Call Ray Lewis an old man. A shadow of the former two-time NFL defensive player of the year. The ancient mariner of football. The Baltimore Ravens linebacker never cared what others thought and at 36 won’t change now. But he does appreciate one’s legacy and Lewis’ colossal career may soon grow even larger.
“I think the thing a lot of [people] out here have to appreciate it when great warriors fight to the end,” he said. “Those are the stories you’ll always remember. You’ll never remember the story of somebody that played 2-3 years. You remember the ones who carried their legacy. Carried and carried it. … I can’t stop working until whenever is whenever, and I don’t know when that’s going to be.”
Speculation Lewis may retire if Baltimore reaches Super Bowl XLVI is premature. Sure, the 16-year veteran is near the end of his sure first-ballot Hall-of-Fame career. He’s not quite the dominant force of 2000 and 2003 when he was named the NFL’s defensive player of the year.
But if there’s a mental player of the year, it’s Lewis. As Baltimore visits New England on Sunday for the AFC Championship, Lewis remains the Ravens’ raging leader. He’s the one screaming in the pregame huddle and yelling on the field, while still leading the team in tackles.
Lewis is the only remaining Ravens player from the team’s Super Bowl victory 11 years ago when he earned the game’s MVP. But he looks around at a young roster confident from four straight playoff appearances and feels Baltimore can finally break past the cluster of talented AFC teams. The Ravens won the AFC North over Pittsburgh after beating the Steelers twice. Now Baltimore faces New England after defeating the Patriots in the 2009 postseason.
“We played the Patriots a number of times and the games always come down to being a classic,” Lewis said. “You probably have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in Tom Brady and the greatest minds in Bill Belichick.”
Lewis will likely be one of the few who leaves the game when he wants.
“Football is too fun for me,” Lewis said. “I love it too much to put that thought in my head. Whenever God says time is enough then it’s enough. When you’re playing at the level I’m playing at, do it until you can’t do it anymore.”
And to feel like a champion once more would be special for Lewis.
“People talk about age and this,” he said. “[Defensive back] Rod Woodson, as great as he was, Rod Woodson won his first Super Bowl at 36 years old. That’s how long sometimes a legacy can take to be completed. But he completed it. You don’t listen to [critics] because those people are the ones you put up on the bulletin board.
“Sometimes you go into games and say it’s just another playoff game, but it’s not. … To feel that moment again can be a special team.”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
