Baltimore Ravens Cheating History

35
BAL
TL;DR:

• the RAVENS are TOUCH ABOVE AVERAGE NFL cheaters!

• they have a CheatScore of 35?

• they've executed 10 real cheats! ?

• share page: http://YourTeamCheats.com/BAL?

 

All Baltimore Ravens Cheats:

PEDSgate (7x since 2005) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are used by players to illegally improve athletic performance above what legal training and preparation can do.

Players who illegally improve their performance unfairly penalize players who follow the rules. They not only put those players at risk for physical injury, but they also affect their economic livelihood by impacting their perceived value and their ability to secure appropriately-valued playing contracts.

SEVERITY = 0.5 video cameras per punished incident. Includes all documented infractions from 1960 to present with this Wikipedia page as the primary source.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Ngata was suspended for four games. Jackson was suspended for 4 games in 2012 and another 8 games in 2013 since it was his second infraction. Boyle was suspended for 4 games in 2015 and another 10 games in 2016.

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AWARDS EARNED: Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!Everyone Was Doing It!Repeat The Cheat!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 7.0

Impedegate (2013) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: With the Ravens leading 34-31 with four seconds left in Super Bowl XLVII and readying themselves for a free kick after taking a deliberate safety, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was heard telling teammates to come off the sideline and tackle 49ers' returner Ted Ginn Jr., if need be.

Flacco, who was one of many players wearing a microphone for NFL Films, told teammates Dennis Pitta and Matt Birk on the sideline that they couldn't let Ginn run free. "If he starts to break it, go tackle him," Flacco told Pitta.

The bold and ridiculously unsportsmanlike plan, though never implemented, would not have likely worked since, according to Rule 12, Section 3, Article 3 in the NFL Rule Book: Palpably Unfair Act. "A player or substitute shall not interfere with play by any act which is palpably unfair. Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting his crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. The Referee may award a score."

VICTIM: San Francisco 49ers (The cheat was pre-meditated but was not able to be executed)

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: There was no punishment because Flacco and friends didn't get their chance to execute this dastardly devious cheat. It would have been the best-worst Super Bowl ending ever and would have absolutely obliterated the CheatScore calculator on this site.

Watch the sideline video again and judge for yourself if you think Flacco was joking or serious about the plan. The commish rules that Flacco was 100% dead serious.

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AWARDS EARNED: Schoolyard Cheating!Cojones Ferreas!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Challengegate (2009 & 2011) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: In their 2011 game with the the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers were faced with a 4th and 1 situation and decided to go for it.

As the Baltimore Ravens were unprepared for the 4th-down play, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh threw a challenge flag which challenged nothing but served to illegally delay the play, thus buying his defense a moment of rest and preparation for Pittsburgh's 4th down play.

There was nothing remotely challengeable on the play. It was simply an illegal tactic that Harbaugh used to rest his defense without having to use a timeout. Harbaugh executed this same illegal move against the Colts in November of 2009.

In this instance, Harbaugh and the Ravens should have been assessed a delay of game. At the time, the NFL did not have a rule in place stipulating that once a challenge flag was thrown it could not be picked up without the loss of a challenge or the assessment of a timeout.

VICTIM: Pittsburgh Steelers (Also the Indianapolis Colts in 2009)

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: It's all on tape right here. It is more probable than not that Harbaugh was at least generally aware that his challenges were illegal.

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AWARDS EARNED: Schoolyard Cheating!Repeat The Cheat!Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Bountygate (2008) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Ravens Terrell Suggs said that the Baltimore Ravens had a "bounty" on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward and running back Rashard Mendenhall. During the "2 Live Stews" syndicated radio show on Oct. 17, 2008, when he was asked, "Did you all put a bounty out on that young man [Mendenhall]," Suggs replied, "Definitely. The bounty was out on him and the bounty was out on [Ward] -- we just didn't get him between the whistles."

During the interview, Suggs called Ward "a dirty player" and "a cheap-shot artist, saying "we got something in store for him." Ward, who appeared on "PTI" a few days later, said the bounty talk was "a big honor." Continued Ward, "I am really not going to comment, but all I have to say to Mr. Suggs is there's a policy in the NFL [against bounties] he should read."

VICTIM: Pittsburgh Steelers

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: Under light questioning, Suggs outright admitted to the charge

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AWARDS EARNED: Goalie for the Dart Team!Schoolyard Cheating!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Deflategate (2002) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Ex-Ravens and retired Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Blake confessed in an interview that removing air from footballs was common when he played in the NFL from 1992-2005.

"I'm just going to let the cat of the bag, every team does it, every game, it has been since I played," the ex-Ravens QB said Wednesday in a radio interview on the "Midday 180" show on Nashville's 104.5 The Zone. "Cause when you take the balls out of the bag, they are rock hard. And you can't feel the ball as well. It's too hard.

"Everybody puts the pin in and takes just enough air out of the ball that you can feel it a little better. But it's not the point to where it's flat. So I don't know what the big deal is. It's not something that's not been done for 20 years."

Blake says that he'd order ball boys to let air out of his footballs just before the start of games during his entire NFL career, which included time with the Baltimore Ravens in 2002.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: Their quarterback admitted that he cheated.

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AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!Avoid Media Scrutiny!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 2.0

Antlergate (2013) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: David Epstein and George Dohrmann reported that Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (S.W.A.T.S.) owner Mitch Ross recorded a phone conversation with Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis after the linebacker's injury in October.

"Hours after he tore his triceps during an Oct. 14 home game against the Cowboys, Ravens All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis and Ross connected on the phone. Again, Ross videotaped the call."

On the call, the two allegedly discuss the treatment that Lewis would undergo in order to return to the field as quickly as possible. Toward the end of the talk, Lewis asked Ross to "just pile me up and just send me everything you got, because I got to get back on this this week."

The deer-antler spray contains IGF-1, which is on the NFL's list of banned substances.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but ... it's more probable than not that this was cheating

PUNISHMENT: It is more probable than not that Ray Lewis was at least generally aware that he was completely cheating by ordering and taking a banned substance to illegally enhance his performance.

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AWARDS EARNED: Points for Creativity!Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 2.0

Injurygate (2012) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: In October 2012, the league fined the Baltimore Ravens $20,000 for not including Ed Reed's shoulder injury on their team injury report. It was the same amount the Redskins and Bills were fined for similar infractions that year. Reed had revealed in a radio interview that he was playing with a torn labrum. He didn't miss any practice or playing time, but that doesn't matter. The league requires that all injuries be reported.

In a move reminiscent of a snotty teenager rebelling against their parents, a week after the Ravens received the fine they listed a whopping 15 players on their injury report.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: The Ravens were fined $20,000

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CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 2.0

Practicegate (2016) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Baltimore Ravens

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY:

As reported by Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, "The NFL came down hard on the Ravens on Thursday, ordering them to forfeit three organized team activities and fining the organization and coach John Harbaugh nearly $500,000 for violating the league’s collective bargaining agreement during the team’s rookie minicamp earlier this month.

The league investigated the Ravens cheating scandal and determined that the team illegally had rookies in full pads despite league rules prohibiting full-pad practices until training camp.

It remains unclear if Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was bending the rules to give his team a slight advantage or simply (once again) ignorant of NFL rules.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: The team and coach were fined $500,000 and forced to forfeit three organized team activities.

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AWARDS EARNED: Goalie for the Dart Team!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 2.0

 

Leaguewide Cheats:

Tampergate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Tampering with free agents is rampant, it's laughable and it is against the rules (PDF). It's so bad across every team in the league that the NFL had to create a three-day legal tampering period. However, tampering still regularly occurs long before that annual three-day window opens. On March 9, 2015 the league once again felt compelled to warn all 32 teams about not tampering.

Why is tampering considered a problem? Because tampering with players still under contract makes it difficult for clubs to re-sign their own talent. It also puts those few teams that actually follow NFL guidelines at a distinct disadvantage. In many cases, contract agreements are in place days before any negotiations are allowed to begin.

This isn't fair, it isn't legal, and it is blatant cheating by the teams who engage in the practice.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but...

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Roger Goodell is doing all he can to curtail and punish the "commonplace" practice, although it admits that there is so much tampering that it is hard to police it all.

The CheatPoints earned for this leaguewide cheat is for all of this team's tampering incidents that have gone undiscovered or unproven. If specific instances are discovered, they are punished on top of this leaguewide penalty.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Headsetgate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: it's a common complaint around the NFL. In late, close games, the helmet communicators of visiting teams suddenly "malfunction" and stop working. It has been accepted as standard practice in the league. Are you on the road and the game is close? Then you are going to have problems with your headset.

In recent years, the Patriots have accused the Colts of doing it and the Jaguars have made the same charge of the Patriots. The Redskins accused the Buccaneers of disabling their headsets, and Tampa Bay accused Dallas. The Giants openly bragged about doing it way back in 1956. The charges go on and on and on.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

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CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Spygate (until 2006) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Stealing your opponent's signals has always been common and never been illegal.

Said former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, "We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone's signals was a part of the game, and everyone attempted to do that." Admitted former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson: "When I came into the NFL, back in 1989, I talked to a Kansas City scout and he said, 'Here's what we do, we videotape the opposing team's signals and then we sync it up with the game film.' So I did it." Bragged, former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan: "Our guy keeps a pair of binoculars on their signal-callers every game, with any luck, we have their defensive signals figured out by halftime. Sometimes, by the end of the first quarter."

NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell confirmed this himself in 2008, saying that the issue was not stealing signals, that is allowed "and it is done quite widely." The issue is where and how you record them. If you chose to videotape them, then (after 2006) you have to do that from a league approved location. If you hire lip readers, they can do it from your coaches lap, if you want.

After 2006, examples of allowed videotaping locations are: the luxury boxes, media booths and other enclosed spaces. Expressly prohibited locations are the sidelines, the field, locker rooms, the coaches booth or any other place accessible to team coaches and staff. The point of the rule is to not allow the footage to be useful in the current game.

Prior to the September 6, 2006 memo and, 2007 follow up, from NFL head of football operations Ray Anderson, there was no league restriction on filming location, which is the reason the memo was sent.

Many NFL head coaches have downplayed the significance of the practice, saying that attempting to decipher opponent's signals was a long standing practice and entirely common throughout the league.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell suggested that the responsibility was on teams to conceal their messages, not on the ones trying to steal them. During his news conference before the 2007 Super Bowl he said that any coach who did not expect signals to be stolen was "stupid."

Prior to 2006, every NFL team is assumed to have done it, but none of them broke a rule. You can't punish something that is not prohibited. Filming from the sidelines was not prohibited until 2006 and filming your opponent's signals from approved locations has never been prohibited, even today.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

Scrapsgate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Sign an opponent's recently-cut player to your practice squad to get intel on their plays, signals and tactics. This is not illegal and is a leaguewide practice.

Said one player, who chose to remain anonymous as he was still in the league as of 2015, "If teams have an opening at a certain position, they might not be looking for perhaps the best player to fill it on their practice squad. Instead, they might go for someone who has access to the opposing team’s playbook."

“Let’s say we’re playing the Jaguars in seven days and you want to know more about their playbook. From time to time teams will sign people off of practice squads. You don’t have to put them on active roster so if there’s a need for more depth at linebacker and you’re playing Jacksonville, there would be more of a chance to sign a linebacker off the team you’re about to play’s practice squad and hoping that the person you’re about to sign will divulge information about the playbook.”

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: Not illegal.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

awardEARNED: "Avoid Media Scrutiny!"

CRITERIA: Successfully attract less than 5% of the typical Patriots "cheating" scandal coverage!
EARNED FOR:Deflategate (2002) 

awardEARNED: "Cojones Ferreas!"

CRITERIA: Construct a cheat of the boldest variety, demonstrating your complete disregard for the rules and consequences for smashing them with your beefy man-parts!
EARNED FOR:Impedegate (2013) 

awardEARNED: "Everyone Was Doing It!"

CRITERIA: Successfully "cheat" in a way that many other teams have (bonus points for not getting caught)!
EARNED FOR:Spygate (until 2006)  PEDSgate (7x since 2005)  Tampergate (ongoing)  Scrapsgate (ongoing)  Deflategate (2002) 

awardEARNED: "Goalie for the Dart Team!"

CRITERIA: Execute a cheat that requires significant anti-intellect to attempt, let alone thinking you'll get away with it!
EARNED FOR:Bountygate (2008)  Practicegate (2016) 

awardEARNED: "Hip-Hip-Hypocritical!"

CRITERIA: Call out another team for cheating while actively cheating yourself (bonus points for calling out another team's cheating while executing the same cheat yourself)!
EARNED FOR:PEDSgate (7x since 2005)  Challengegate (2009 & 2011)  Antlergate (2013)  Deflategate (2002) 

awardEARNED: "Points for Creativity!"

CRITERIA: Find a way to cheat that others didn't think of!
EARNED FOR:Antlergate (2013) 

awardEARNED: "Repeat The Cheat!"

CRITERIA: Successfully repeat the same cheat multiple times!
EARNED FOR:Challengegate (2009 & 2011)  PEDSgate (7x since 2005) 

awardEARNED: "Schoolyard Cheating!"

CRITERIA: Complete a cheat in the NFL that you could just as likely see on a schoolyard playground!
EARNED FOR:Impedegate (2013)  Challengegate (2009 & 2011)  Bountygate (2008) 

Is there a Baltimore Ravens cheating scandal that I'm missing? Do I have a fact wrong? A broken link? Email me with your comment and supporting link and I'll fix or add it.

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