Antrel Rolle credits Ravens' Lewis for helping him adjust to Giants, Coughlin

It is clearly evident what motivational impact Ray Lewis has had on the Ravens as they stormed to back-to-back road playoff victories to advance to Super Bowl XLVII. But did Lewis have a role in the development of Antrel Rolle into a leader who helped the Giants win the Super Bowl last season?

It’s hardly a far-fetched notion. Rolle arrived in 2010 and it took him time to acclimate to the way the Giants do business and especially how coach Tom Coughlin runs his team. There were angry and frustrated comments from Rolle and it appeared as if the two were headed toward a real confrontation. Rolle cooled off, though, and he says he might have overheated if not for Lewis’ advice.

Like Lewis, Rolle is a product of the University of Miami although Lewis was gone before Rolle ever played for the Hurricanes. Rolle did not know how to deal with Coughlin and one day he picked up the phone and dialed up Lewis.

“I asked him how should I handle the situation,’’ Rolle said Tuesday on WFAN. “I was like it’s extremely difficult for me, I’m not used to this and so forth and so on. We had an hour-long conversation just about life, he was telling me how I should approach the situation, how I should be able to deal with coach Coughlin but still get some things across. He helped me out a lot, I listened to what he said and it helped me out a lot.

“If you have never been around Ray Lewis, he’s probably the most humble individual and real individual you’re ever gonna be around. That’s just the reality of it.’’

Rolle spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Cardinals in Arizona and it took him time to adjust to Coughlin’s coaching methods. In week 2 in 2010, the Giants lost their first road game, 38-14 in Indianapolis as Peyton Manning bested younger brother Eli. It was Rolle’s first regular-season road trip with the Giants and afterward he blasted Coughlin’s schedule, insisting getting to the stadium more than three hours before kickoff made the Giants “sluggish.’’ Rolle later complained about Coughlin’s “controlled’’ environment’’ and said he felt the atmosphere around the team was “too uptight.’’

“I had an issue with me dealing with some things, more so my own personal issues,’’ Rolle recalled. “Coach Coughiln and myself have never had an exchange of words or anything close to it, never even had a bad eye towards one another. I’m sure he probably wanted to curse me out at times but it never crossed that line.’’

Rolle credits Lewis for helping him replace his frustration with a greater understanding of Coughlin’s methods.

“More than the [Miami] thing, I think it’s someone who has been through it all,’’ Rolle said of why he reached out to Lewis. “No matter what adversity or what Ray had to overcome I think he’s overcome it and I think that’s what it boiled down to.

"It boiled down to me going to someone I can consider a mentor, someone I know is going to give it to me straight as someone who is going to tell me something I need to hear as opposed to something I wanted to hear. And he told me exactly what I needed to hear and from that day on I never, ever had an issue, never had any concerns. I can honestly say it is great. This is the best I’ve ever felt and I am going to continue to stay on this path.’’


(nypost.com)