Now in his ninth season with the Ravens, head coach John Harbaugh is not just a student of football history but Baltimore history as well.
But he was caught unaware by the fact the Sept. 11 home opener against Buffalo will mark the third time the Ravens will have played a season opener on that date since the terrorist attack happened in 2001. Both previous contests took place at home.
The Ravens played Sept. 11 in 2005, a 24-7 nationally televised Sunday night loss to Indianapolis, and again in 2011, a 35-7 win against Pittsburgh.
"[There's a] lot of tradition, a lot of history here in Baltimore," Harbaugh said. "[The War of] 1812, the civil rights movement; it's pretty incredible. Baltimore's been at the forefront.
