When the Ravens drafted Ball State quarterback Keith Wenning in the sixth round, it looked like Michael Campanaro wouldn't be playing for his hometown team.
"My girlfriend is a huge Ravens fan, so she started talking crap about the Ravens," Campanaro said with a chuckle.
Turns out, the Ravens wanted Campanaro badly enough to give up a sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft to get back into the 2014 draft's seventh round and scoop up the River Hill High School product at pick No. 218 overall.
Now Campanaro isn't having trouble getting the whole clan on board. Growing up in Clarksville, Md., in Howard County, his family was split between the Ravens and Redskins.
They'll have to choose their allegiances Saturday night as the Ravens will face the Redskins at M&T Bank Stadium.
"I think after the draft, it's 100 percent Ravens," Campanaro said.
But which side was Campanaro on growing up? Ravens or Skins?
"I was honestly split, but I went to more Ravens games growing up," he said. "I was at all of the playoff games, watching Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, Jamal Lewis – all the greats. I was at a lot of Ravens games."
Campanaro has a lot of links to the Ravens from his younger days.
He played for the Columbia Ravens in youth football (Users click "View In Browser" above). In high school, Campanaro won consecutive Maryland 2A state championships playing inside M&T Bank Stadium.
He left home to play at Wake Forest in North Carolina, but is back now and loving it.
"I have a lot of history in that stadium," Campanaro said. "It's great being back home and playing in front of so many people who supported me when I was young and growing up playing ball."
New #Ravens WR Michael Campanaro (@MikeCamp3). (HT @CoachTill). pic.twitter.com/O1pEHjKFBW — Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) May 10, 2014
