Late in the fourth quarter of Thursday's preseason victory over the Carolina Panthers, just about everyone inside M&T Bank Stadium stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the video boards.
The Ravens broadcast the feed inside the stadium of Michael Phelps' gold-medal race in the 200 IM during a break in the football action, and the entire stadium soaked up the moment.
"I got chills from watching him," running back Buck Allen said.
Players from both teams stood on the field and gazed up at the video, which showed the Baltimore native winning his 22nd career gold medal. As Phelps pulled away from the pack late in the race, chants of "U-S-A" broke out in the crowd, and then Baltimore's "Seven-Nation Army" anthem played over the stadium speakers after he claimed another gold.
"How sick is that?" safety Eric Weddle said at the start of his post-game press conference. "In 10, 15, 20 years from now when I'm sitting with my kids, I'll be able to say that I'm sitting in the Ravens stadium in a preseason game and I'm watching one of the best swimmers ever win gold for the U.S. As you get older, you cherish those kinds of moments."
The race certainly had the stadium buzzing, and Head Coach John Harbaugh opened his post-game press conference by congratulating the Olympic swimmer. Panthers quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton was also in awe of the reaction inside the stadium.
"You won't see too many athletes who would stop playing their game to watch another athlete compete," Newton said. "That just shows how highly everyone thinks of Michael Phelps."
As Baltimore cheered on Phelps, the Olympian also had some of his attention on the game back home. He told NBC's Michelle Tafoya in an interview after the race that he was texting with a friend to keep updated on the score.
"I look forward to getting back home for a Ravens game very soon, and I miss those guys back home," Phelps said.
