The Pain of an Expected Breakup

If someone were to ask me who the best player on the Ravens is — relative to his ranking amongst his positional peers across the league — my easy answer would be Justin Tucker. It could be argued that Tucker and Aaron Donald are the two most-clear answers to the top players at their respective positions in the entire league, right?

Now, if I was asked who the most important individual player to the Ravens success is, my answer would shift to Lamar Jackson. It’s a quarterback league. The Ravens have one who was once voted MVP of said league. We saw what happened last season when Jackson wasn’t on the field or playing his best.

To me, these are pretty obvious. Could you make a case for Mark Andrews being the best player? Sure, I think he was the team’s MVP for the 2021 season. But the team also went (8-9), so I think Jackson offers more in terms of team wins than an extremely-talented tight end does.

But those are conversations for another day, probably (or, in the comments below).

What’s a much-more personal question is, who is your favorite Raven? Who’s that player who you just really like everything you see and hear from, and you find yourself rooting for to succeed above all others?

The fun of this exercise is it doesn’t have to be a star, right? It can be a special-teamer who you like seeing missile his way toward opposing returners. Or a gritty defensive tackle who occupies blockers and “takes one for the team.” Or, judging by a lot of the jerseys spotted around The Bank, it could be the aforementioned opera-belting, heavy-footed kicker.

For me, it’s Bradley Bozeman. And I’m finally beginning to push my whopping case of denial aside and come to the realization that he won’t be back in the purple and black next season.

Bozeman isn’t that classic underdog story that usually draws me to players. I mean, he played at Alabama, was drafted in the sixth round in 2018 and got on the field for 14 games his rookie year, including one start. He then started all 32 games the next two seasons at left guard, before moving back to his college position of center this past season, collecting another 16 starts. Seems like a really good progression for a sixth-round pick, right? Great value, for sure. Also, you have to love a guy who’s willing to jump in wherever needed.

But that’s not what made him “my guy.”

I liked Bozeman because he seemed genuine from the first day he arrived in town. I liked that he was always quick to smile and laugh in interviews. I liked when I read that he and his wife, Nikki, were living in a camper, and that they traveled around helping kids deal with bullying, and trying to provide as many meals to families in need that they could. I liked that when I watched the offensive line group practice in training camp, guys like Kevin Zeitler and Ben Cleveland were talking with him between reps, and Bozeman appeared to be answering questions for the two then-newcomers.

Basically, I just like the guy.

I kept waiting to hear throughout this past season that the Ravens had reached an agreement with Bozeman — that he had been identified as a building block for future teams. It never came. Maybe there were talks. Maybe Bozeman simply wanted to see what his value around the league would be after having a full season to show what he could do at his natural position. Maybe both sides knew going into this season that this would be it — the Ravens were going to move Bozeman back to center for a year, then let him seek greener pastures. And, by “greener,” I mean dollar bills.

Whatever the case, I’m now allowing myself to accept the very-real possibility that the Bozeman family will be representing somewhere else next season. And, to be honest, I’m rooting for them. They’ve walked the walk every moment they’ve represented the Ravens, and Bradley has improved his game every year since hearing his name called in 2018.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m still holding out hope for a contract announcement keeping Bozeman in Baltimore for years to come. But the longer this goes, and once teams begin throwing big numbers at him, I’m starting to come to terms with my fears. And we should all be thankful for the four years he’s provided this organization.

Unless he lands in the division.

Then, you know… screw that guy.

[Related Article: Should The Ravens Go All-in Like The Rams?]

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