OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Monday was a difficult day at the Ravens team facility. Players and coaches returned to the Under Armour Performance Center for the first time since learning of the death of offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris.
The man affectionately known as ‘Joe D.’ passed away early Sunday morning at the age of 70, just eleven days afterthe Ravens announced he had been hospitalized with an acute illness. He dealt with complications that had arisen from a surgery earlier in the summer.
D’Alessandris had worked with the Ravens since 2017 and had been in coaching for 45 years. He was a mountain of a man both on and off the field, molding some of the best offensive lineman in Ravens history.
"I just wanted to express again our heartfelt condolences, and our very best wishes and prayers to Joe’s family, his three amazing daughters that have been who have been with him every step of the way, all of his great grandkids that – we saw a tape today with our players, his grandkids on the sideline before the game [and] running around here in the fieldhouse. All of those things mean so much when we look back on Joe’s life and what an impact that he had," said head coach John Harbaugh. "This was a good man, a good coach, just a great person, a man of faith. He was kind of an inspiration for all of us here for sure. So, we want to honor him, for sure, with this season and we want to honor Jacoby Jones with this season. Those are two people that we are going to dedicate our season to this year and do everything we can to make them proud of us when they are watching from where they are watching."
D’Alessandris died six weeks after Jacoby Jones. The former Ravens receiver passed away on July 14 at the age of 40 due to hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
Harbaugh said the team meeting was a little quieter on Monday remembering Joe D.
“His memory is going to be on our minds," said Harbaugh. "It should be. It should motivate us.”
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