OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens have seen all types of adversity during this Super Bowl season, including the death of Torrey Smith’s brother, former owner Art Modell’s passing, devastating injuries and the firing of their offensive coordinator near the end of the regular season. But no issue has had the divisiveness of Brendon Ayanbadejo’s promotion of gay marriage rights.
Several players disagree with the linebacker’s stance, including safety Bernard Pollard, but the team has turned a potentially volatile situation into another example of unity.
“He knows I don’t back what he’s doing, I don’t stand for it, but at the same time, that doesn’t take away from us being teammates.” Pollard said. “There’s a lot of guys that disagree. We can all disagree and be perfectly fine. I still respect him as a man. I’m never going to demean him and he’s never going to demean me.
“Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. B.A. has taken a position to back everything that’s going on there. He’s got his thing and I’ve got mine. We all still get along.”
Ayanbadejo said he has had conversations with many of his teammates about the subject, but they never have gotten heated. They’re the kind of talks coach John Harbaugh wants, so each player’s individuality helps form a uniquely strong group.
“I have buddies on the team that are opposed to the beliefs that I believe in, but we still go to dinner and we still hang out with each others’ kids,” Ayanbadejo said. “A lot of people said that lawmakers and politicians need to look at how the Ravens handle some of their affairs when they disagree with each other and how we’re cordial and we still get along and we’re still brothers at the end of the day and how civil we are about our disagreements.
“I think it makes us stronger. We’re on different sides of the fence on some political issues, but we come here and we fight for each other. It’s out of love.”
While Pollard spoke, fullback Vonta Leach echoed the opening scene of the pilot episode of “The Wire” — another of Baltimore’s claims to fame.
“This is America, baby!” Leach yelled. “This is America!”