BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Ravens coach John Harbaugh joked on Monday that he finally decided rookie Tyler Loop would be the team’s starting kicker this season when he was asked about it following Saturday night’s preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys. In earnest, Baltimore knew months earlier after a 2 1/2-hour dinner at a Tucson, Arizona, restaurant that included an endless supply of Pepsi and a few tables being rearranged.
That’s when Loop convinced senior special teams coach and soda junkie Randy Brown, who took three different west coast trips to meet with the Arizona standout, that he was the right man for the job.
“He explained to me his process and it was intricate,” Brown said Monday, speaking with reporters for the first time since Baltimore used a sixth-round pick in April on Loop, the first kicker in the organization’s 30-year history to be drafted.
Among the things that Brown — who is entering his 18th season with the Ravens and has worked with Justin Tucker, Billy Cundiff and Matt Stover, among others — was looking for was someone that has a strong leg, is tough mentally and kicks a straight ball.
Read the full story on the Baltimore Sun.