COLUMBIA, Md. -- The January firing of longtime head coach John Harbaugh and hiring of Jesse Minter represented a reset in many ways for a Baltimore Ravens organization steeped in stability.
What's being touted as a new era or the "next flight" of Ravens football will also include significant changes to the team's traditional uniforms.
The Ravens unveiled those changes to personal seat license holders and the assembled media Thursday night at Merriweather Post Pavilion in an event that featured some of the organization's top players, both past and present, and plenty of pomp and circumstance.
The unveiling, which was emceed by ESPN's Peter Schrager and included appearances by Minter, his coordinators, and current and former Ravens like Trey Hendrickson, Terrell Suggs, Todd Heap, Jamal Lewis and Peter Boulware, marks the team's most significant uniform changes since 2000.
"It was time," Ravens team president Sashi Brown told the estimated crowd of more than 6,000, which filled up the seating bowl at the concert venue. "We love the uniform closet that we have currently. It's a high bar. We wanted to be progressive, but stay true to the purple and black."
Alterations were made to all three Ravens jerseys, but the "Next Flight" collection was more marked by subtle changes than a dramatic overhaul. That was by design. The goal was to represent the organization's tradition while paying homage to the state and city in which the team plays.
Some of the changes include adding "Baltimore" to the front of the team's white jerseys, which are typically worn on the road, and to the collar of the purple, black and Purple Rising jerseys. The collars of the team's three primary jerseys now depict a raven's outstretched wings, while the new stripe on the uniform pants is meant to imitate the sharpened claws of a raven. It also includes a diagonal cut to represent the Calvert crest in both the Baltimore and Maryland flags.
The team also introduced two new helmets, including a matted black helmet that will be worn with the team's all-black uniforms during select home games at M&T Bank Stadium. The black helmet features a two-toned front facing Ravens logo with red eyes.
Brad Downs, the Ravens' senior vice president of marketing, said the new uniforms were the result of a three-year process. The team had rejected Nike's original design and went back to work on something different. Downs estimated that there were over 15 iterations of the uniform and even more versions of the helmets before the final product was settled on a few months ago.
"We wanted it to still feel like the Ravens," Downs said. "We looked at it like an evolution."