Ray Lewis: 'I haven't played my best football yet'

Ravens LB Ray Lewis has been a Pro Bowler 12 times in his 15-year career, including last season.

Yet he told NFL Network's Rich Eisen that the best is still ahead, one reason Lewis only allowed himself to miss five of Baltimore's defensive snaps in the 2010 season.

"I would do my fellow teammates a disservice, I feel, if I ever left the field," Lewis said on NFL Total Access on Monday. "And it's one thing to talk about somebody if they're just slowing down and can't do it anymore, and you're just like, '(End) your career, don't ruin yourself like that.' It's another thing when I still say to this day, I haven't played my best football yet. I just believe that in my heart of hearts."

Lewis, 35, has also willingly embraced the role of mentor among teammates who call him "Pops," "Uncle" and "Godfather."

"Some people say dominant is your play. I don't believe dominant is your play, I believe dominance is your presence on how you influence other men," Lewis said.

"And any time that I'm in the middle of my defense -- where I've got a Sizzle (Terrell Suggs), where I've got a Ed Reed, where I've got Haloti Ngata … that's one of my greatest abilities, being able to pull that type of strength out of men. And that's why I enjoy playing the game."

Lewis didn't seem too perturbed by the ongoing lockout, laughing that typically in April he's "probably calling coach (to) tell him why I can't come to a minicamp."

And whether it's the labor front or the Ravens' 2011 outlook, "Pops" is focused forward, not reliving the team's latest playoff near-miss after its divisional round ouster to the rival Steelers in January.

"When it's over, it's over -- yesterday's gone," Lewis said. "I'm not done chasing it. I always tell everybody the same thing … 'If we were supposed to be there, we would have been there. This year was the Green Bay Packers' year.'

"For me, go back to the drawing board, figure some things out, and say, 'Here we go again.' "

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(usatoday.com)