager to replace the retired Ricky Williams

Rookie running back is a new father

Baltimore Ravens running back Anthony Allen spent most of his rookie season watching from the sidelines. But with Rice in a contract negotiation and Williams in retirement, Allen enjoyed his opportunity this spring.

Anquan Boldin is now in his third season with the Ravens, and after Tuesday's mandatory minicamp workout, the wide receiver said he expects the offense to be better than it has ever been during his time in Baltimore, and he says he hasn't played with a better group of wide receivers than they have now.

Ray Rice's absence from organized team activities has given the Ravens a chance to focus on a group of unproven players hoping to back up a player many consider the best all-around running back in the NFL.

On paper -- and we know the dangers of evaluating football teams on that alone -- it doesn't appear the Baltimore Ravens have done much to improve an offense that ranked 12th in the NFL in points scored and 15th in total yards a season ago. But there is reason to believe that the offense will be better in 2012: They will finally have a little continuity.

From contract negotiations with quarterback Joe Flacco and running back Ray Rice to a potentially season-ending Achilles injury to star linebacker Terrell Suggs to coach John Harbaugh's comments on the New England Patriots to mercurial safety Ed Reed's controversial radio interviews, the Ravens have made plenty of off-the-field news this offseason.

Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ricky Williams doesn't think football and concussions are connected

Rice didn¿t address the ongoing contract negotiations between his agent, Todd France, and the Ravens. However, he left little doubt that he will be ready to play when he reports to the team. Rice is expected to sit out the various mini-camps and organized team activities.

Courtney Upshaw has agreed to terms with the Baltimore Ravens.

Here is a question that the Baltimore Ravens will have to answer in the coming weeks: Will they be comfortable going into the season without an experienced backup behind Pro Bowler Ray Rice?

In case you missed Temple's 38-7 win over Maryland last fall, the story in that lopsided Terps loss was Owls running back Bernard Pierce, who set a Temple record by rumbling for five touchdowns. Pierce, who was picked by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft, had four of them before the midway point of the second quarter as Temple rolled to a 31-0 halftime lead at Byrd Stadium.

Now that Ravens reporter Matt Vensel has had a couple of days to defragment his brain after a hectic NFL draft weekend, he figured he would hand out superlative style-evaluations of the Baltimore Ravens' eight-player draft class. These are just the opinions of one man (though it's a man who spent much of the past two months researching draft prospects).