Baltimore Ravens plan to make its use Omar's The Wire whistle a regular tribute to Michael K. Williams

The Baltimore Sun

The NFL team actually reached out to Williams five years ago for a “Ravens comin'" collaboration inspired by the oft-quoted “Omar comin’ " warning. “We just couldn’t get the scheduling to work out,” said Jay O'Brien, the Ravens' the team’s vice president of broadcasting and game-day productions. Since joining the Ravens in 2004, when The Wire was in its third season, O'Brien says that was the only time he recalled the team considering a Wire-themed event. When Williams died of an accidental drug overdose last month, Ravens officials started having conversations about how they could pay tribute. O'Brien and Brad Downs, the team’s senior vice president of marketing, had both watched The Wire and decided the team had to pay tribute to Williams and the best way was to play Omar whistling "Farmer In The Dell." The trouble, Downs said, was figuring out when to play it. Ultimately, they decided to play it at the home opener when the Kansas City Chiefs take the field. O'Brien says the home opener won't be the last time you'll hear Omar whistling at M&T Bank Stadium. “Traditions come from things you only think you’re going to do once,” O’Brien said. “Every tradition starts the first time. And then if it resonates the way that it does, then I think you’ll certainly consider doing it again, until you feel like it gets to that stale part. So it’s a challenge, right? Because to some people, great traditions are stale to others. But with this, I haven’t seen one comment other than: ‘You guys better do this forever.’” ALSO: Recalling Michael K. Williams' dance club years.