Steve Bisciotti is MIA

I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti on several occasions. Each time I walk away thinking how impressive he is, and it has nothing to do with his money. It is almost always about how he processes a question and then takes you on a journey, the destination of which is a response that surpasses your wildest expectations.

He has a keen eye. He sees the strengths that people possess and then tries to align them with organizational roles that best suit those strengths. Once properly aligned, he empowers those people to make decisions and take ownership of the consequences, good or bad. Maybe, as it relates to the Ravens, Bisciotti has taken this empowerment to a new level and that helps explain why we don’t see or hear from him very often these days, if at all. And that’s a shame.

Over the years, GM Eric DeCosta has shared with me, a few situations during which Bisciotti’s involvement and unique perspectives have helped to refine decision making while not usurping the decision from those he’s empowered. Without sharing specific details so as not to violate any level of trust, suffice it to say that Bisciotti challenges by thinking outside the box and to view things in a way that are free from the potential biases that can obstruct the view from the chair of a coach or scout. His unencumbered outlook has helped to carve a path to better decisions.

There was once a time when Bisciotti would meet up with us at The Original Greene Turtle in Ocean City, MD and do a 1-hour show. Bisciotti answered questions from me and my co-hosts Mike Popovec and Bruce Laird, in what was essentially a no holds barred discourse. If memory serves me correctly, we did about six of these yearly shows, usually in the October-November timeframe.

Then of course, there was the annual State of the Ravens presser when Bisciotti sat at the dais beside the team’s head coach, GM and President, fielding questions from the media in a very transparent way. Both formats provided refreshing glimpses into the world of Ravens ownership. Both were appreciated by fans.

Unfortunately, neither happens anymore and consequently, many fans now view Bisciotti as a checked-out owner who is quite satisfied with making postseason appearances even if they don’t end with the coveted Lombardi Trophy. He’s done nothing to dispel the groundswell of this misconception.

Bisciotti has made it clear that he prefers an organization that fosters continuity. But given his public silence, given the team’s regular failures during the playoffs despite employing a generational quarterback who should have won his third MVP last week, fans have begun to see his version of continuity as a synonym for complacency, which Merriam-Webster defines as, “self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies”.

Maybe Bisciotti isn’t as concerned about engaging fans anymore. Maybe he thinks his head coach and a GM who is far more accessible than his predecessor, is enough for fans. Maybe he is checked out. I can’t really give you a definitive answer.

What I can tell you is that to be checked out goes completely against Bisciotti’s competitive nature. Yet the signs, the public signs are there. Everywhere there are signs.

Back in the days of Aerotek, if his staff did the same things the same way expecting different results, more than likely he possessed the fire in his belly to step in and point out the insanity in repeating the same failed approaches. Otherwise, Aerotek would never have grown from a 2-man, basement operation into the behemoth that it has become.

With one press conference, during which he’s the open book that he’s been during past pressers, Bisciotti could squash the notion that he’s complacent. If he could only escort us all on one more of his thoughtfully worded verbal journeys, it would dispel thoughts of complacency and convert it into forward thinking thoughtfulness that benefits the Ravens long-term.

Just one presser.

That’s all it would take.

Assuming of course, he hasn’t already checked out.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/02/11/tltakes/bisciotti-is-mia/