The greatest left tackle in the history of pro football officially has called it quits, after spending more than a decade swallowing up the best pass rushers in the NFL without any help, essentially making a terribly difficult assignment look as hard as taking a morning stroll.

No longer will we get to watch him showing off his amazing combination of size, balance, quick feet and smarts. No longer will we see him routinely take out a lineman and a linebacker on the same running play, or counter endless pass-rushing moves seemingly with a yawn, or sprint downfield so fast to block a safety that he would pass his own running back on the way to his target.

But as I size up the 12 years that Jonathan Ogden played in this town, establishing and maintaining his own lofty standards from the day he became the first draft pick in Ravens’ history, I keep thinking of the guy under the helmet.

That would be the big, intelligent kid with the high-pitched laugh who hardly resembled the nasty, game-day competitor Ogden was.

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That would be the guy with his nose buried in a science fiction book. That would be the guy who would turn heads in the locker room, not just because of his massive, 6-feet-9, 345-pound frame, but because of that unruly Afro with the comb sticking out of it, or that distinctive, shuffle-walk of his, or the bleary-eyed look suggesting someone had just disturbed this affable giant during his midday nap.

That would be the guy who invited me to his sparsely-furnished Owings Mills home to do an interview on his off day early in the 1998 season, and began by proudly displaying a bunch of stuffed animals he had won recently at the Maryland State Fair.

Former Ravens lineman Wally Williams, who played guard and center alongside Ogden from 1996-98, recalled the huge expectations that accompanied J.O., after the Ravens had selected the freakish athlete from UCLA with the No. 4 overall choice in 1996. The team’s best offensive linemen included Williams and right tackle Orlando Brown, left tackle Tony Jones and center Steve Everitt. Ogden learned the ropes at left guard as a rookie.

“Honestly, we thought J.O. was a little soft when he first came in. He was a little goofy. We wondered about him,” Williams said. “But then, in our first [training camp] practice, he threw [former defensive tackle] Dan Footman four times, and we all thought, ‘Whoa, we’ve got something special here.’”

The Ravens will sorely miss everything Ogden represents.

You can’t quantify the value of a left tackle that opens up running lanes with such consistency — the way Ogden did, especially in 2003, when Jamal Lewis broke so many runs on sweeps and cutbacks behind No. 75 and rushed for 2,066 yards.

You can’t quantify the value of a left tackle that never requires help negating the opponents’ top pass rusher. Except for an occasional problem he had in the late stages of his career against defensive ends Simeon Rice and Dwight Freeney, Ogden won his one-on-one confrontations with numbing success.

Great pass rushers such as Kevin Greene, Gregg Lloyd and Tony Brackens simply disappeared in Ogden’s shadow. Even former teammate Michael McCrary, who was one of the best sack specialists of his day and engaged Ogden in some of the more entertaining, one-on-one training camp drills I’ve ever witnessed, was overmatched against J.O.

Ogden, who went to 11 consecutive Pro Bowls, did everything right.

As the first draft pick in Ravens history, he was a terrific ambassador for a team trying to earn the love of a town. His off-the-field behavior was spotless. His active community involvement continues to this day and beyond. His vast wealth never affected his game. He played hurt, he played clean and hard, and he didn’t mind showing his emotion by letting loose with a sideline tirade after the offense had stalled.

Five years from now, as he’s being enshrined in the Hall of Fame, I’ll be thinking of all of these things again. I’ll also be remembering that big kid on the cusp of stardom who was so proud of those stuffed animals.

Gary Lambrecht writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports. He can be reached at glambrecht@baltimoreexaminer.com