Ryans looks forward to seeing fellow LB Lewis

In two years DeMeco Ryans has developed into one of the best young linebackers in the NFL.

Now the 2006 Rookie of the Year will play the Baltimore Ravens and Ray Lewis, one of the top linebackers of all time.

"When you talk about middle linebackers, he's the guy," Ryans said. "He's the guy that everybody looks up to. Everybody wants to be the Ray Lewis of their team. The type of leader that he is, the way he has all his guys rallied around him, that's the template for every other middle linebacker on his team."

Ryans remembers first watching Lewis when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001. He was impressed with the way any shot of him would just show him and a running back because he was so fast.

Lewis and Ryans spent time together at the Pro Bowl this year. Ryans said the 13-year veteran has an aura about him.

"You see him and he's that guy," Ryans said. "That's Ray Lewis, that's the man. That's the guy every other middle linebacker looks up to. So being out there and playing with him, it was great for me. It was a great inspiration to be out there playing with a guy you watched go out and dominate guys."

Ryans had 283 tackles in the two seasons and Lewis has 223 in the same span. Lewis said he hasn't seen Ryans play much, but that from the little he has seen he thinks he has a "bright future" in the game.

"I just like the way he hustles to the ball," Lewis said. "He really loves to play the game and he understands the game. When you come into the league that young and understand the game like that, I think you have a head start."

Ryans hopes he can become the kind of leader for the Texans that Lewis is to the Ravens. He also wants to one day have his name mentioned alongside Lewis as one of the game's elite linebackers, but knows he'll have to help the team improve to get to that point.

"It's going to take getting to the big game," Ryans said. "What Ray has done, he's done it on a big-time level in the Super Bowl. He's led his team in the playoffs."

(dallasnews.com)