Retiring Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis Heads Into Final Game: The Super Bowl
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Back on Oct. 14, it looked like Ray Lewis' season was over when he left the Dallas game with torn triceps. However, not even that injury could keep him from heading to his second Super Bowl in 12 years.
Stan Saunders has more on the emotional win.
For the third straight week, Lewis kept retirement at bay, and now he realizes his career will end with a trip to the Super Bowl.
"How else will you cap off a career? How else do you honor your fans and give them everything that they cheer for? The greatest reward you could ever give them is another chance at a Super Bowl. The last ride. I can only say I'm along for the ride," Lewis said.
His play on the field during his last ride has been so productive and inspiring to his teammates.
"He's harnessing everything that we have inside of us, all the potential we have inside of us. You can't squander moments. You can't squander opportunities," said Brendon Ayanbadego, Ravens linebacker.
"This is Ray's last opportunity. This might be my last opportunity, so with Ray's message, that's what that does. That harnesses everything. These moments will never be again. Time is always going against us. Time is running out for some people, so we got to harness everything that we have to play the best football that we can."
Lewis knows something about Super Bowls. He was 25 years old when he won the game's Most Valuable Player award when the Ravens beat the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.
Now he returns to football's biggest stage as the team's veteran leader, offering one last hoorah.
"When you leave your legacy, what will your legacy be? To hear men tell you they love you, to hear men tell you they respect the life that you live is the ultimate," Lewis said.
To put Lewis' football passion and his farewell tour into proper numerical prospective: He has 44 tackles in three postseason games so far.
