Two Players Franchised
By "Harry Osborn, Jr."

Off-Season 2169 (Baltimore, MD) - In a decisive move, the Baltimore Ravens franchised two players today. Normally teams wait until the completion of training camp to assign such designations, but the Ravens apparently didn't see the need to wait.

'Both Darion Swans and Joe Forrest are players we plan on contributing to our team for a long, long time,' said team president Mark Thul. 'It has been obvious since we drafted them that these were core players for us.'

Darion Swans was the number one overall pick in the 2166 draft. The Ravens traded away two number ones and two number twos for the right to draft the monster defensive lineman. In his three seasons, he has already accrued 31 sacks, and bigger and better things are expected out of him.

Joe Forrest was the eleventh overall pick in the same draft. The Ravens traded a third round pick to Houston to move up three slots in the first to get him.

'I figured we needed to leapfrog Todd Ricotta of San Diego to get him, and we're so glad we did. The third rounder we traded to Houston turned into quarterback Kenny Reynolds, who has turned into quite the player, so the move worked for both of us.'

Thul summed it up saying, 'All that remains is to surround our cornerstones with the proper supporting task, and hopefully we'll be back on our way to a Sundby!'