Sports Then and Now

Ray Lewis is focused on winning the Super Bowl, rather than his upcoming retirement.

Ray Lewis dropped a bombshell on the sports world when he announced that he would be retiring at the end of Baltimore’s playoff run.  As such, every game was potentially Lewis’ last game.  Now there is no doubt that February 3rd will be the last time that Ray Lewis will be playing in the NFL.  However, the middle linebacker is more focused on helping the Ravens win against the 49ers in the upcoming Super Bowl than about his pending retirement

Lewis told reporters that “Honestly, outside of putting my head in the playbook and studying San Fran, I really haven’t thought about anything else.  It’s going to be a great day, period, no matter what happens. And that’s kind of the way I’ve approached it,” he said. “I haven’t even said, ‘Oh man, this is your last game, what do you think?’ I really haven’t. Because I just really am keeping my teammates focused on the real prize.”

This season was Lewis’ 17th and this will be his second Super Bowl.  Lewis’ last trip to the Super Bowl was in Super Bowl XXXV when the Ravens trounced the New York Giants 34-7.  Lewis was the MVP of that Super Bowl with 4 blocked passes, 3 solo tackles, and 2 assists.

It almost appeared that Lewis might be out for the year after tearing his right triceps back in October, but the lineman known for his work ethic did not go down without a fight.  He made it back and is making the most of his playing time left.  In the last three games Lewis has made 44 tackles, meaning that he is going to fight his way into retirement.

Lewis says that the 10-game injury break is what has allowed him to play so well in recent games.  He said that,   “I’ve always said that anytime you can give your body a true rest — not just your body — anytime you can give your mind a certain rest from the game and from the every week wear and tear, when you come back you come back just as fresh as ever,” Lewis said. “For me right now, I feel fresh. My mind is fresh, my body is fresh and I’m just excited to really be able to end the thing up the right way.”