On February 3, 2013, the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl, in New Orleans, defeating the San Francisco 49ers.
Baltimore Ravens fans at Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland, February 2013. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
The Ravens won the Super Bowl championship in 2001 and 2013.
From the franchise's inception in 1996, the Ravens had held their summer training camp , open to the public, at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. In the summer of 2011, however, the Ravens began holding their training at Owings Mills. There, practices no longer are open to the public.
Johnny Unitas: The Golden Arm statue (2002), by Frederick Kail. The statue of the Baltimore Colts' quarterback appears on the north side of M & T Bank Stadium, West Hamburg St., Baltimore, Maryland, April 2008. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
The Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League debuted in the 1996 season at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. In 1998, a 69,300-seat stadium was completed to host the team. Formerly called Ravens Stadium, it was renamed M & T Bank Stadium in 2003. The Stadium is part of Baltimore's Camden Yards sports complex.
As part of the short-lived U.S. Football League, a professional football league aimed at spring and summer markets, Maryland was home to the Baltimore Stars during 1985. The Stars had relocated to Baltimore from Philadelphia, and played at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium in College Park. The Baltimore Stars won the USFL Championship at East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 14, 1985, defeating the Oakland Invaders. Although scheduled to play at Memorial Stadium during the 1986 season, the League ceased operation, and the team only played one season in Maryland.
M & T Bank Stadium, West Hamburg St., Baltimore, Maryland, April 2008. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
The Washington Redskins National Football League team plays at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. The Stadium opened in 1997 and seats 80,116 people.
Minor league semi-professional football teams also compete in Maryland. The Arbutus Big Red Football Team, for example, is sponsored by the Arbutus Athletic Association, and competes in the Mason-Dixon Football League.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The University of Maryland, College Park, won the Gator Bowl on January 1, 2004, beating West Virginia 41-7.
On November 19, 2012, the University of Maryland, College Park announced it would join the Big Ten Conference on July 1, 2014. Since 1953, the University has been part of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Navy football is played at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. Opened in 1959, the Stadium seats 30,000. It is home to the midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy athletics department. On December 22, 2005, Navy beat Colorado State University 51-30 in the Pansettia Bowl.
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