Nebraska Football 2024: The MVPs, Best Wins, and What Could Have Been

 

Offering superlatives and plaudits for the Huskers’ 2024 season.

Chris Fort | December 29, 2024

Nebraska offensive line coach Donovan Raiola / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Best Coaching Job: Donovan Raiola

The offensive line didn’t get enough praise this year. Their running yards and sacks allowed don’t necessarily show it, but the O-Line played better than they have in a long while, putting it all together against a good Wisconsin defense on Senior Day. Just two years after fielding arguably the worst O-Line in modern Husker history, Raiola put together a dependable unit despite being without both top left tackles and often without their best offensive guard in Micah Mazzccua.

Runner-Up: Terrance Knighton

 

Former Ravens Terrell Suggs, Marshal Yanda among Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalists

 

Finalists for 2025 class will be announced later this year

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - NOVEMBER 17: Marshal Yanda #73 of the Baltimore Ravens looks on prior to the game against the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium on November 17, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)

 

By Brian Wacker | bwacker@baltsun.com

UPDATED: November 20, 2024 at 4:38 PM EST

 

Former Ravens stars Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda moved closer to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Both are among 25 modern-era semifinalists for the Class of 2025, the Hall of Fame announced. Suggs and Yanda have a chance to join Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Jonathan Ogden in being enshrined as first-ballot selections.

Other semifinalists who also played for Baltimore include Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith Sr., Willie Anderson and Earl Thomas. Former Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata did not make the cut from last month’s list of 50 that had been whittled down from 167 initial nominees.

Suggs ranks eighth all-time in sacks with 139 over 17 seasons, all but one of which he spent with the Ravens. Drafted 10th overall out of Arizona State by Baltimore in 2003, the outside linebacker was also the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 with a career-high 14 sacks and seven forced fumbles and the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2003 with a dozen sacks.

He was also an All-Pro in 2011, selected to seven Pro Bowls and won two Super Bowl titles, including one with the Ravens during the 2012 season and another with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 in the final year of his career.

Suggs, 42, was arrested in Arizona earlier this year after allegedly threatening to kill another driver and pulling out a gun at a Starbucks drive-through in what was the latest incident in a long list of legal troubles, but the Hall of Fame explicitly instructs voters to consider only what players do on the field.

 

Yanda, meanwhile, was a two-time All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl in eight of his nine seasons at right guard. He was also named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and, like Suggs, helped Baltimore win its second championship in 2012.

He spent his entire 13-year career with the Ravens before retiring in 2019.

Smith, who was with Baltimore for his final three years in the league from 2014 to 2016, was a two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection and ranks eighth on the all-time receiving yards list (14,731). Boldin, who played for the Ravens from 2010 through 2012 and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection before his arrival, was also a key contributor to Baltimore’s title run and ranks 14th in the NFL in career receiving yards (13,779).

The list of 25 nominees will be cut to 15 finalists later this year, with between four and eight being selected for induction into the class of 2025.

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.

Originally Published: November 20, 2024 at 1:30 PM EST

 

From Cleveland to Pittsburgh, new Steelers QB coach Tom Arth has been the glue for the group

Browns game will rustle up memories, though Western Pa. has been good so far to Russell Wilson’s right-hand man

 

Brian Batko

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

bbatko@post-gazette.com

 Nov 20, 2024

He never wanted to admit he was a Browns fan, but if he’s being honest, when John Elway mounted “The Drive” and spoiled a Super Bowl run for the city of Cleveland, 5-year-old Tom Arth ran upstairs to his room and cried.

As an aspiring quarterback himself, Arth was always more of a Joe Montana fan than an Elway guy anyway. But he’s also a proud Cleveland native, a football lifer and now in his first season as an NFL quarterbacks coach for the Steelers.

Pretty run-of-the-mill job this year, right?

Arth has been the man behind and often walking next to Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and even Kyle Allen in a most unusual eight months at quarterback for this new-look Steelers offense. Thursday night, he returns to his hometown with the hated Steelers, but he has an appreciation for what this game and the history between the two teams means — and how fortunate he is to have made his way here.

“There’s still family members who probably won’t be rooting for us, certain family members who refuse to wear Steelers gear and things like that,” Arth said with a smile. “But that’s just part of what makes the AFC North and the rivalries within it so special.”

Make no mistake, Arth is a Cleveland fan through and through when it’s not the Browns. He grew up there, went to college there, met his wife Lauren there and had spent all but four seasons of his 14-year coaching career in Northeast Ohio until now. Back in October, he was trash-talking one of the Steelers equipment staffers — who’s a Yankees fan — when the Guardians staved off elimination in the ALCS.

But since being hired in Pittsburgh to join Arthur Smith’s offensive staff, Arth has settled into a critical role working with a completely remodeled quarterback group. All three in his room praised his attention to detail, preparation and relatability, thanks in large part to having spent three years as an NFL quarterback on the Colts practice squad, where he backed up Peyton Manning, among others.

“Number one, he’s played the game,” Wilson said. “He’s been around guys like Peyton Manning, he’s held the football in his hands in the National Football League, and I think that knowledge, that intel, is really helpful.”

Arth never made it to the active roster, but even having a few cups of coffee in the pros qualifies as exceeding expectations for a quarterback from the Division III ranks. He starred at John Carroll — a hotbed for NFL coaches and executives — 10 miles from his high school, Saint Ignatius.

His coaching odyssey led him from his college alma mater to head jobs at Chattanooga and Akron, then eventually the NFL. Arth held the title of pass game specialist for the Chargers the past two years as an assistant under two different offensive coordinators, Joe Lombardi and Kellen Moore, while helping with Justin Herbert’s development.

“It’s different to see it through a quarterback’s eyes, so he gets it,” Allen said. “Super hard worker, and I just can’t say enough about him.”

That propensity to dive into everything headfirst meant that when Arth was added to Mike Tomlin’s staff back in early February, his initial process was to start studying Kenny Pickett. He reached out to Pickett, began conversations and then things changed a lot in about a month’s time — for Pickett, the Steelers and Arth.

Arth knew Wilson was a potential free agent the Steelers could have interest in, so he had already begun that film work. He wasn’t quite as ready for the next slant pattern thrown his way.

“Had a really good feel for Russell, but Justin, that one kind of popped up out of thin air,” Arth recalled last week. “But it was very exciting to have the opportunity to work with two players of that caliber — both at very different points in their career, but both with so much to prove.”

Has it been a challenge to switch from a 25-year-old fourth-year player who moves like a gazelle to a 35-year-old who operates with all the savvy and confidence of a Super Bowl-winning veteran? Yes, but it’s one Arth, 43, is learning from every day.

And while the ebb and flow of the Steelers’ quarterback situation has kept Arth on his toes, it doesn't hurt that in Pittsburgh he feels right at home. Part of that is the proximity, of course. But with a wife and five kids, relocating across the country isn’t easy, and he’s found that aspect of life here to be particularly rewarding.

“My family’s everything to me,” Arth said. “That's sometimes very difficult in this profession, with the time commitment that we make, particularly during the season. But also the moves, and that's been challenging for my kids, for all of us. Our move here to Pittsburgh, this transition has been as clean and as seamless for us as any, and I think it just has to do with the people here.”

His oldest daughter, Caroline, is a freshman at the University of Tennessee and is getting her feet wet in the family business, working on the nutrition side of the football program in Knoxville. His oldest son, Tommy, was a standout junior starter at North Catholic High School under head coach Chris Rizzo, who played for Arth at John Carroll.

Adding to the tight-knit community feel for the Arths has been the experience for his third and fourth children, Kate and Patrick, both of whom have special needs. Through the Colbert family, they learned of the St. Anthony program, which allows Kate to receive a Catholic education in the same building as her big brother.

“She’s at school every day with Tommy, and that’s just been a really special thing for her — and I think for Tommy, too,” Arth said. “He’s great with both of them.”

That peace of mind is especially nice when Arth is putting in long hours with the quarterbacks, all of whom have completed at least one pass this season. As encouraged as he is by the rapport between Wilson and Fields, not to mention all the winning they’ve done, Arth’s biggest thrill so far might’ve come when Allen had to come in for two snaps against the Cowboys and threw a 19-yard strike to Pat Freiermuth cold off the sideline.

Not only did Allen keep the offense flowing, but it’s always fulfilling for a position coach when the head man in charge or the play-caller trusts one of his reserves enough to perform like a starter — even more so when it’s dialing up a call like that for the third-string quarterback.

“I was just so happy for Kyle,” Arth said. “They just do it the right way, and they do it together, and that’s what makes me proud.”

Wilson echoed that and added that he enjoys all the time he’s spending with Arth, too. They’ve bonded over their faith and talked work-life balance with a lot of kids under one roof.

“I ask him all the time, ‘What’s five like?’ because I’m trying to get to five,” Wilson grinned.

“But he also has a tremendous amount of confidence and grace to him that I believe great coaches have. The ability to be the calm in the storm, ability to communicate in great moments and tough moments — all the above. And I think at the end of the day, to be a tremendous coach, you have to be a tremendous teacher. I think he’s a great teacher.”

Just don’t expect him to be able to teach all the die-hard Browns fans in his life how to wave a Terrible Towel. Those roots run deep.

First Published: November 20, 2024, 5:30 a.m.
Updated: November 20, 2024, 12:03 p.m.

 

The Hall of Fame Case for Marshal Yanda

 

Oct 23, 2024 at 02:20 PM

Clifton Brown

BaltimoreRavens.com Staff Writer

Marshal Yanda is the best guard ever to wear a Ravens uniform and he remained the best right up to his final game.

Years from now, people will watch tape of Yanda at the end of his brilliant 13-year career and still see someone who embodied what it meant to play with passion and excellence. He made the Pro Bowl for the eighth time in his final season in 2019, when the Ravens put together the best regular season (14-2) in franchise history.

Eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for first time in his career, Yanda is one of the 50 modern-era candidates. His case to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer is as strong as one of his lead blocks. Yanda was elite from the beginning of his career to the end. He was too prideful to have it any other way.

"I watched guys as they got older lose a little bit more each year," Yanda said at his retirement press conference in 2020. "By the end, they were almost like a liability. In the back of my mind, I never wanted to be like that."

Awards

• NFL 2010's All-Decade Team
• Eight-time Pro Bowler
• Two-time first team All-Pro
• Five-time second team All-Pro
• Super Bowl Champion (2012)
• Ravens Meritage Ring of Honor

Stats

• Yanda is one of just three guards in history to win a Super Bowl and be selected to at least eight Pro Bowls. Larry Allen and Alan Faneca are the others, and both are in the Hall of Fame.
• Yanda's 191 games played for the Ravens are the most of any offensive lineman in franchise history. Yanda had six seasons in which he never missed a game.
• Yanda was part of an offensive line that helped the Ravens set an NFL all-time rushing record for a season (3,296 yards) in 2019.
• Yanda has the second-highest career Pro Football Focus grade in franchise history (93.0), trailing only Jonathan Ogden (95.3), the Ravens' first Hall of Fame inductee.

Signature Plays

Fourth-and-29

When the Ravens converted a fourth-and-29 during their improbable victory over the Chargers in 2012, Yanda blocked two defensive linemen on the play. He initially took on the Chargers' defensive tackle, then moved to his right to ward off the defensive end who was stunting to the inside. Joe Flacco had enough time to toss a short pass over the middle to Ray Rice, who did the rest by scampering for a first down.

A Key Block in Overtime During Mile High Miracle

In addition to the Ravens' victory in Super Bowl XLVII, perhaps the most memorable game of Yanda's career was the "Mile High Miracle," a double-overtime thriller won by the Ravens on their way to capturing the Super Bowl.

It was the coldest game Yanda ever played in and he looked like the Abominable Snowman by the time it was over, with icicles hanging off his face and eyebrows. Despite the frigid temperature, Yanda maintained his ritual of spraying water in his face and sniffing smelling salts prior to every offensive series.

On the Ravens' final drive in double-overtime, Yanda followed Rice downfield and helped him get a first down by shoving Rice and a Broncos' defender past the line to gain. That play helped set up Justin Tucker's game-winning field goal.

First Snap Ever Playing Left Guard in 2016

Yanda's pain tolerance and ability to play with injuries were legendary. In 2016, Yanda suffered a torn labrum but instead of undergoing season-ending surgery, he moved from right guard to left guard to lessen the impact of the injury. In a November game against the Dallas Cowboys, Yanda played left guard for the first time since high school and dominated from the first play. Running back Terrance West ran behind Yanda for an 18-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Quotes

"That I gave it everything I had every single play. That there was no backing down. That I was a tough, physical player. Football was very important to me. Every year I enjoyed it more, and I respected it more, and I wanted to be a better player every single year. I can think of the offseasons trying to eat better every single year, trying to sleep better, trying to do more therapy, trying to take care of my body more. Every year it was more important to me. [It] didn't matter about the contracts and the money. I was obsessed with this game and being great and wanting to be the best." – Yanda on how he wanted to be remembered by teammates

"When you think about who you would want as a teammate, Marshal is at the top of the list. His effort every day to be the best at his craft was amazing to watch. Every time he stepped on the field, you knew you were getting everything he had. Marshal is one of the best players in franchise history. In my mind, he truly is a certain Hall of Famer." – Ray Lewis, Former Ravens LB and Pro Football Hall of Famer

"Marshal Yanda was the teammate who defined accountability. He was the part of the engine that made the offense go and was always a leader with his actions. I love Marshal Yanda. I love him for being a great man and love him for coming to play football every day." – Ed Reed, Former Ravens S and Pro Football Hall of Famer

Souhan: Time to appreciate all Clare Duwelius, Katie Smith and Dave St. Peter gave to Twin Cities sports

 

Masters of the unappreciated work that drives franchises, Duwelius, Smith, and St. Peter will be remembered for everything they gave to the Lynx and Twins and the fanbases that follow.

By Jim Souhan

The Minnesota Star Tribune

November 17, 2024 AT 8:00AM

From left, Clare DuWelius departed her job as Lynx general manager to take on a role with the new three-on-three women's league starting up; Katie Smith is leaving as a Lynx assistant coach for a position at Ohio State, where she is one of the greatest players in program history; and Dave St. Peter is stepping down as Twins president after 22 years in that position.

 

 

The departures of Clare Duwelius, Katie Smith and Dave St. Peter leaves the Twin Cities sports scene a lesser place.

 

They were masters of the unappreciated work that drives franchises.

 

This past week, Duwelius left her position as general manager of the Minnesota Lynx to become executive vice president and general manager of Unrivaled, the women’s three-on-three basketball league founded in part by Lynx star Napheesa Collier.

 

Smith left her position as Lynx associate head coach to become an assistant coach at her alma mater, Ohio State.

 

Dave St. Peter retired as the Twins team president and CEO to take an advisory role with the team.

 

All three will be difficult to replace, just as, because of their roles, they were difficult to fully appreciate.

 

Take Duwelius. She worked her way up through the Lynx organization from the most menial jobs to become the primary adviser to basketball boss Cheryl Reeve. Last season, the Lynx overachieved grandly, going from middle-of-the-pack projections to within a basket of winning another WNBA title.

 

During the years when I spent time behind the scenes with the Lynx, I found Duwelius to be the kind of person who considered no task too small for her to tackle. She’d fix the coffee machine, break down video of a potential free agent, then throw passes to a player during shooting drills.

 

Smith, too, was known for putting in extra work. Last season, she helped the Lynx become the best three-point shooting team in the league, after finishing 11th in the 12-team league the season before.

 

She coached Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton so well on shooting mechanics and mentality that both broke her Lynx franchise record for three-pointers made in a season.

 

Neither Duwelius nor Smith sought attention, but the players knew their value.

 

St. Peter followed a similar path to Duwelius, getting a low-level job with a big-league franchise and slowly climbing the organizational ladder.

 

What’s different about St. Peter is that he invested his entire adult life in THE … of one franchise.

 

He went from running the Twins pro shops you’d see in strip malls back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s to becoming team president and eventually CEO. He’s one reason the Twins went from threats of relocation and contraction in the late ‘90s to becoming a stable franchise with a state-of-the-art ballpark.

 

I know St. Peter better than Duwelius and Smith, in part because I spent months doing a profile of St. Peter after Target Field opened.

 

I came away from that assignment with two strong memories:

 

Every Twins employee I spoke with, on and off the record, marveled that St. Peter knew virtually everyone’s job better than they did.

 

Before games, St. Peter would walk through the bars at Target Field, thanking employees, and then walk through the stands to thank ushers. He knew everyone’s name.

 

St. Peter also ranked among the most accessible team presidents in all of professional sports.

 

He ranked among the most forthcoming, too.

 

During a series of interviews, he volunteered that his dedication to his job cost him his marriage. During my many years covering the franchise, I had always found that Twins employees worked almost untenable schedules. St. Peter agreed, and vowed to make working for the franchise a better experience.

 

Without Duwelius and Smith, the Lynx might not have produced a magical season in 2024.

 

Without St. Peter (and his predecessor, Jerry Bell), the Twins might not have Target Field, or a Minnesota zip code.

 

Duwelius is positioned to be a power player in a promising new league. She could run a WNBA franchise if she so chooses.

 

Smith should be a head coach in the WNBA or college, and probably will be when the time is right for her.

 

St. Peter? His retirement will probably consist of going to lots of ballgames, and if anybody with the Twins calls, he’ll probably pick up before the second ring.

 

Ohio State Women’s Basketball Great Katie Smith Returning to Buckeyes as Assistant Coach, Jacy Sheldon Returns as Director of Player Development

 

By Dan Hope on November 11, 2024 at 11:05 am @dan_hope

Vincent Carchietta – Imagn Images

An Ohio State women’s basketball legend is returning to the Buckeyes as an assistant coach.

Ohio State announced Monday that Katie Smith, one of the greatest players in program history, is joining Kevin McGuff’s staff as an assistant coach after more than a decade of coaching in the WNBA.

Another Ohio State great is also rejoining the program as Jacy Sheldon, who just completed her rookie season with the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, has been hired as the Buckeyes’ director of player development.

“I'm extremely excited to add both Jacy and Katie to the staff,” McGuff said in a statement. “As former Buckeyes they both possess a passion for this program that will be instrumental in helping us continue to compete at the highest level of women's college basketball. Together they will have a big presence in the community as we proceed with growing our already incredible fan base.”

Smith had an illustrious career for the Buckeyes from 1992-96. She started her career by leading Ohio State to a Big Ten championship and the NCAA championship game as a freshman, earning All-American honors in the process. She earned All-Big Ten honors in each of her final three seasons with the Buckeyes, earning All-American honors again in 1996 while also earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors.

She scored 2,578 points as a Buckeye, finishing her career as the program’s all-time leading scorer. At the time of graduation, Smith was also Ohio State’s all-time leader in made three-pointers (218), three-point percentage (.387), made free throws (708) and free throw percentage (.838), among other records.

Smith became the first player in Ohio State women’s basketball history to have her number retired when her No. 30 was raised to the rafters of the Schottenstein Center in 2001.

Following her career with the Buckeyes, Smith went on to play professionally for 18 seasons. She won two WNBA championships and was a seven-time WNBA All-Star while she also helped lead the U.S. Olympic team to gold medals in 2000, 2004 and 2008. She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame for her accomplishments as a player in 2018.

After playing her final WNBA season with the New York Liberty in 2013, Smith became an assistant coach for the Liberty from 2014-17, then became their head coach for two seasons. She’s been the associate head coach of the Minnesota Lynx since 2020, helping lead the team to a WNBA Finals appearance this past season.

Now, the Logan, Ohio native is returning to her roots to join the coaching staff at her alma mater, where she joins a staff of assistant coaches that also includes Carla Morrow, Jalen Powell and Ryan Murray. Smith fills the spot vacated on the coaching staff by Wesley Brooks, who left the Buckeyes in April to become the head coach at Utah State.

"I'm both excited and grateful to return to my alma mater, Ohio State, and to the city my family and I proudly call home," Smith said in a statement. "Ohio State and its women's basketball program played such a pivotal role in my journey and I am honored to have the opportunity to give back to the program that helped shape me. I look forward to joining Coach McGuff and the entire staff in guiding and supporting these talented young women as they chase their dreams. Together, we're committed to building on Ohio State's proud legacy and taking our program to championship levels in a fiercely competitive Big Ten. I can't wait to see and connect with the Buckeye community – around town and at our games. Go Bucks!"

A two-time first-team All-Big Ten honoree at Oho State, Sheldon completed her Ohio State career last season by leading the Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship and earning second-team All-American honors. In her new role as director of player development, Sheldon will work alongside the coaching staff to develop individualized player development plans for each player on and off the court and serve as a mentor to the Buckeyes’ players.

"I'm so excited to have the opportunity to contribute to a program that did so much for me as a player and a person," Sheldon said in a statement. "As someone who has so much love and respect for this university and this program, I'm grateful to be around this program beyond my playing years."

The No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, Sheldon will continue to play in the WNBA while working for the Buckeyes. In her rookie season with the Wings, Sheldon averaged 5.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 40 games.

Smith and Sheldon will participate in their first game as members of McGuff’s staff on Tuesday as the Buckeyes host Charlotte in their second game of the season at the Schottenstein Center (6 p.m., B1G+). Ohio State, which moved up to No. 12 in the AP Top 25 on Monday, is 1-0 this season after earning a 104-69 win over Cleveland State in its season opener last Tuesday.

Brothers up front, Tyler Linderbaum and Patrick Mekari, are Ravens’ ‘Tom and Jerry’

 

By Jeff Zrebiec

November 11, 2024

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Their lockers are next to each other at the Under Armour Performance Center. After nearly every practice, they stay on the field together to get extra work in. They sit next to each other on the bench during games.

By now, there aren’t many unknowns between Baltimore Ravens left guard Patrick Mekari and center Tyler Linderbaum. That includes understanding when the time is right to get under each other’s skin.

As the Ravens were engaged in a tight road game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “Monday Night Football” last month, Linderbaum was ranting and raving on the sideline. Mekari saw an opportunity to pounce.

“I said, ‘Bro, you’ve changed. Why are you yelling like that?’” Mekari said a few days later. “It got him fired up and he kind of needed that. It was fun. It gets us going again.”

Mekari’s go-to tweak on Linderbaum is to suggest that he’s strayed from his blue-collar Iowa roots and allowed last year’s Pro Bowl selection and burgeoning status as one of the league’s top centers to go to his head.

Linderbaum’s retort is to accuse Mekari of locker room shenanigans, like stealing underwear, and to call out his veteran teammates’ “woe is me” moments.

The Ravens have a loose yet business-like locker room, where the tone is set in the near right corner. That’s where team leaders Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, Roquan Smith and Derrick Henry reside. Across the room and closer to the entrance are the adjacent lockers of Mekari and Linderbaum, the team’s version of “Tom and Jerry,” the cartoon characters that specialize in hijinks and torturing each other.

They’re engaged in almost constant banter on myriad topics. If one of them is locked in an interview, the other typically gets into a position where he can distract and interrupt by either making comments or facial expressions. They don’t always keep their hands to themselves, either. As Linderbaum was speaking to a reporter a few weeks ago, Mekari decided it would be a good time to repeatedly flick his arm for no reason.

“They are definitely like the cat and the mouse, always running back and forth after each other,” said guard Ben Cleveland. “You really don’t know who is instigating what or starting what. But they both are just constantly going at it, and it sometimes gets more than PG-13. It definitely keeps it interesting.”

It’s an interesting dichotomy. They are two of the Ravens’ most no-nonsense and edgy players on the field. Ask around the locker room which teammates you’d least want to mess with, and Linderbaum and Mekari’s names come up frequently. Yet, they are also two of the biggest characters in the locker room. It just often takes them bringing the lighter side out of each other.

Linderbaum, a first-round pick out of Iowa in 2022, was mostly quiet and reserved in his first two seasons, but he’s grown more comfortable in his role and in front of the media. Mekari has always been cautious around reporters, but he occasionally lets his guard down, particularly if Linderbaum is there prodding him.

Interview them separately and you’ll likely get concise and general responses. Interview them together and an Abbott and Costello routine is primed to break out.

“He comes off like he’s serious, but he likes to have a good time and joke around,” Linderbaum said of Mekari. “He’s a guy who likes to say that he doesn’t love football. He loves the s— out of football. He stays after practice for 20 minutes every day working on stuff.”

Patrick Mekari and Tyler Linderbaum are two of the Ravens’ most no-nonsense players on the field, yet they’re also two of the team’s biggest characters. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Indeed, Mekari and Linderbaum stay on the field together after just about every practice to get a few more reps in. They trade notes, critique one another and often try different techniques. Many of Baltimore’s offensive linemen, a group led by Stanley, have joined them in recent weeks

Mekari, 27, likes to joke that he has animosity toward Linderbaum, 24, for taking his starting center job. An undrafted free agent in 2019 who has stepped in wherever he’s been needed up front — he’s started games at all five positions along the offensive line — Mekari spent considerable time at center early in his Ravens career.

However, it essentially was Bradley Bozeman who Linderbaum replaced as Baltimore’s starting center. Bozeman left in free agency in March 2022 and Mekari was a candidate to assume the job. However, the Ravens drafted Linderbaum, the nation’s top collegiate center, a little more than a month after Bozeman’s departure. He was a plug-and-play center.

Instead of coming to the 2022 training camp as the starting center, Mekari was tasked with mentoring Linderbaum, a role he embraced, just as he did this summer with helping rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten get up to speed.

“It’s very meaningful,” Mekari said. “Being a first-round draft pick is a big deal. A first-round draft pick that comes in as an offensive lineman is a really big deal. The way he came in, he didn’t want anything handed to him. His work ethic was there. Watching him play his first couple of games, I was like, ‘This is going to be a guy. This guy’s potential is through the roof.’ He works hard, he cares. He’s not a me guy. Since then, we just became friends. I learn a lot from him. I hope he learns something from me.”

Mekari immediately sought out Linderbaum to make sure the rookie was feeling comfortable and to encourage him to ask any questions. Linderbaum wasn’t bashful. If late Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris was saying something that Linderbaum didn’t understand, he’d approach Mekari for clarification.

“We hit it off right away,” Linderbaum said. “He was the first guy I’d go to learn the center position here since he’s been in the offense so long. Just asking him about certain calls and he’d explain in a half-serious, half-not-serious way. He’s someone who really understands the game and likes to critique his craft. You just kind of naturally gravitate to that, especially guys who love football.”

The two have taken dramatically different paths to get to this point. Mekari, whose parents immigrated to Los Angeles from the Middle East, wasn’t a full-time starter until his junior year of high school. He attracted scant Division I recruiting interest, receiving a scholarship from the University of California only after another offensive line prospect de-committed on signing day.

Forty offensive linemen were selected in the 2019 draft, but Mekari was forced to go the undrafted free-agent route. He had to wait his turn in Baltimore, too. While he’s started 46 games over parts of six years, this season marked the first time in his career that he was a Week 1 starter.

Linderbaum was a multi-sport star athlete at Solon High in Iowa, earning acclaim in football, baseball, wrestling and track and field. He was recruited to the University of Iowa as a defensive tackle but ultimately moved to center. He was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s top center, in 2020, and he won the award the following year. He was considered one of the better center prospects to come out in several years when the Ravens made him the 25th overall pick. He hasn’t disappointed.

“I think we do things a little bit differently, but overall, the objective and the mindset is similar,” Mekari said. “I don’t know about him, but when I watch the way he does things, I’m like, ‘Oh, I like the way you did that. I’m going to try and do that.’ Maybe he feels the same way about me. When you see a great player do great things, you’re going to try it.”

Linderbaum raves about how Mekari can play all five positions up front and says he’s a guy who the younger offensive linemen on the team try to emulate. When the two are together, though, the compliments do not fly. It’s actually quite the opposite.

They are part of a small group of Ravens who spend some evenings playing the Rocket League video game. Linderbaum tells Mekari he sucks at it. Mekari responds by calling him trash. The back and forth continues into the offensive line meeting room the next day, adding levity to otherwise serious preparation.

“When you have personalities like that, it just really helps loosen up the room a little bit,” said reserve guard Andrew Vorhees. “It’s a bunch of chill guys together. I’ve been in rooms in the past where it was not like that. Sometimes it was a little too serious. Having the balance with these guys, who know how to turn it on and off, when it’s appropriate, it really takes the edge off everybody and allows us to be authentic.”

Vorhees describes Linderbaum as “quick-witted” and always ready with a series of one-liners. Mekari, meanwhile, is the “silent assassin,” content to quietly observe before jumping in with something clever at the opportune time. The two are great foils.

“A lot of what he does bothers me,” Mekari said. “Just his overall demeanor. His fingers bother the s— out of me. They are tough to look at.”

And what bothers Linderbaum?

“He’s notorious,” Linderbaum said. “I’ll have two or three pairs of underwear on my loop and sometimes they’ll go missing. He’s notorious for stealing underwear. Everybody knows that.”

Mekari is incredulous when he learns of Linderbaum’s accusation before conceding that he’s guilty as charged.

“I absolutely do. I steal his underwear and that gets him pissed off,” Mekari said. “And when he gets angry at me for any reason on the field or for stealing his underwear, I say, ‘Bro, you’ve changed. You’re grumpy today. You need to get more sleep.’ He gets angry at that, too.

“He really is just like a brother to me.”

(Top photo: Terrance Williams / Associated Press)