What is the connection between the NFL and Edgar Allan Poe? It sounds like a random question or the opening to some sort of joke that one would hear at a dive bar. But it’s not. It is a perfectly reasonable question with a perfectly reasonable answer.
As a woman, born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I don’t find this to be a difficult question. Being an English major, as well as a fan of Poe’s work, I can appreciate the connection with a sense of pride and additional knowledge. What many people think of when they think of Edgar Allan Poe, a deranged drunk and homeless pervert, who had a twisted relationship with a young girl, is an exaggerated distortion of the truth. The Poe Museum chronologizes Poe’s life in a way that not only explains why so many have this horrid image of the beloved poet but also explains his life in a way that garners the utmost sympathy.
Similarly, there are people living in certain areas who are born into reputations that they simply do not deserve. Words like “thug” or “trash” are often labels that are thrust upon people, who have done nothing wrong other than be born into a place that is difficult to live in.
“Nameless here for evermore.”
--From Poe’s “The Raven”
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. However, his parents had both passed away by the time he was three, and young Poe spent much of his poverty-stricken youth in Virginia, before moving to stay with relatives in Baltimore, Maryland. While he did grow up poor, Poe was not the drunk that many people believe him to be. Despite his orphaned upbringing, Poe made a name for himself in Baltimore, as an author and a poet, as well as a literary critic for the Messenger. Although Poe’s criticisms are praised as fearless, they created many enemies for him. Once established as a serious voice in the literary world, he married his fourteen-year-old cousin, Virginia, when he was twenty-seven. Although Poe was several years older than his wife, they had a very happy marriage for many years, until tragedy struck. Virginia died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-four, leaving Poe alone with his thoughts and depression. He died two years later of unknown causes in a bar room that was being used as a polling place.
After his death, Rufus Griswold, one of many authors who had been torn apart by Poe’s criticisms, took the opportunity to get his revenge. He wrote a libelus obituary about Edgar Allan Poe, in which he depicted a pathetic and worthless drunk, with numerous sexual exploits to his name. Despite all this, people responded to Griswold by purchase even more of Poe’s work, which sold well enough before, but Griswold’s slander of the deceased only seemed to pique readers’ curiosity.
“Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking ‘Nevermore.’”
--From Poe’s “The Raven”
Poe’s legacy lives on through his stories and poems. A master of horror, he constructed tales that made people’s hearts race to where they could hear the blood pounding in their ears. But Poe wrote other stories as well; many attribute the modern mystery genre to Poe. His “Purloined Letter,”one of his best known mysteries, is as eloquent as it clever. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would later call Poe “a model for all time." But what does any of this have to do with the NFL?
Everything.
Poe’s legacy.
Each NFL team takes its name from some aspect of its area. The Dallas Cowboys are in Texas, where the cowboys of the great western tales originate. The Pittsburgh Steelers get their name because that area was known for its steel production. And the Baltimore Ravens chose their name to honor the former resident of Baltimore: Edgar Allan Poe.It is from Poe’s most famous work, “The Raven”, that the team gets its namesake, but the link does not stop there. Before 2008, the Baltimore Ravens had three mascots, who were brothers, Edgar, Allan, and (you guessed it!) Poe. After 2008, Edgar and Allan retired to be replaced by two real ravens (not poor youths in sweaty costumes), Rise and Conquer.
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before”
--From Poe’s “The Raven”
Despite various titles and logos, the residents of Baltimore, and all of Maryland, can respect Poe’s (the poet’s not the bird’s) struggles. Poverty has been and can be an issue in Baltimore. For many, it can be a city full of hopes and dreams just waiting to be discovered. For others that are born there, it is a place where mothers and fathers struggle to put food on the table or keep a roof over their children’s heads. A life of crime can be tempting when there seems to be no other option or means of living. But the orphaned poet, who lived in the Baltimore and rose above it all, is an inspiration to those facing difficult times. He may have been born into nothing, lost his wife, and suffered from torturous depression, but Edgar Allan Poe’s work is immortal. Despite his tragic life and numerous struggles, his legacy and his namesake still live on, meaning there is hope for all of those in Baltimore, who may be struggling but could be hours away from becoming the next Edgar Allan Poe.
