The Ravens already brought home the hardware on sport's biggest stage, but on Wednesday they got shut out on the "sports world's biggest night."
The Ravens were nominated for four awards at the annual ESPY Awards, but they didn't get selected by the fans as the winners in any of the categories. The four categories were Best Team, Best Game, Best Play and Best Championship Performance.
The Miami Heat beat out the Ravens in three of the four categories, talking home awards for Best Team, Best Game (Game 6 of NBA Finals) and Best Championship Performance (LeBron James). South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney won Best Play over Ray Rice for his iconic "Hey Diddle Diddle" 4th-and-29 against the San Diego Chargers.
Joe Flacco was nominated for Best Championship Performance after throwing for 287 yards and three touchdowns in the Super Bowl, earning him MVP honors. The Ravens 38-35 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos in the AFC divisional round was up for Best Game.
While the Ravens didn't win any awards, they were still featured throughout the show. Ray Lewis, Joe Flacco, Terrell Suggs, Jacoby Jones, Torrey Smith and Dennis Pitta were all in attendance and seated in the first two rows next to the stage. Lewis was referenced on a number of occasions, including by Olympian Michael Phelps during his acceptance speech for Best Record Breaking Performance.
"I also want to think the big guy, Ray," Phelps said, pointing to Lewis. "Ray was somebody who really helped me find the fire inside of me to really come back and finish the career the way I wanted to."
ESPYs host Jon Hamm also referenced Lewis during his opening monologue, joking about the linebacker's on-field emotion.
