On a day designed to honor Haloti Ngata’s retirement as a member

OWINGS MILLS http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/sione-takitaki-jersey , Md. (AP) — his former coach in Baltimore stole a portion of the limelight.Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti welcomed both Ngata and Brian Billick into the team’s prestigious Ring of Honor, announcing Wednesday that Billick will be inducted in 2019 and Ngata in 2020.Ngata was drafted out of Oregon as the 12th overall pick in 2006. The first NFL coach he played for was Billick, who guided the Ravens from 1999-2007 and hoisted the Super Bowl trophy after the 2000 season.Billick compiled a 80-64 record but was fired by Bisciotti after Baltimore staggered to a 5-11 finish in 2007. It took 12 years, but Bisciotti figured the time was right to finally recognize the 65-year-old Billick for his contribution to the franchise.“I told Brian how honored we would be, and how lucky we are as an organization, to have had him here,” Bisciotti said.Ngata, 35, will also have his name emblazoned on the Ravens’ home stadium, a suitable salute to a five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle who made a name for himself on a defense that included future Hall of Fame entrants Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.As a star-struck rookie, Ngata recalled with a chuckle his first encounter with Lewis at training camp.“Ray said, ‘I called you, you didn’t answer, what’s up?’ I froze Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , I didn’t know what to say, you know, when you meet your heroes,” Ngata said. “I just told him, ‘I’m so sorry, Mr. Lewis, I’ll call you next time.'”Lewis informed Ngata that he could call him Ray.Ngata and Lewis teamed with Reed and others to win the Super Bowl in 2012. After the 2014 season, Ngata and then-general manager Ozzie Newsome became embroiled in a salary dispute, a prelude to a trade that sent the 320-pound lineman to the Detroit Lions.“At first I was kind of shocked a little bit,” Ngata said. “But I understood. I was against the salary cap. I wasn’t moving and they weren’t budging.”Ngata toiled three seasons in relative anonymity in Detroit before closing out his 13-year career in Philadelphia in 2018.“The last month of the season I woke up and thought, ‘Why am I still doing this?'” he said. “Once I’m questioning why I’m playing football, I know it’s time to retire.”It was important to Ngata that his NFL career would end where he started it.Wiping away tears, Ngata told an audience of family, friends, former teammates and fans Kaleb McGary Jersey , “This is an amazing organization. I loved being a Raven. I always knew I wanted to retire as a Raven. I just couldn’t wait to come back.”Ngata was twice an All-Pro. He had 32 ½ sacks, five interceptions and seven forced fumbles over 180 games.Being in Ravens Ring of Honor is special, but there might be something even better in store for Ngata, according to Newsome.Newsome, who drafted Lewis and Reed, is also a member of the Hall of Fame. He believes Ngata deserves to be honored in similar fashion.“When I think about a Hall of Famer, No. 1, did he play on a winning ball club? He did,” Newsome said. “Was he part of a Super Bowl? He did. Was he a dominate player in his era at his position? He did. So, he’s checked all of those boxes.”Newsome reluctantly gave up a sixth-round draft pick in 2006 to move up one spot in the first round to get Ngata. He never regretted it.“We had been (drafting) pretty good in that sixth round, so were giving up a good player,” Newsome said. “But we were getting a great player. A rare player.”It didn’t take long for Billick to realize that Ngata was going to be a perfect fit for a team build around its defense.“You knew right from the get-go, all right, this guy is going to be special,” Billick said.Billick never got another coaching job after being fired by Bisciotti Kendall Sheffield Jersey , but he became close friends with Baltimore’s current coach, John Harbaugh, and remains loyal to the club.“When Steve called it was a surprise, but it goes to the heart of what Haloti was talking about,” Billick said. “I don’t think there’s another organization that has what this one does.” The recent effort by NFL senior V.P. of officiating Al Riveron to explain the new pass interference replay review to members of NFL Media continues to generate new reasons to be concerned that the league’s effort to avoid another Rams-Saints debacle will lead to more, not less, controversy.Last week, Mike Giardi of NFL Media disclosed that Riveron (who usually conducts these sessions with networks on an off-the-record basis) explained that a Week 15 defensive pass interference call against Chiefs cornerback Kendall Fuller would have become offsetting interference fouls on replay review, given that Chargers receiver Mike Williams used his arm to get separation. This sparked several PFT articles regarding the potential impact of this approach on replay review of pass interference, with the overriding question being whether 17 replay officials will consistently apply the same standard when determining whether to activate a full-blown replay review based on whether offensive or defensive pass interference did or didn’t happen.Expanding on the information disclosed by Giardi, Rich Eisen of NFL Media explains in a guest appearance at Football Morning in America that Riveron also pointed to a controversial non-call from Super Bowl LIII, which resulted in Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore not being flagged for pass interference on Rams receiver Brandin Cooks. Eisen writes that Riveron explained to the NFL Media employees that the new procedure would have resulted in a flag being thrown on Gilmore for defensive pass interference.Because it happened with more than two minutes left in the game, Rams coach Sean McVay would have been required to throw a red challenge flag to initiate replay review. Implicit in Riveron’s belief that replay review would have triggered a penalty flag on Gilmore is the reality that, if Riveron believes that clear and obvious evidence of an error existed to justify overturning the ruling on the field, clear and obvious evidence would have existed to initiate an automatic review under the heightened standard for replay-review gatekeeping when pass interference is at issue.Watch the play. Is it clear and obvious that Gilmore significantly hindered Cooks? Gilmore definitely makes contact with Cooks John Cominsky Jersey , but Cooks still is able to nearly catch the ball. Yes, Gilmore hooks Cooks’ left arm, but Cooks still pulls his arm up and puts it in position for the reception, with only a legal blow delivered by Patriots safety Duron Harmon (and/or the impending blow from Harmon) causing Cooks to lose control of the ball.So is it clear and obvious that Gilmore significantly hindered Cooks? I don’t think it is.Flip it around. If pass interference had been called, would if have been clear and obvious that Gilmore didn’t significantly hinder Cooks? No. Which means that, regardless of the call, the ruling on the field arguably should stand.Riveron obviously thinks otherwise. Unless the NFL plans to replace Riveron before the start of the season, he’ll be the ultimate internal authority on matters of this nature for 2019. Based on his mishandling of multiple catch/no-catch rulings in 2017, concern lingers in league circles regarding Riveron’s ability to apply relevant standards consistently and accurately in real time. The explanations provided by Riveron in connection with the Super Bowl LIII and Chargers-Chiefs plays potentially amplifies the concern that the effort to prevent another Rams-Saints outcome will result in other situations involving far less clear and/or obvious interference calls and non-calls being overturned, when they just shouldn’t be.So, yes, this will continue to be a major potential problem as the NFL’s 100th season approaches. And if the procedure is applied the way that Riveron seems to believe it should be applied, the league’s first three-digit campaign could be remembered for the regular torrent of four-letter words that it provokes.