Ravens President Dick Cass Says Goodbye

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Dick Cass had a widely successful tenure as the Ravens president, highlighted by a victory in Super Bowl XLVII.

Now, the time has come for Cass to step aside and let Sashi Brown take over that role.

"What I think about is over the 18 years, how this organization has grown; how we’ve grown in the sense that the community really looks to us as a source of pride, and I think we’ve become more and more deeply embedded in the community," Cass said. "We’ve only been here a little over 25 years, and I think it takes a long time for a professional team to become really part of the community in the way we have.

"I’m really proud of the way we have really developed into an organization that people look to with a lot of pride. I think that’s important in Baltimore, it’s important in any NFL city, but I think we’re doing a good job with that, and we just have to keep it going.”

When Steve Bisciotti became the team's majority owner in 2004, his first hire was naming Cass as president. For the nearly two decades since, Cass has provided the franchise with business knowledge, legal and negotiating expertise and philanthropic principles.

Under his direction, Cass helped create the organizational culture for which the Ravens are known today. Most recently, he led the organization through challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and worked at the forefront of the team's social justice reform efforts, engaging local and federal legislators to enact policy change. With roots deeply entrenched throughout the Baltimore community,

Cass has overseen countless initiatives with the goal of creating better opportunities and circumstances for those most in need. An impactful presence on the board of the Ravens Foundation, Inc., Cass has also served on boards for the Greater Baltimore Committee, Kennedy Krieger Institute and Baltimore Community Foundation.

Cass has spearheaded multiple M&T Bank Stadium improvement/enhancement projects, reaching investment levels over $200 million. Through these efforts, the Ravens have consistently ranked among the NFL's best in gameday experience, as recognized by the annual Voice of the Fan survey.

Cass also led the construction and subsequent expansion, at a total cost of more than $90 million, of the Ravens' Under Armour Performance Center, which continues as one of the NFL's best office and practice facilities.

Since his 2004 Baltimore arrival, Cass has helped guide Ravens teams that have won five AFC North titles, clinched 10 postseason berths, appeared in three AFC Championship games and won one Super Bowl (XLVII in 2012). During his tenure, Baltimore has produced the NFL's fifth-best overall winning percentage (.586), including the league's third-best mark at home (.713).

What advice does he have for Brown?

“I’ve given him the same advice that Steve [Bisciotti] gave to me: your first job is to get everyone to like you," Cass said. "Your job is so much easier if you earn their respect, and you can’t earn their respect and you can’t get them to like you by giving them more money, either. You have to do it the hard way. (Sashi Brown laughs) You have to work at it, get to know everybody [and] spend some time getting to know people.

"It’ll be much more challenging for Sashi because we’re such a larger organization than we were in 2004, when I first started. But I think that’s very important, and that’s actually the advice Steve gave him already.”