D.C. Native Ogden Among Hall of Fame Class

On the same weekend that the Baltimore Ravens will aim for their second Super Bowl championship, the franchise will also celebrate its first-ever Hall of Fame inductee.

Jonathan Ogden, who played all 12 seasons of his NFL career with the Ravens, became one of seven new members elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday.

Ogden, a D.C. native who was a high school All-American in both football and track and field at St. Albans School, will be joined at this summer's induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio by former head coach Bill Parcells (active 1983-1990, 1993-99, 2003-2006), defensive end Warren Sapp (1995-2007), wide receiver Cris Carter (1987-2002), and offensive lineman Larry Allen (1994-2007) as so-called modern-era honorees.

Among those who failed to make the cut was late Ravens owner Art Modell, who moved the franchise to Baltimore from Cleveland following the 1995 NFL season.

Ogden was drafted by the Ravens with the 4th overall pick of the 1996 NFL Draft out of UCLA and started 176 of a possible 192 regular season games. He was elected to the Pro Bowl 11 times, named to the All-Pro Team nine times and was a member of the 2000 Super Bowl Champion Ravens, who defeated the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.

“It’s like going to the hospital with your wife to have a baby. You can’t do anything about it,” Ogden told the Associated Press. “You hear everybody say you’re a first ballot for sure, but you never really know. A lot of good well deserving guys didn’t get in on the first ballot.”

The Redskins will also be represented in Canton in August, as former linebacker Dave Robinson was voted in as a so-called senior selection. Robinson, a longtime member of Vince Lombardi's champion Green Bay Packer teams, played his final two seasons in Washington. He was nominated by a nine-member Seniors Committee, which is appointed every year to consider players who have been out of football for at least 25 years.