Sporting News Conversation: Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis

The following are excerpts and outtakes from an interview that first appeared in the Oct. 26 edition of Sporting News magazine, which you can pick up at Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today.

It's been an up-and-down season already for 10-time Pro Bowler Ray Lewis, the definitive middle linebacker of his generation. Up came in September by way of a 3-0 record for the Ravens, with Lewis providing a momentous highlight in Week 2: a fourth-down mauling of San Diego running back Darren Sproles on the favored Chargers' final possession. Down came in October with a controversial defeat at New England (what's the penalty for breathing on Tom Brady?) and similarly frustrating losses to the Bengals and Vikings.

In Week 5, Cincinnati's Cedric Benson became the first player to rush for 100 yards vs. Baltimore in 40 games, ending a streak of which Lewis was immensely proud. (The Lewis-led Ravens also held runners without a 100-yard day for 50 straight games from 1998-2001.) The following week, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson made it two 100-yard rushers in a row.

But Lewis' confidence remains in full bloom, as was evident throughout a lengthy interview with Steve Greenberg.

SN: Are you still at the top of your game? Lewis: Easily. That's the beauty of it. Being at the top of your game means really feeling your influence over others, your influence over how you play the game, how your coaches grade you, how other players respect you. Not this or that outside source, but inside the game. ... That's what happens when you play amongst men who need you to be more than who you are. Your game changes. Even Rod Woodson will tell you his best year he had as a professional was when he was 36 years old. If you think about why, you're much wiser. The game slows down. You don't have to waste energy anymore -- it's now conserved because you're always in the right place.

SN: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre -- everyone starts with them when talking about the best players of this era. Where should you fit into the discussion? Lewis: That's the thing -- everybody just names quarterbacks. It's so easy to do that. "Ooh, he threw for 4,000 yards and so many touchdowns." That's the glamour of the game. I've always had one goal when I came into this business. I don't believe in the course of a game that a man can touch the ball 25, 30 times and get 100 yards on me. I'm the quarterback of the defense -- that's my record. I'm talking about 50 straight games and another streak of (39) games.

SN: Do you think anyone has played your position as well as you? Lewis: Well, you know, I'll tell you this, from day one -- from college to this day -- I've been chasing something. And not in a disrespectful way. I've never slowed down anyone else's path. I try to help guys like (the 49ers') Patrick Willis, (the Seahawks') Lofa Tatupu, (the Browns') D'Qwell Jackson. I mentor them. And I don't like to judge myself against anybody. But, at the end of the day, I want to be the greatest player ever to strap it on. Not just because I was able to make plays, but to do that and to influence men, the souls of men, the spirits of men, the willingness of men.

SN: Who is your successor as the game's next great middle linebacker? Lewis: I like Willis. But I use this example a lot: You don't ask Chuck Norris if he can beat Bruce Lee. Do you got great skills? Yes. Are you both deadly? Yes. But there's only once Bruce. I tell Patrick, "There's only one lion right now." I love watching the Serengeti, the way lions live. The only way the king lion loses his crown is by somebody physically defeating him. That, for me, is the easiest thing about my game and football -- they have to beat me as a man, and I just don't think anybody's working that hard.

SN: When was the last time you felt as good on the field -- as thrilled -- as you did on that game-saving hit on the Chargers' Darren Sproles in Week 2? Lewis: Aw, man. Incredible. You can take a million linebackers across this country -- fast, strong, whatever -- and they don't make that play because it all comes with the mastery, with years of studying, never getting comfortable, six, seven hours a day loading up the film. When that play (ended) I looked at my teammates and ran to them. It's like laying your greatest masterpiece on something that was already so great -- like Bruce Lee and The Last Dragon. Oh, my gosh! That play took everybody who saw it on a quick rewind. Fourteen years! And he sticks him! I'm not going anywhere until the good Lord has me stop ticking. Then I'll walk away from the game willingly.

SN: It's been over three months since your friend Steve McNair was killed. How much is he on your mind? Lewis: I don't forget him. I talk to his mom every Sunday, tell her, "You lost one son, but you've got another one here. We've all got to close our eyes someday. The Lord knew this day was coming and knew we were going to have these conversations." We talk. She tells me she loves me. She says, "Go do what you do." He never leaves my mind and my heart.

SN: Will a man of your powerful voice and leadership ability work for change in the community? Is that something you want to do with your life? Lewis: That's what I'm doing. I train the Baltimore police officers every Tuesday night. It's a huge camp about physical fitness. Mind, body and spirit. I work their behinds, and they look at me like, "What the heck?" I go where the gangs are to talk about their influence. I want to talk to people who write music: Stop writing about material things; write about love, hope, dedication, sacrifice. You've been given a table --what are you doing with it? If people are listening, are they striving to be better person? It's the same thing when you're a public speaker. That's why I like going into the 'hood. I work out with these homeless men on Wednesdays. When they start getting tired, I'm like, "Look, success, or whatever you're looking for, ain't on the outside -- it's inside! I do so much people never know about, but I love it that way because it affects people differently.

SN: Where do you think your school, Miami, is headed under Randy Shannon? Lewis: In the right direction. That guy was my first linebackers coach, and he was a hell of a leader then. And me briefly watching what he's doing now, I am very impressed. He has lot of young talent. And he knows what to do with it.

SN: It's doubtful the Colts regret drafting Marvin Harrison at No. 19 in 1996, but how many of those other teams regret letting you fall to No. 26? Lewis: I remember that year, man. I watched all the big names go by. I can almost go through the whole first round. I said, "I will remember these things." Keyshawn Johnson one, Kevin Hardy two, Simeon Rice three, Cedric Jones five. (The Ravens selected offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden with the fourth pick.) At No. 20, I'm thinking the Dolphins are going to take me, then they take Daryl Gardener. I'm like, "Man, they don't know what's inside me!" I wasn't the biggest, the strongest or the fastest, but not one man was going to outwork me. So look at it now.

SN: How do you hope to be remembered? Lewis: As one of the greatest servers ever, as a man who honored life, who honored his job and did nothing else but want to find a different way to help somebody. If I get this done before I leave this earth, I pray I hear those five words: "Well done, my humble servant."



(sportingnews.com)