It is nearly impossible overstate what Kevin Byrne has meant to the Baltimore Ravens.
On April 3, the team announced that the executive vice president of public and community relations would be retiring in May. Almost every person who has ever interacted with the Baltimore Ravens in any way has come in contact with Byrne since the franchise moved from Cleveland following the 1995 season. The list of more impactful figures is small, including owners Art Modell and Steve Bisciotti, former general manager Ozzie Newsome, head coaches Brian Billick and John Harbaugh and perhaps a handful of players. He has been that significant within the organization and community.
My initial reaction to Byrne’s retirement was a genuine thought that perhaps Byrne’s impact on the Ravens has been so meaningful he belongs in the team’s Ring of Honor. It would be totally unprecedented, of course. To this point, all inductees have had at least some direct football impact in Baltimore. (Modell didn’t play or coach, but there literally isn’t a franchise without him.)
