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The return of football season has Baltimore Ravens fans firing up their grills

The return of football season has Baltimore Ravens fans firing up their grills
The return of football season has Baltimore Ravens fans firing up their grills 01:26

BALTIMORE -- Football season is back and Ravens fans are ready.

Hours before Thursday's preseason game, fans fired up the grills to celebrate the return of their favorite team. 

"This is like a family reunion," fan Paul Weisengoff said.

"We got hotdogs, sausage, hamburgers, oysters," a Ravens fan known as Jerry said.

Many people who showed up on game day were decked out in their Ravens gear.

And although the matchup against the Titans was a preseason game for the players, it was also a practice run for the dedicated tailgaters.

"This is a chance to get your kinks out like practice. So you have to make sure you have your charcoal, your lighter fluid, have all your gear packed," Weisengoff said. "You always forget something. This is like a preseason for the tailgaters too."

Wisengoff was the first person to set up camp in Parking Lot H—a tradition he's held for every home game since 1996.

"Never missed a game," Weisengoff said.

Here in Baltimore, football is a time for everyone to come together.

"We get all our friends together that we haven't seen in six months," Jerry said.

This is where strangers become family with one goal in mind.

"They're not like my family, like my blood, but my family in that they are my Ravens compadres," Weisengoff said.

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