FanHouse FrankWalker

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

It was improbable. The Baltimore Ravens made another playoff run in 2008 based on a defense that used the art of suffocation (oh, and Ed Reed) and an offense that improved dramatically over the previous years. John Harbaugh was impressive as coach, putting a rookie quarterback out to toss the ball around and sticking with him through thick (17-29, 248 yards, 2 TDs in Week 9) and thin (11-28, 115 yards, 2 INTs in Week 15).

Now the team has to figure out what to do about a superstar in Ray Lewis, and how they should handle other important positional players (hello Mr. Stover) in order to return to (and move past) the AFC Championship game without their defensive coordinator.

In news that should surprise no one, it's currently snowing in Pittsburgh. By the 6:30 PM ET kickoff, it'll still be snowing, and temperatures are expected to drop into the upper teens. On the upside: wind shouldn't be a factor, although this could be one of those "let's see who can score first and then let the defense take over" get-togethers.

It makes sense that the league's two most dominating defenses could play a huge role in deciding which team will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. And right now, seven hours from game time, it looks like the Steelers have the slight advantage. We've been talking all week about injured Ravens, and two of their key defenders -- Terrell Suggs and Samari Rolle -- teetered between doubtful and out in recent days.

Willis McGahee -- of recent Cowboy-destroying fame -- was kind enough to sit down with FanHouse and talk about Brian Billick v. John Harbaugh, Guns n' Roses, Joe Flacco, bounties on players and how the Ravens got ready for the Cowboys.

Will Brinson: Willis, what's up man? How you doing today?

Willis McGahee: I'm alright, how you doing?

WB: Good man, good -- thanks for taking the time to talk to FanHouse today. First off, how'd it feel to beat the Cowboys in the final regular season game in Texas Stadium?

WM: Ah, it felt good, you know. I know their plan was to have a homecoming in the stadium, but our plan was just to go there and play Ravens football and that's what we did -- play Ravens football.

WB: Right on, right on. Hey, I heard a rumor that Jerry Jones petitioned the league to play you guys in the last home game in that stadium. Did you guys hear about that beforehand?

You know how the old story goes by now -- defensive back (Frank Walker) tries to take out kicker (Jeff Reed), so punter/holder (Mitch Berger) gets cheesed and goes after defensive back. In the heat of passion, defensive back spits in punter/holder's face, punter/holder pushes defensive back, the media freaks out about it and we all live happily ever after.

Or not. See, Walker has finally admitted that he did spit in Berger's mouth. Except -- get this -- he's trying to play it off as an accident. Or, a "slobber moment", if you will.

Frank Walker acknowledged that he spat in the face of Pittsburgh Steelers punter Mitch Berger, but the Ravens' backup cornerback called it an accident.

"It was just a slobber moment," Walker said.

Berger, naturally, still isn't buying this "accidental" business. That's probably because he was so upset that he spent the next 24 hours basically holding a plunger to his face.

The incident had a lingering effect on Berger.

"I think I kept spitting for 24 hours," he said. "I kept brushing my teeth. To have another man spit in your mouth like that ... it was gross."

And while I suppose you could twist that as homophobic, I'm going to get Berger's back here and say that I would probably be doing the same thing. Of course, he's a punter, so really, this is the most dangerous thing that's happened to him in like 15 years, but still: you never rub another man's rhubarb. Or something like that.

It's seldom (never?) that you see a kicker get slapped with a 15-yard personal-foul penalty, but that's exactly what happened on an extra-point attempt after the touchdown that wasn't. Pittsburgh's Jeff Reed was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after pushing Frank Walker which led to the Steelers having to kickoff from their 15-yard line.

It seemed kind of ticky-tack at the time -- the Steelers and Ravens were beating the crap out of each other all afternoon, to penalize the kicker for shoving a defensive back is, well, odd -- but apparently Reed was defending punter Mitch Berger's honor. You see, Berger, who also serves as Reed's holder, allegedly got a loogie right in the grill, courtesy of the aforementioned Walker.

"The guy dove, he tried to take out Jeff's knee," said Berger, who holds for Reed's kicks. "I went over there and he got up and he spit in my face -- and they called it on Jeff for pushing him!"

Ravens coach John Harbaugh's response: "Poppycock!" Alright, he didn't actually use that term, but he thinks Berger's full of crap.

"That's the first I heard that. I don't believe it for one second," Harbaugh said yesterday ..."Frank Walker wouldn't do it; none of our players would do it. I don't believe it for one second."

I don't know what it is with NFL players and spitting, but, if history's any guide, Berger's accusations aren't completely implausible. That said, spitting is so mid-2000s. If Walker really wanted to make his point, he would've started chucking shoes.

Along with misidentifying himself as an offensive genius, one of the biggest complaints about Brian Billick in Baltimore was that he ran easy camps and practices. Perhaps he was more concerned with how he came off on HBO documentaries than preparing his team for battle but, whatever the reason, the Ravens never had a reputation for intensity in the offseason.

Today's practice session, then, was a sign that there's a new sheriff in town. John Harbaugh's boys spent a good chunk of Saturday fighting with each other during the team's minicamp. Defensive tackle Amon Gordon and rookie offensive lineman Oniel Cousins exchanged punches, touching off a brawl that included all 85 players and took two minutes to work itself out. Then defensive backs Corey Ivy and Frank Walker came to blows during a blocking drill.

In neither case did the coaches appear to be too interested in breaking things up, reports the Associated Press. Rex Ryan, the defensive coordinator, was seen laughing, in fact, and Harbaugh didn't sound like he saw anything upsetting out on the field.

"We had a good practice. Our guys are competitive, they like football, it's going to happen. I think as they realize the tempo of the practice is going to stay the same, it will probably happen less and less. They're a feisty bunch."

Feisty's good but undisciplined attempts to show toughness aren't. The latter's been a problem for the Ravens, so maybe it's good they're getting it out of their system now.