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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
LONDON — The last and only other time the Baltimore Ravens played in England, coach John Harbaugh spent the flight home watching his team’s 44-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He couldn’t believe what he saw. His team was unrecognizable.
A horrible case of jet lag and an unexpected political distraction left the players with no legs, no focus and — in hindsight — no chance of winning.
Harbaugh later stood in front of reporters and insisted one loss doesn’t define a season. But he did acknowledge how this one loss shaped his view on playing overseas.
“To be honest with you, and maybe I’ll get into trouble for saying this, don’t plan on going over there anytime soon to play again,” Harbaugh said in September 2017. “So, somebody else can have that job.”
Six years later, the Ravens are coming off a disheartening 17-10 loss to the rival Pittsburgh Steelers and head back to England, where they will play the Tennessee Titans on Sunday (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network).
There are seven players remaining from that 37-point loss, which is tied for the largest margin of defeat in franchise history. But for those who endured the embarrassment, there is no debate as to where that defeat ranks.
It was “the worst loss in the history of the Ravens or Baltimore sports,” Harbaugh told “The Adam Jones Podcast” earlier this year.
When asked if they expect any flashbacks, the players pointed out that it’s a different stadium — Tottenham Hotspur instead of Wembley — and it’s a different routine. Instead of arriving Friday morning like the Ravens did in 2017, Baltimore landed this time in England on Monday afternoon. The Titans are using the same strategy.
“[The last time], I was walking through both a figurative and literal fog the whole time we were there, just because, well, it’s London. And also we were all just really tired,” Ravens kicker Justin Tucker said. “But I know this go around, we’re fired up for the opportunity to go overseas and play in front of a badass crowd.”
Tucker then added, “As far as the last trip goes, what do we remember? It’s like I don’t care to remember anything about it. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Here’s a look at one of the most gut-wrenching days in Ravens history, as told by the people who experienced it:
‘We’re made for London’
In 2017, the Ravens put together an April Fool’s Day prank video in which Harbaugh announced the team was traveling to England on a ship hat included a full football field. But Baltimore didn’t take the trip across the Atlantic lightly. In the first full team meeting of London week, Harbaugh spoke for 26 minutes about the trip. He told his players what clothes they should wear on the flight and what they should eat that week for optimal rest. But, as the players soon found out, it was all for naught.
Pat Ricard, fullback: I slept maybe an hour or two on the plane. It was bad, because the plane, it was a different one than we have now, it was this normal commercial flight, so I couldn’t spread out. I had a whole row to myself, but the arm rest didn’t go up. So, I just didn’t sleep very well.
Joe Flacco, quarterback: Our plan was: We’re flying over on Thursday night and that’s your bedtime. Then you wake up and it’s like you’re out on the practice field at noon for your Friday practice, and you hadn’t even gone to the hotel yet. You’re right from the airport to practice. And honestly, I remember going out to practice on a Friday and feeling like, “OK, I don’t feel bad. Maybe this isn’t that bad.”
Gerry Sandusky, play-by-play announcer: I went over to cover the practice, and they had this amazing practice. [Safety] Eric Weddle was all jacked up. And I remember after they got back on the bus, after the practice, Harbaugh was saying, “That was one of the best practices we’ve had all year.” You can just tell everybody was like, “We’re made for London.”
Flacco: But the next couple days, you didn’t really sleep, and then there is the five hours time difference. I just think it’s tough to account for that.
Michael Pierce, nose tackle: I sat next to Harbs [John Harbaugh] in a team meeting and he was falling asleep. I probably should have said that off the record, but that’s actually true. I will never forget that. So as I was struggling [and] Coach Harbs was struggling.
‘Guys were pretty torn about it’
On the Friday before the game, then-President Donald Trump struck a nerve with NFL players during a political rally in Alabama. He said if an NFL owner reacted to a player protesting during the national anthem by saying, “Get that son of a b—- off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!” that owner would, “be the most popular person in this country.”
Kevin Byrne, public relations chief: It really got to [linebacker Terrell] Suggs. … Terrell, who had no intentions of kneeling, decided, “I’m kneeling.” And players, especially young players on that team, really listened to him, because he put it in a perspective that wasn’t there.
Flacco: We had hashed that out for a decent amount of time on what guys wanted to do, and I think ultimately guys were pretty torn about it. There were guys that wanted to [kneel] and guys that felt really strongly about wanting to, and guys that didn’t feel that strongly.
Byrne: I remember the league calling me and saying, “What do you hear from your players?” I talked to John [Harbaugh] and Ozzie [Newsome, then the general manager] and they both said [the players are] buzzing about it. And Terrell was really upset, but John was trying to keep the focus, telling the players, “Let’s remember now what we’ve seen on tape all week. These guys [the Jaguars] are good.”
Ricard: I think Trump and all the kneeling really got to some guys’ heads. I think they were more focused on that than playing in the game.
‘Did not feel alive’
The Ravens started 2017 as one of the top teams in the NFL. Baltimore began 2-0 with wins at Cincinnati and home against Cleveland. The Ravens outscored them by a combined 44-10. But, as the team made its way to Wembley Stadium, those on the buses knew it was not going to be the Ravens’ day.
Pierce: I fell into a deep sleep on the way to the stadium. Like asleep, asleep. Thankfully that was a long bus ride. But yeah, my sleep schedule was shot. I was like, “I’m in trouble, man.”
Sandusky: [Former Ravens tight end] Dennis Pitta was my broadcast partner that year, and he’s sitting slumped in his bus seat, leaning up against the window with his legs stretched out. And he said, “Man, I’m glad I retired because I couldn’t possibly play a game today. I’m wiped out.” He was floored at how much jet lag he had. He said, ‘I hope these guys feel better than I do.’ And as the game unfolded, you realize: Nope, they didn’t.
Flacco: I definitely did not feel alive during that game. It was just one of those things like, the first time you do it, you don’t really know what you’re doing. You go in with a plan and then the next thing you know you’re like, “Wow, I think we’re all dragging here a little bit.”
‘Stand with our brothers’
When the national anthem played, the Ravens had several players who took a knee, including Suggs, C.J. Mosley, Za’Darius Smith, Mike Wallace, Tony Jefferson, Anthony Levine, Lardarius Webb, Carl, Davis, Willie Henry and Matthew Judon. About 10 players knelt on the Jacksonville sideline.
Byrne: It was disjointed. There was clearly a discussion on the field in pregame. I heard players talking about it: ‘Are you kneeling?’ So there certainly was a distraction that way.
Suggs (after the game): We stand with our brothers. They have the right, and we knelt with them today. To protest, non-violent protest, is as American as it gets, so we knelt with them today to let them know that we’re a unified front. There ain’t no dividing us. I guess we’re all son of a b—-es.
Byrne: He was clearly angry, and he wanted to let people know that he was angry. And thus we had, at that time, the biggest protest.
‘What the hell was that?’
The Jaguars jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a 17-yard touchdown catch by tight end Marcedes Lewis, who finished the game with three touchdowns — matching his total from the previous three seasons. Flacco did not complete a pass until the 4:13 mark in the second quarter, and his interception on a deep pass in the second quarter led to a 5-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bortles to Allen Hurns.
Ricard: The Jaguars were a really good team. They went to the AFC championship that year. They were “Sacksonville.” But people didn’t know that yet.
Sandusky: I remember [then-Jaguars defensive end] Calais Campbell everywhere. I think it felt like he had 50 tackles in the game, because every other play, I was saying his name for Jacksonville.
Mike Wallace, wide receiver (after the game): I think this one you should just ball up and throw it in the trash moving forward. It happened, and you just want to try and act like it never happened.
The Ravens, who had not trailed at any point that season, were down 23-0 at the half. Baltimore allowed points on five of the six drives in the first half and didn’t get a first down until four minutes remained in the second quarter. If the performance wasn’t humiliating enough, Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone faked a punt while up 37-0. Flacco finished 8-of-18 passing for 28 yards, his fewest in a start.
Flacco: If I could erase one game from my memory, that would probably be the one I’d pick.
Byrne: When [the Jaguars] got off to such a great start, it was like, “Oh my God, how do we get back into this game?” But, by that time, Jacksonville’s looking in the mirror saying, “Hey, we are good. We got ’em on the run.” And give them credit, they kept us on the run. We never got back in the game.
Flacco: We stayed awake the entire ride [back to the United States]. A couple of us sat up at one of the little tabletops, probably in shock and looking at each other: What the [f—] just happened? What the hell was that? We were trying to have a sense of humor about it, but at the same time just like, holy s—, dude.
‘Definitely a crazy year’
The Ravens lost three of their next four games after returning from London. Baltimore didn’t make the playoffs, but there was another pressing issue. In December, Ravens president Dick Cass sent a letter to season-ticket holders, suite holders and sponsors about the number of no-shows at M&T Bank Stadium that season, citing a protest during the national anthem as one potential reason. “The numbers [of no-shows] are higher, and it is noticeable,” Cass wrote.
Ricard: We had several player meetings and team meetings just to go over how we feel [about social injustice] and what is our statement of what we’re going to put out to the public. We just had a lot of long talks with ourselves and the team. It was kind of ongoing all season. Definitely a crazy year.
Byrne: There was clearly tension between the team and some fans after that. There was a lot of support for it, too, saying, “We’re glad that some players stood up. We’re glad that the owner recognized the player’s rights to make a point of view or to express a point of view.” We got both. The ticket office was busy. All our phone lines were being used.
Looking for ‘redemption’
Baltimore remains one of the most inexperienced teams when it comes to playing overseas. The Ravens are one of nine NFL teams that have played only one international game since the NFL started scheduling games outside the U.S. in 2005.
Harbaugh: We’re going to try to do better than we did last time. It wasn’t just [arriving late in the week in 2017]. There were other factors, if you remember, that were happening, that impacted our guys’ mindset in the game. That’s history now, and hopefully, we’re better for it.
Suggs: That was not fun at all. We just couldn’t adjust to the time and we had other s— going on that had nothing to do with football. It wasn’t a good trip. It wasn’t a good trip at all.
Ricard: Hopefully we’re ready to play and ready to get a little redemption of our last trip.
Harbaugh: [A win Sunday] would make me feel a lot better about [England], I can tell you that. Every time I see a picture of Great Britain on the map, I have a memory of that game.