Ray Lewis
Ray Lewis
Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr.is a former American football linebacker who played his entire 17-year career for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Miami, and earned All-America honors. Drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 1996, Lewis was the last active player from the team's inaugural season...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth15 May 1975
CityBartow, FL
CountryUnited States of America
The more you know about your opponents, the more you learn how to beat them. Where the holes open to run through, blocking schemes, even down to player tendencies and what hand they like to carry the ball with.
It's a bad place when you see sometimes how coaches treat people. I don't even want to say players. I want to say people. They're people before they become a player.
I already believe I am the best linebacker in the game. Now, I have to show one more thing ? that I am the most dominating, influential person in the game and the best football player to ever put on a pair of cleats.
I've always said to the refs to not be the ones to decide the game. Let the players dictate the outcome.
My thing about camp is to come in and be who I am, which is the most dominant player in the game, That's who I am, and that's what I'm here for.
That hurts our league and the Falcons, and I feel for him. He's my friend, and he'll be back. I'll call him and give him encouragement.
It's always tough, because then that's when you have to humble yourself and you've got to take coaching and you have to do whatever they tell you to do. Whether it takes away from your game or it helps your game, just deal with it. That's what I did. It didn't alter how I prepared, it didn't alter my passion for the game. But at the same time, it alters how dominant I can be in this game.
That's big, to come out of here 1-1 instead of sitting home this week 0-2. That's hard. It's hard for anybody to come out of that hole.
The scheme's got to fit your players. My thing is bashing running backs. That's what I want to get back to, just having fun and letting them deal with me. That's what the 46 package and the defense does.
You're dealing with one of the most prolific passers in all of the National Football League for the last 10, 15 years. Understanding that, you have to respect what he can do in this game.
Probably what Jonathan's seeing that I'm seeing, now that I'm older, is that I can read the guards, read the tackles, read the backfield, ... As a young guy, that's probably what he's looking at, more of my position, how I'm always in position to strike.
Peyton comes to the line, and he checks to a pass or a run, and I come to the line, and I check from a blitz to a zone, ... I think it's great for the fans to see, but it's actually more stressful when you're on the field, because you're actually trying to figure out truly their next move. He's good at it.
One of the guys I've liked and kind of monitored since college is Jonathan Vilma, ... I love the way that guy plays football.
That's once again the same people who told me I was too small, the same people who said I couldn't win a Super Bowl with our offense, the same people who said I couldn't play in a 3-4, ... Are they with me when I get up every morning at 6:30 to go to work? The day I lose a step is the day I lose love for the game.