WEBVTT

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- You know it was amazing because
you saw the sailors coming

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and the first thing that I saw
was, gosh, they are so young.

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You know, you realize how young they are.

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They're looking around,

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and something that maybe we
take for granted every day;

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that we work for an NFL team
and in amazing facilities,

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and they're walking out
just seeing little things,

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just seeing the field, the weight room,

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and things of that nature.

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They were so in awe and
they were so captured by it.

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- I honestly had no idea that
there was a USS Maryland.

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I think, not many people know
about a lot of our submarines.

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Looked up USS Maryland and
saw that it was stationed

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down in Georgia, and thought, hey,

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that'd be a really cool thing,

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to have a relationship with
the namesake ship of our state.

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- I'm Commander Jesse Pruett.

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I'm the commanding officer
of the USS Maryland,

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namesake ship of the
great state of Maryland.

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We're a ballistic missile submarine.

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I'm ported in Kings Bay,
Georgia, a crew of 154,

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and we're the sea-based
leg of the strategic triad

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on which the strategic deterrent

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of the U.S. military's based.

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- It's important for the NFL
and particularly, the Ravens

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and the military to have that connection.

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Because I think that we're
both unifying forces.

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- Where are you guys all from?

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- You have to take a group of players,

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a group of men, women,
who come from all parts

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of the United States, all walks of life.

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You have to bring them
together to work as a team,

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toward one common goal, victory.

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- It's important for
our guys to understand,

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it is just a game that you're playing,

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but for a lot of people,

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it's more important than just that game.

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That's their tie back home

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when they can't talk to
their families every week,

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when they can't see their families.

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To be able to see their
favorite football team,

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or favorite basketball team playing,

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even if it's for a couple of hours.

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If you're in a war zone
or if you're on a ship

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and you're not gonna be home for a while,

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to get that little piece of America.

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- The people on the ship,
having a stronger relationship

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with their namesake state,

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many of whom have never been to Maryland,

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I think will be a
tremendous source of pride.

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To know that the people
of Maryland know them,

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know about them, care for
them, and are cheering them on,

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and rooting for 'em, and praying for 'em,

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I think will be a good thing
for the crew of the Maryland.