Ozzie Newsome Quotations

We felt like we were cheating time a little bit right there. We knew we were putting ourselves in this position in 2002, but we had to take our shot at winning back-to-back. We could have done half of this cap-cutting last year, and it wouldn't have been this painful, but I don't think we would have had a real shot to get to the Super Bowl this season.

Yes, it did. But I was not able to get a hold of Joel.

Moving the Cleveland Browns was just unheard of,

I was scrawny. Now as a GM, I understand. He wanted to see if I could add weight.

I look more -- and this is part of my philosophy -- at what a guy will be doing in years three, four and five.

He is a consummate professional. He will enthusiastically play any role he is given. That could be as a starter, as a backup or as an outstanding special teams player.

He does a good job of taking care of his body,

He could play the same role Chester Taylor played for us. His experience, his toughness, his military background, all of it gives him an integrity that will be great in our locker room.

It goes again to the parity of the league,

Our board has been set pretty much, and everybody is in accord,

Right or wrong on this call, the system in place has worked and he trusts it, ... You can't stretch too much and still stick with your system.

I was going against one of the best linebackers in the game and he felt the same way.

We dominated people from a personnel standpoint back then,

When you're riding high on a three-game winning streak, if you don't play well that fourth game, you can get your butt beat. And then things can go in the other direction for a while.

We are happy to have one of our own back. Daniel has been a very productive player for us the last two years. He has given us a presence both on offense and special teams.

The Ravens have decided not to franchise or transition Jamal Lewis. At the same time, we will still consider the possibility of talking with Jamal about a long-term contract with us. I've spoken with Jamal and his agent (Mitch Frankel) today to let them know.

We are so excited to have Jamal back. If you look at his history, he always rebounds in a big way from adversity. He had a tough 2005 that started with surgery, his incarceration, and then dealing with all of the turmoil during the season with the contract hanging over his head. We expect big things from him.

Expectations are there for this team to do well. They are there from the owner, myself, the head coach and his staff, and the players. Now, can we live up to the expectations?

You have to look at it in three different phases,

We did a legitimate cap-friendly deal with a low cap number in the first year ($1.5 million), ... We got the guy we wanted and it's a five-year deal. It's the same kind of option deals that we have with Ray Lewis , Michael McCrary and Jermaine Lewis . ... We just have had to structure some deals that way for cap reasons.

The third piece was the job that the coaches did last year, taking that young squad and developing some of those young players, and then being able to augment it this year. We looked at it and said, '03 and '04 were what we were shooting for.

It's up to the coaching staff but the starter will be determined in training camp.

(Davis) is an explosive athlete but I won't ever put all-time on anybody. They put all-time on Kellen Winslow and he has yet to play a down. There's too many things that can happen.

It's like I've got an option play. That's the way I view it. We can break outside or stay inside. We have any number of scenarios.

Everybody is hiring or promoting those administrative cap guys, ... Ray didn't really fit the cloth of an agent anyway. He was more of an administrator and executive than he was an agent. You need someone who you can work closely with and who has a handle on all your cap dollars.

It was his offense this year. He ran it, called it, it was his. Once we got all of our players in place, once we got them healthy, Jim did a good job, and he'll do an even better job next year if we have the chance to retain him.

I guess you've got to look at it like it's college. After four years or so, the players have to move on in this system. But we think we can do it again. We think we can build it back up. Look at San Francisco. It can come back around very quickly in this league. That's what we're focused on.

If you hit on four of those five, there is a big chance that that player is going to perform well in the National Football League.

If you would have told me that there was going to be only one job available by the time Marvin could interview, then I would have said there's a chance Marvin would be back here and be happy about it, ... To Marvin's credit, his family played a big part in his decision. They really didn't want to go.

I guess you could say it's like climbing a mountain. You just start climbing.

His ability to play all of the positions on the defensive line makes it tough for offenses to defend him. To get your protection set, you've got to know where he's at. It reminds me of Reggie White .

Hopefully people won't say Baltimore doesn't know good talent. We know good talent when we see it. We just know we couldn't keep all of our good players the way the game is structured these days.

The chemistry of your football team doesn't come together till, really, in the second half of the season because every year you've got new parts that you're bringing in. From a personnel standpoint, we say they're better players in November than they are in September.

The draft is going to have to provide us with a lot of young talent that's going to have to come in and contribute right away -- hopefully in a mighty way, ... When you've got as many holes as we have, I think any player that we select in any of the rounds will have a unique opportunity to come in and play.

All that would lead to is some under the table stuff. You've have deals and staffs put together without anyone ever making anything official until after the playoffs.

I don't have many heroes. Very plain and simply, Johnny Unitas was one of my heroes. When you think of Baltimore, you think of Johnny Unitas.

I scored a touchdown on the first reception I made in the NFL and spiked the ball. The instant I did, I felt horrible and couldn't wait for the game to end so I could call Coach Bryant and apologize. He said he didn't even notice, but I never spiked the ball again.

More and more teams are using almost exclusively the draft to build their teams. And that means you have younger players to develop in those key depth positions. Younger players are more susceptible to streaks than veterans. They go up, they go down.

The year I gave up the 150-catch streak I had an ankle injury and didn't want to go back in because I'd have a better chance of playing the following week.

I have to constantly tell my personnel staff, 'Hey guys, we're still a good staff even though we're allowing good players to go play for other people,'