13x Pro Bowl Selection
2x NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Super Bowl XXXV MVP/Champion
Quickest to enter 20/20 and 30/30 Sack/Interception club
ONLY player in NFL history with 40 sacks/30 interceptions
Those are all numbers, and as a Baltimore Ravens fans since their birth in 1996, please believe me when I say they are great, but what he has done as a leader and overcoming adversity is why I'm dedicating this post to Ray Lewis.
Let's go back to January 31,2000. Don't get me wrong, I was only 7 years old, but I understood what it meant for my hero to be slapped with a murder charge.
Lewis fought the charge and settled for a guilty plea to Obstruction of Justice and served a year on probation, the maximum sentence for a first time offender. While Lewis was done with the matter in the legal system, he was only just beginning to feel the effects elsewhere.
After the guilty plea he was fined $250,000 by the NFL, the largest fine for any of the field incident at the time, and to this day Lewis still has the word "murder" associated with his name.
Let's jump from the night in question, January 31,2000, to January 28,2001. The jump from Super Bowl XXXIV to Super Bowl XXXV, the jump from being in the wrong place at the wrong time to doing his infamous dance before leading his team to their 1st Super Bowl title in only 4 seasons of existence. Ray easily won the MVP that night. For anyone who doesn't know, the Super Bowl MVP recites the famous line "I'm going to Disney World" after being acknowledged of the award, except tonight. On this night, despite being arguably the worst quarterback to win a Super Bowl, Trent Dilfer got awarded not only the quote, but the actual trip to Disney World as well. One can only assume that the murder charge Lewis was slapped with less than a calendar year ago was the reasoning for this.
And then there's the race factor. If a white linebacker had just beaten a murder charge and then recorded 3 solo tackles, assisted on 2 other tackles, and batted down 4 passes in the biggest game of his life, would he have received the same treatment? Only one can wonder.
Now we move back to present day. To this day, if you google "Ray Lewis", the first related search option will be "Ray Lewis murdered girlfriend" but Ray Lewis has not only overcome the adversity he dealt with back in 2000, he is now recognized as one of, if not, the greatest leaders to ever step on a football field, once again, completely ignoring his statistical accolades.
College coaches from California don't bring you in from Maryland to speak to their team before a preseason game unless you are inspiration. You don't get unanimously named a captain every year dating back to your freshman year at the University of Miami unless you are a leader.
Last Wednesday, Ray Lewis announced that he will be retiring after 17 seasons at the end of this current playoff run. As a Ravens fan it hurt to hear despite knowing the time was coming. I have never gone through an NFL season without Ray Lewis being a Baltimore Raven. I find it no coincidence that he was the 2nd overall pick in Ravens history and his name is Ray. I also have no shame in admitting I shed a single tear when he did that last dance at midfield after Sunday's game. He said if the Ravens made the Super Bowl this season he might pull the dance out one more time, that's all I can hope for.
2x NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Super Bowl XXXV MVP/Champion
Quickest to enter 20/20 and 30/30 Sack/Interception club
ONLY player in NFL history with 40 sacks/30 interceptions
Those are all numbers, and as a Baltimore Ravens fans since their birth in 1996, please believe me when I say they are great, but what he has done as a leader and overcoming adversity is why I'm dedicating this post to Ray Lewis.
Let's go back to January 31,2000. Don't get me wrong, I was only 7 years old, but I understood what it meant for my hero to be slapped with a murder charge.
Lewis fought the charge and settled for a guilty plea to Obstruction of Justice and served a year on probation, the maximum sentence for a first time offender. While Lewis was done with the matter in the legal system, he was only just beginning to feel the effects elsewhere.
After the guilty plea he was fined $250,000 by the NFL, the largest fine for any of the field incident at the time, and to this day Lewis still has the word "murder" associated with his name.
Let's jump from the night in question, January 31,2000, to January 28,2001. The jump from Super Bowl XXXIV to Super Bowl XXXV, the jump from being in the wrong place at the wrong time to doing his infamous dance before leading his team to their 1st Super Bowl title in only 4 seasons of existence. Ray easily won the MVP that night. For anyone who doesn't know, the Super Bowl MVP recites the famous line "I'm going to Disney World" after being acknowledged of the award, except tonight. On this night, despite being arguably the worst quarterback to win a Super Bowl, Trent Dilfer got awarded not only the quote, but the actual trip to Disney World as well. One can only assume that the murder charge Lewis was slapped with less than a calendar year ago was the reasoning for this.
And then there's the race factor. If a white linebacker had just beaten a murder charge and then recorded 3 solo tackles, assisted on 2 other tackles, and batted down 4 passes in the biggest game of his life, would he have received the same treatment? Only one can wonder.
Now we move back to present day. To this day, if you google "Ray Lewis", the first related search option will be "Ray Lewis murdered girlfriend" but Ray Lewis has not only overcome the adversity he dealt with back in 2000, he is now recognized as one of, if not, the greatest leaders to ever step on a football field, once again, completely ignoring his statistical accolades.
College coaches from California don't bring you in from Maryland to speak to their team before a preseason game unless you are inspiration. You don't get unanimously named a captain every year dating back to your freshman year at the University of Miami unless you are a leader.
Last Wednesday, Ray Lewis announced that he will be retiring after 17 seasons at the end of this current playoff run. As a Ravens fan it hurt to hear despite knowing the time was coming. I have never gone through an NFL season without Ray Lewis being a Baltimore Raven. I find it no coincidence that he was the 2nd overall pick in Ravens history and his name is Ray. I also have no shame in admitting I shed a single tear when he did that last dance at midfield after Sunday's game. He said if the Ravens made the Super Bowl this season he might pull the dance out one more time, that's all I can hope for.
