Fans send Ravens off with harbor rally

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BALTIMORE, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Thousands of cheering fans braved ice and rain in Baltimore Monday to send the NFL's Ravens off to Super Bowl XLVII with a loud rally.

The team, led by Coach John Harbaugh, emerged from buses at 12:15 p.m. and took the stage at Harborplace Amphitheater to cheers before departing for New Orleans, where they will play San Francisco for the NFL title Sunday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

"There is no Ravens without you guys," linebacker Ray Lewis told the crowd. "We're not going to New Orleans for nothing else but to bring a ring back to Baltimore."

Lewis -- the longtime face of the Ravens franchise -- has announced he is retiring after the game.

Harbaugh, meanwhile, called Ravens fans "the best in the world" and safety Ed Reed led the throng in chants of "Baltimore" before the squad left the stage amid a fireworks display.

The team's plane later arrived in New Orleans with a purple Ravens flag held up against the cockpit window by one of the pilots, NFL.com reported.