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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
