Full disclosure, I’m a Ray Lewis fan. I think he’s been the best and most influential football players over the last 15 years. In a league designed to showcase offense, he has been the standard bearer of defensive. He’s a throwback to old-school football. He is arguably the best LEADER in NFL history.
Let me be clear. I don’t have a problem with hate. I don’t have a problem hating NFL players, especially rivals that have hurt your heart by killing your favorite team year after year. Listen, as a Cowboys fan, I hate Eli Manning. If Eli Manning was the last piece of toilet paper in the world, I wouldn’t wipe my ass with him. THAT’S HATE!
I have SPORTS hate for Eli Manning, not PERSONAL hate. Many have personal hate for Ray Lewis.
I live in Atlanta now, and the people down here have personal hate for Lewis. Lewis was involved in a murder here in 2000. People actually believe he murdered someone and never was punished for it. This is what perplexes me about this, people actually think that Ray Lewis came to the Superbowl in Atlanta planning to murder someone at a night club in Buckhead. How preposterous is that?
Listen, I wasn't in the club that night, but I can tell you this much; the guy that got killed was looking for trouble. Average Joe's hate that pro athlete make so much money playing a sport for a living. Average Joe's hate going to the club and seeing a pro athlete and his entourage flaunting their money and status.
The guy that got himself killed probably didn’t want to take a back seat to the pro athlete and he bowed-up. He didn’t know how to move on, and something very bad happened to him. This was basically a "body guards taking out a threat" or "suicide by cop" nothing more. Sure Ray Lewis destroyed evidence, and obstructed justice, but he didn’t commit murder. Also little known fact, the guys that did the murder were acquitted under reason of self defense.
Don’t hate Lewis for this.
Many in Atlanta point to this incident as the reason “last call” in Buckhead was moved from 4am to 2am. This is stupid logic because Ray Lewis didn’t change the law, he had no jurisdiction over the law. What happened was some overzealous politician over-reached looking to make a name for himself, using this incident as a way to advance his career.
Don’t hate Lewis for this.
Now to the complex hate. People hate Lewis because they think he’s overly religious. He’s too demonstrative with his belief. I admit Lewis can be a bit much to handle, but allow me to shed some light on this one for you. Lewis was damaged as a kid, like many other young black men are. He was abandoned by his dad and he grew up in terrible poverty. These roots often are attached to dysfunctional trees.
On that night in Atlanta, Lewis was traveling the wrong road. That murder presented a fork in that the road, and because he desired to do better, be better, project better; he chose the good path. However for this to stick he needed a companion to ride with him. He needed to make these changes quickly because a franchise depended on it. He only had two choices to ride shotgun, they were religion or psychology. Psychology to gladiators looks weak. So he chose religion like many young black men do. He saturated himself with religion. One year later, he led his team to the Lombardi. To him this validated his decision, causing him to go even deeper into his faith. He loved the faith, and he was a great leader so he transformed himself into a religious leader.
Please don't hate Ray Lewis for this.
Religion worked for him, so he chose to spread the faith to teammates. Every leader has a style. Lewis’ style was messiah. He led as a person who reached the “promised land” and wanted others to see and touch it for themselves.
Since 2000 you have not heard of Lewis having any legal incidents. His team, the Ravens, hasn’t been in the police blotters. No small feat because the Ravens play in Baltimore, and anyone that has been there or seen “The Wire” knows the landscape of Baltimore.
I ‘m begging all Lewis haters to sit down and watch the NFL Networks “A Football Life” then you will see the Lewis Impact.
Ray Lewis is great because of the impact he has on men. He told his team that 2013 was his “last ride,” and each person, to a man, played to their full potential. The Ravens were limping into the playoff and then they went on a “miraculous” run in the playoff. The only thing that changed was that their messiah was calling it quits.
In 2000 Ray Lewis won a championship for his team. In 2013 his team loved him enough that they won a championship for him. The Ravens won the first one on Lewis’ fuel, and the second they won on his fumes. This is what made Lewis great. He is equal parts physical and spiritual.
Ray Lewis is the greatest leader in NFL HISTORY.
