I may have found the source of the "Mile High Miracle."
A group of six nuns from the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Catonsville, Md., watched Monday's practice and met nearly every player and coach afterwards. It was quite the sight.
"We'll take all the help we can get," Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees quipped.
But this wasn't their first trip to the Under Armour Performance Center.
They visited last season too, right before the Ravens pulled off football's version of the parting of the Red Sea by defeating the top-seeded Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. So there's a correlation here, right?
The nuns are longtime huge Ravens fans who get together to watch every game in a hall at the congregation. They replace the traditional black and white with their jerseys after church lets out. They all did Ray Lewis' signature "Squirrel Dance" when watching the Super Bowl.
Oh my goodness. Is there video?
"That's what John Harbaugh asked," Sister Alexis Fisher said with a giggle.
Harbaugh, who Fisher called "Johnny Harbaugh," made a particular impression.
"He's just a good man," she said. "Ray Rice too. All of the players came over and shook our hands and thanked us for coming. We said, 'It was a pleasure for us to be here!' They were all just nice guys."
The other takeaway the ladies had was the size of the players. The players make me look small. They made 5-foot-nothing (and that's generous) nuns, look itsy bitsy.
"I looked up and said, 'You guys are huge!'" Sister Fisher said. "We're just all terrific football fans. Having this experience of coming here to visit, I think you can see it in my face, I'm just ecstatic."
The players clearly enjoyed the visit too.
"That's the first time I've ever seen that," outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil said with a laugh. "It's awesome. We need their prayers."
You got em, Elvis. The last thing Sister Fisher said to me was, "We're praying for them. We're praying real hard."
Here's an Instagram video of the nuns talking with the players. Mobile users should tap the "View In Browser" button to check it out.
