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LLT
01-15-2011, 05:02 AM
Steelers-Ravens rivalry borne of hatred, respect
By Bob Cohn, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, January 15, 2011


After the Houston Texans' birth as an NFL expansion team in 2000, then-Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell said he wouldn't mind switching from the AFC to the NFC, if the league deemed it necessary.

"We have no solid, entrenched rivalries of traditional teams we play," Modell said. "I don't mind moving because we can start new relationships."

Fortunately for fans, the league and orthopedic surgeons, the team stayed put. Imagine, after all, if the Ravens played in one conference and the Steelers another, if during the past decade the franchises had not forged what is considered to be the NFL's most intense, competitive and bone-crunching rivalry.

There would be no feisty trash talk and inflammatory accusations twice, sometimes three times, yearly. No legalized violence of the type likely to test new NFL rules when the teams meet yet again at 4:30 p.m. today at Heinz Field in an AFC divisional playoff game.

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