Looking back at how the world was the last time the Ravens missed the postseason

Baltimore football fans have been blessed since John Harbaugh was hired to take over the Ravens.

Sure, there have been plenty of hair-pulling, stressful moments. But the Ravens had never enjoyed the kind of sustained success Harbaugh brought to the franchise, beginning in 2008.

Since 2008, the Ravens went to five consecutive playoff appearances (2008-2012), three AFC Championship games and won one Super Bowl.

With the 2013 season concluding with a 34-17 loss to Cincinnati, this marks the first time since 2007 that the Ravens won't be in the postseason.

When you really think about it, that's quite a long time. I was still in college the last time the Ravens failed to make the playoffs. That seems like forever ago.

While a lot of you might be down and disappointed, here's a look at what was going on the last time the Ravens were not in the postseason. I'd long forgotten about a lot of these stories, which shows how rare it's been for the Ravens not to be involved in the playoff conversation.

Looking back at the year that was 2007

• Gerald Ford, the United States' 38th President, passed away.
• The University of Florida football team defeated Ohio State 41-14 to win the 2006 BCS National Championship (in January 2007).
  
• The Ravens, holders of the No. 2 seed in the 2006 playoffs (played in January 2007), lost to the Colts 15-6 in the divisional round. The Colts would go on to win the Super Bowl 29-17 over the Bears on Feb. 4.
• Harvard University named Drew Gilpin Faust its first female president.
  
• Illinois Sen. Barack Obama announced his intention to run for the office of the President of the United States.
  
• Khalid Shaikh Mohammed confessed to the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as other plots around the globe.
  
• The University of Florida basketball team defeated Ohio State in the finals of the NCAA Tournament.
• The Ravens drafted seven players — Ben Grubbs (1st round, 29th overall pick), Yamon Figurs (3, 74), Marshal Yanda (3, 86), Antwan Barnes (4, 134), Le'Ron McClain (4, 137), Troy Smith (5, 174), Prescott Burgess (6, 207). From this class, only Yanda is still with the Ravens.
• The North Carolina state attorney general announced that accused Duke lacrosse players would no longer be charged with rape in a case that became a national story.
  
• Rupert Murdoch purchased the Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the Wall Street Journal.
• The San Antonio Spurs swept the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. This was the first time in franchise history that Cleveland reached the NBA Finals.
• It took five games, but the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators to win the Stanley Cup.
• An eight-lane bridge in Minneapolis, later found to be outdated and not up to code, collapsed and fell into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.
  
• Six Utah coal miners were trapped after a shaft collapsed. Three rescue workers were later killed in an attempt to rescue them. The miners were never found.
  
• NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from his role in a betting scandal.
• The Appalachian State football team defeated Michigan at the Big House 34-32, capping what's likely the greatest upset in college football history.
• In August, 4,000 American jobs were lost, with a few economists predicting a recession was on the horizon.
  
• Former NFL player O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of a double murder in 1995, was arrested for stealing sports memorabilia at gunpoint. He'd later be convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison.
• Track star Marion Jones, who won three gold medals at the 2000 Olympics, admitted to using steroids.
• The Boston Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies to win their second World Series in a four-year span.
• Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, along with the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was awarded a Nobel Prize.
  
• The U.S., in the midst of a war in Iraq, lost 852 soldiers in 2007, the most since the war began in 2003.
• The Mitchell Report, an investigation conducted by Major League Baseball, accused 89 current and former baseball players of using steroids.
  
• Despite losing two games, including the regular season finale against Arkansas, LSU would go on to win the SEC Championship against Tennessee and advance to the BCS Championship. The Tigers then defeat Ohio State in that game 38-24.
  
• The Ravens finished 5-11 in the NFL regular season, which resulted in coach Brian Billick being fired. Conversely, The New England Patriots ended a perfect 16-0. But the New York Giants would go on to defeat the Patriots in one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played, 17-14.
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