Ray Lewis noncommittal about Sunday but believes he'll return this season

Ray Lewis' face lit up when he gingerly walked into the Port Covington Wal-Mart on Tuesday, seconds after his entrance ignited a high-pitched roar from 200 kids who showed up for his annual holiday charity event.

The Ravens' All-Pro middle linebacker slapped hands, posed for a few pictures, then got behind a microphone and told the group of children it was their love and support that has kept him going and allowed him to maintain perspective during a frustrating stretch of the season during which he's missed four games with a foot injury.

"Your faces are the ones that keep me going," Lewis said, "even when I'm going through what I'm going through. I've heard the questions a billion times: 'How is your toe? When are you going to play again?' And all of that is awesome. But through my injury, in the time that I have been going through what I've been going through, the people that I've met, the people that I can make smile even through my pain ... there is no greater reward than that. Sometimes God removes you from the field so he can get your to another place."

Lewis didn't make any promises about whether he would play Sunday against the San Diego Chargers, but said he was optimistic he'd be ready to play, and confident he'd be back this year at some point.

"I'm feeling way better," Lewis said. "Way better. I thought I had a good chance the last four weeks to play, but the coaches are going to make those decisions. I don't mind being smart. But of course the warrior side of me is always going to want to get back out there."

Lewis invited more than 200 local underserved youth attend the annual event, and each child was invited to pick out gifts for themselves and their families from an assortment of items donated by Wal-Mart and the Ray Lewis Foundation.

"Sometimes you find yourself going through so much and you want to complain, but when you walk in here, you can't," Lewis said. "Because you know there are so many people here that aren't as fortunate. I told my mom, coming here, it always gets emotional for me. Because I was once here in my life."



(baltimoresun.com)