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When the Ravens aren't in meetings, on the practice fields, or in the weight room, the players have a number of ways to pass the time with their teammates.
The team's state of the art Owings Mills facility has a basketball court, a putting green, a fishing pond, and a game room complete with a pool table and arcade-style pinball and Pacman games.
But this year, defensive lineman Cory Redding has added a different game to The Castle that is bringing out the competitive side in his new teammates.
Thanks to Redding, who signed with Baltimore in March after spending last season with the Seahawks, two shiny Ravens-themed cornhole boards are now stationed in the team's locker room.
What is cornhole, you ask? Well, it's a game that has become common at football tailgates and will likely be featured at many 4th of July barbeques this weekend as well.
Cornhole - or Bag-O, if you prefer - is a beanbag game, one where the goal is to either land the bag on a slanted wooden plank (worth one point) or make it in a hole on the plank (worth three points).
Redding is an accomplished player, and the seven-year veteran has brought the game from the Seahawks locker room to his newest home away from home.
"I've actually been playing for two years now," Redding said. "Picked the game up in Seattle. One of the equipment guy's dad makes the boards in Ohio and they bought a Seattle board and put it in the locker room just to see how they guys would react and it became a big hit."
Once he signed with the Ravens, Redding contacted the same manufacturer and had him put together a purple and black colored set with Ravens logos on the boards.
The players took to it quickly, and have started setting up cornhole games in between film sessions and after practice.
"It's competitive," Redding says. "Guys like to compete, so you think a little simple game like this is just a cakewalk, but guys be in here serious. I'm talking about sweating, yelling at each other, talking about how someone's cheating and all that kind of stuff.
"So it's good. It's good team camaraderie type stuff."
Redding admits he's one of the best players in the locker room, but also singled out safety Haruki Nakamura, cornerback Chris Carr and defensive tackle Kelly Talavou as some of his top competition.
The game is meant to feature two teams of two, but Redding says in the locker room, they've adjusted the rules a bit.
"Mostly it's one-on-one challenges," he says. "Guys want to call each other out. It's all just bragging rights, mostly."
The intensity of the competition aside, Redding says the main benefit of the cornhole set is that it allows guys to unwind while building team chemistry at the same time.
"The guys like it," Redding said. "It's just something to do, something different. Just get your mind of football for a hot second, and just kind of bond with the guys, hang out and chill for a little bit."
