Ravens Greats created the Pro Football Hall of Fame Boost

Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden and Ed Reed are all inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as great players on the Baltimore Ravens. All three played their careers in Baltimore, but the AFC North franchise has a good chance of sending two more former players to Canton.

Both qualified for the semifinals of the voting process for the class of 2023. While each has thrived with the Ravens, the duo have also boosted their own résumés worthy of Hall in other stints in the NFL.

Her legacy with the Ravens centers on the great plays that made her pass for a team traditionally known for their defense. One member of the duo even helped the Ravens win their second Super Bowl.

Anquan Boldin and Steve Smith Sr. are two gods 28 former players who made it to the penultimate round of voting:

There is some evidence that anchoring will reward both. Boldin has the hardware, having been a key factor in the Ravens’ victory in Super Bowl XLVII over the San Francisco 49ers to cap off the 2012 season.

It was Boldin’s best year with the Ravens, 65 receptions for 921 yards and four touchdowns on 112 goals. While his regular season performance was relatively modest, Boldin came to life in the playoffs.

He scored a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in the wild card round before twice defeating the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. Boldin capped an all-time postseason run for the Ravens by making six catches for 104 yards and a goal against the Niners.

More than his numbers, Boldin added a sense of toughness to the Ravens offense to match the tenacious nature of a defense led by Lewis, Reed and Terrell Suggs. Boldin’s size and winning ability in center also helped make Joe Flacco a better quarterback.

The same qualities allowed Boldin to enter the NFL logs as a rookie for the Arizona Cardinals in 2003:

Boldin enjoyed his prime with the cards, tallying five 1,000-yard seasons. One of those came in 2008, when Boldin helped propel the Cardinals to the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, where they ended up going short against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Two more 1,000-yard campaigns with the 49ers helped end a career that peaked with the Ravens. Smith cannot say the same, but his argument is no less powerful.

Smith hadn’t traveled as far as Boldin, but this two-team playmaker fielded more dominant numbers. Those stats included eight 1,000-yard seasons, seven of them with the Carolina Panthers.

Smith’s last banner campaign was with the Ravens in 2014. He caught 79 passes for 1,065 yards and six touchdowns. Not bad for a 35-year-old who averaged 13.5 yards a catch this year and has never lost his ability to reach downfield.

Smith helped a loaded Ravens team make the divisional playoffs that season, where a few games later ruled illegal by the league helped the Pats complete a 28-14 comeback at home.

One of Smith’s best games of ’14 came against his old team, the Panthers. He recounted his outing of him with seven catches and two points Kevin Oeststreicher of Raven’s Wire:

The performance showcased all that is fantastic about Smith’s playing. Namely vertical speed, elusive after-catch, and the kind of petty physical advantages that have made him feared by defenders all over the league.

A five-foot-tall target who began his career as a kick returner and then ranked elite as a wideout on run-first offenses, Smith is the kind of player the Hall of Fame was built for.

Boldin and Smith were not lifeguards for the Ravens like Lewis, Reed and Ogden. Instead, like safety Rod Woodson and tight end Shannon Sharpe, Smith and Boldin did enough in some of the Ravens’ best seasons to build careers worthy of the arena’s recognition.