The Baltimore Ravens, along with the National Football League, will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15) with a series of special events. The Ravens' efforts will include a designated home game – this Sunday's matchup vs. the New England Patriots – in honor of this celebration, in addition to local community outreach which began earlier this month.
This past Tuesday (9/18), the Ravens hosted a Hispanic Heritage Month/Play60 football clinic to encourage physical activity and healthy lifestyles among youth. The clinic was held for 150 predominantly Hispanic children, ages 5-11, at Du Burns Arena in Baltimore. Several Ravens players, includingLB Brendon Ayanbadejo, TE Ed Dickson and K Justin Tucker, were on hand to demonstrate the fundamentals of football. A raffle was held at the end of the clinic, when one participant won tickets to Sunday night's nationally-televised game.
Prior to kickoff of the Ravens-Patriots game, Javier Colón, winner of the first season of NBC's The Voice, will sing the national anthem, and U.S. Army Lieutenant General Rhett Hernandez will act as honorary captain and execute the coin toss. Hernandez is the Commanding General, U.S. Army Cyber Command/Second Army, at Fort Belvoir, Va.
In pregame, the Ravens will also recognize the Carneros de Guadalajara, the Tochito flag football championship team from Mexico that will take part in a tournament with three Baltimore-area flag football teams on Sept. 22 at Anne Arundel Community College.
During the game, the Ravens will honor the late José Orlando Ruíz, founder of Education-Based Latino Outreach (EBLO), and his family with the NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. The NFL and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) have partnered for the second annual NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Awards, presented by Bud Light. The award recognizes the contributions of Hispanic leaders in each NFL market. Ruíz founded EBLO in 1980, creating a nonprofit institution that provides educational and cultural programs to children, youth and adults in the Hispanic community. With support from Bud Light, EBLO will receive a $3,000 donation to continue its efforts.
Ravens Cheerleaders will dance to Latin inspired songs throughout the game, and the Baltimore Marching Ravens will perform a Latin song at halftime. Coverage of Sunday's game will be provided in Spanish via SAP with Telemundo sportscasters Rene Giraldo and Edgar Lopez.
