Andrew Downs

About a half hour before Sunday’s home opener against the Saints, the Ravens’ mascot Poe will take flight for the first time in Baltimore. As part of the Ravens’ new pregame entertainment called “The Uprising,” Poe will zip-line from a light tower high above Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium down to the 50-yard line, where the Marching Ravens and cheerleaders will be performing. The person who suits up as Poe has been requesting to do this type of a stunt for 20 years. “There's really no fear,” the person who suits up as Poe said. "Not that I'm an adrenaline junkie or anything, but I don't feel like I'm unsafe. I don't feel like I'm at any risk whatsoever.” When Ravens officials began brainstorming about a new pregame event, there was talk about how the band and cheerleaders would enter the field. Poe then suggested this grand entrance for him. "And when I threw it out, I did not think it was going to go through,” Poe said. Other mascots — like the ones with the Jaguars and Panthers — have zip-lined down to the field over the years. Poe even joined the Texans mascot to repel off the roof of Reliant Stadium. To prepare for Sunday’s leap, Poe has made several practice runs at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens requested that no video be taken of Poe’s practice jumps. “It's a little bit breathtaking,” said Brad Downs, the Ravens’ senior vice president of marketing. “It gets the heart pumping.” In the past, fans would arrive early to games to see Ray Lewis’ dance during player introductions. Fans later did the same to watch Terrell Suggs’ entrance that included pyrotechnics. Now, the Ravens are trying to lure fans to enter the stadium 30 minutes before kickoff with a revamped show that includes the NFL’s largest marching band and the only cheerleading squad that performs stunts. "We can't control wins and losses, but we can create an incredible pregame that gets the fans jacked up,” said Jay O’Brien, the Ravens’ vice president of broadcasting and gameday productions. "Jesse [Minter, Ravens coach] talked about how important the first drive is. So we want this place to be full and loud from the first drive, not people kind of trickling in. We want this place going.” The Ravens have plans of changing up how Poe enters the field throughout the home schedule. “We're just having fun with it,” Downs said. "We're going to see how it goes this week. I don't think this is the last time we're going to make him fly. But yeah, we're really trying to get a little uniqueness to that as well.”