Seventeen years ago today, the new Baltimore football franchise received its name. Earlier in 1996, a 1,000 person phone poll had narrowed the 17 semi-finalists down to three: the Marauders (in honor of the bombers that were built around the Baltimore area during World War II), the Americans (in honor of America!), and the Ravens. Over 33,000 Charm City residents participated in the contest. When the dust had settled, the Baltimore Ravens were born, and the NFL had its first team ever to be named after a poem.

Over the past seventeen years, a lot has happened with the Ravens. They’ve made nine playoff appearances, been to four AFC title games and won two, gone to two Super Bowls and won both, had three head coaches, played in two home stadiums, and signed no less than two players named Elvis. They’ve built quite a resume, and they are generally considered to be among the most well run teams in all of professional sports. However, they’ve also developed an unsavory reputation. The father of a friend of mine is a Redskins fan. He won’t support the Ravens, not because of any local rivalry, but because “they’re a bunch of thugs.” That’s a pretty common consensus outside of Charm City, and other words that get tossed around about the team include “gangsters,” “criminals,” and “dirty.” This leads to two questions: Where did this idea about the Ravens come from? And is there any truth to it?

The early years of the Ravens franchise were relatively uneventful, but that changed in 1999 with the arrival of coach Brian Billick and the emergence of star linebacker Ray Lewis. Lewis had been a dominant force since being drafted in 1996 out of Miami, and he was quickly making himself a household name. Billick was coming to Baltimore after leading the NFL’s best offense in Minnesota. The two of them would turn the Ravens into a powerhouse franchise while also bringing a stigma to the team that still lingers years later.

We all know the Ray Lewis murder story: the nightclub, the limo, the two victims, and the disappearing white suit. Ray was indicted and charged with first degree murder. He eventually pled down to obstruction of justice and ended up testifying against two of the men with him that night in Atlanta. He ended up paying a settlement to the families of the victims several years later to avoid a civil suit. For a lot of people, the charge and the settlement are proof positive of Ray’s guilt, even though he was never convicted. Even during Ray’s retirement run in 2013, water cooler conversations and internet message board posts were filled with cries of “murderer” and theories about Lewis working the system. Ray’s vocal piety later in his career only served to add “hypocrite” and “egomaniac” to the conversation. I’m not saying Ray did or didn’t do anything on that night in Atlanta, but it’s not uncommon in today’s society for people to be seen as innocent until charged instead of innocent until proven guilty. It is important to note, however, that the men Ray was with that night were both eventually cleared of any wrongdoing despite his testimony against them.

The other part of this equation is Coach Billick. He hasn’t been with the team since 2007, but longtime fans won’t soon forget his colorful speeches and sideline antics. This is the guy who, after the Ravens beat the heavily favored Titans in Tennessee during the 2000 playoffs, famously said, “When you go in the lion’s den, you don’t tippy toe in. You carry a spear, you go in screaming like a banshee, you kick whatever doors in, and say, ‘Where’s the SOB?’” More importantly for the purposes of this topic, Billick had both a disdain for the media and a wonderful talent for annoying them. Before Super Bowl XXXV, Billick warned the worldwide media assembled to avoid asking Ray Lewis about the murder trial. “As much as some of you want to,” Billick stated, “we are not going to retry this. It’s inappropriate, and you’re not qualified.” No coach had ever spoken to the football media gurus like that before, and it earned Billick and his team more than a handful of grudges from the folks who control the national discussion about football. Billick was also very much a locker room guy, and he let his players speak their minds for the most part. When you have bombastic personalities like Shannon Sharpe, Bart Scott, and Terrell Suggs on the team, a bunch of trash talk is sure to follow.

So is there anything to the claims that the Ravens are a dirty team full of thugs? Well, yes and no. Despite any media bias, the Ravens haven’t done themselves any favors over the years in the PR department. Ray Lewis’ murder trial is always the first thing brought up whenever anyone bashes the team, but further digging reveals other criminal cases (including a 2004 cocaine charge against former Offensive Player of the Year Jamal Lewis) and high-profile stories about over-the-top trash talk and questionably violent hits.

With that being said, the Ravens have matured as they enter the 17th year of their existence. In place of the bombastic Brian Billick is the mostly reserved John Harbaugh. Harbs can get worked up at times, and he too has no love for the media, but his personality couldn’t be more different from that of his predecessor. He also keeps much tighter control of his team, and vocal players who don’t work within his system are quickly shown the door. This has rubbed some Ravens fans the wrong way, but the results can’t be disputed. Harbaugh is five for five with playoff appearances, including three AFC title games and a Super Bowl win.

The players on the team are of a different caliber as well. According to the NFL arrests database at UTSanDiego.com, there have been only three Ravens-related arrests since Harbaugh took over in 2008: a DUI for falling-asleep-and-falling-down expert Sergio Kindle in 2010, a pot arrest for 5th string cornerback Derrick Martin in 2008, and an assault charge for practice squad linebacker Tony Fein in 2009. Fein was cut almost immediately, and the other two guys are long gone as well. For comparison, there were 13 Ravens-related arrests from 2000 through 2008. That’s 16 total arrests for the Ravens since 2000. Meanwhile, the Bengals have had 39 arrests over that same time span. The Browns have had 23. And the media darlings up in Pittsburgh have had 19.

Recently, the Ravens have been making more positive headlines. Brendon Ayanbadejo has been a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage, and he has been making national media appearances to speak about the issue. Torrey Smith is spending his offseason working as an office intern for Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings. Torrey and his fiancée also released a homemade rap video aimed at motivating kids to study. Ray Rice has been in Annapolis stumping for a bill to outlaw cyber bullying.

So what does this all mean about the Ravens? I think that, when you put the whole picture together, it shows that the Ravens are just like any other group, team, or person: imperfect. They have some dark spots in their history that have been exacerbated by a national media that has no love for the coaches and by coaches who dislike and distrust the media. But a closer look shows that this a team that is, for the most part, filled with a bunch of good guys who just want to play football. Baltimore sports fans will always have a chip on their shoulder about the supposed bias the NFL and other fan bases have against our beloved team, but here’s the good news: the Ravens don’t care what anyone else thinks. Unlike other teams who seem to focus more on the headlines than the wins (I’m looking at you, Jets), Harbaugh and company couldn’t care less about being viewed as the bad guys or the good guys, the dirty guys or the boring guys. All they’re focused on is being one thing: champions.