Ray Lewis to Retire After Season, heading to ESPN

[Tailback U]

Any GM, any era, is going to take a great pass rusher over a great MLB.

If you don't believe me, check salaries & draft positions of pass rushers vs MLB's. Far more valuable.



Impossible to say, and a non point anyway. His career started 30 years ago. Of course the game has advanced and players are bigger and faster. We can only compare LT (or anybody else for that matter) against their own era. Who cares if Babe Ruth could or couldn't hit modern pitching? Who cares if George Gervin was too slow for the modern NBA? It means nothing.

In 30 years, Lewis will be physically inferior too.



Wanna guess why?

LT changed the game. Every team in the league is still looking for the next LT, because an elite pass rusher completely changes the game in a way a MLB never can.



Tell me how many DE's/OLB's in the league today even approach what LT could do? Be careful with your answer.

I'm not sure if you ever saw LT play, but not only was he the most dominant pass rushing force i've ever seen, but he was a complete player as well. But when you have a guy like LT, you don't ask him to cover TE's or spy HB's. That's a waste of his unique ability. But he could (and did) do those things.

LT was a physically superior beast, hopped up on coke & steroids who was impossible to block with one man. Impossible. And that isn't urban legend. Ask Joe Gibbs, who played him twice per year and would routinely run pass routes with TWO receivers, while trying to get LT blocked with everybody else.

In some fantasy world where LT & Lewis are both 21 again and in the NFL Draft, all 32 GM's take LT without hesitation. LT changed the way teams approached building defensive teams, and his influence changed the way the game was played on both sides of the ball. Ray Lewis is a great player, an all time player, but he wasn't the type of player who changed the NFL.

Good post. I understand how feared and respected LT was and how he could single handedly change an entire game by himself. I was young but I remember watching LT and loving him. I guess I lean towards Ray because of all the responsibilities a middle linebacker has to do. The Ravens were widely considered one of the best defenses in the league for nearly a decade because of Lewis (and Reed), and they were the only D that could ever give Peyton Manning and Tom Brady trouble on a consistent basis.

And I don't think its a stretch to compare LT to today's pass rushers. No doubt, LT was an absolute physical freak, but let's not act like guys like Demarcus Ware, Aldon Smith, JPP, Jared Allen, Julius Peppers, etc. aren't physical freaks. There have been tons of great physical middle linebackers in this league, but few will ever match Lewis' stats, production, or accolades because he was more than just a physical specimen, he was hands down one of the smartest defensive players to ever play the game.

I'm not even trying to argue because LT was one of the best players (forget linebackers) to ever play the game. I just value the MLB position a little more than the DE position because of the responsibilities that come with it. I'm not going to argue with anyone that thinks otherwise.

[NAHSTE]

Elite pass rushers are probably more valuable, yes, and at his peak LT was arguably the most valuable and dominant defensive player of all time, but if we are just talking about who had the more impressive individual career it's hard to argue with Ray lasting 17 seasons at such a physically demanding position.

There are few QBs or WRs who can even last that long at a high level, to do it as a middle linebacker is just unheard of.

[Villain]

I remember watching SoundFX on NFLN and they were playing a bunch of Ray Lewis soundbytes. My favorite part was when he was on the sideline during some game when the Ravens were getting blown out. He had that murderous look in his eyes and his face just said "don't fuck with me." He was trying to energize the defense and his speech was something like:

"I know we're getting beaten down in every part of this game, but I've got some good news... I just saved 15% on my car insurance by switching to Geico"