Fragen und Antworten » Ray Lewis arrived in Baltimore shortly after

BALTIMORE (AP)the transplanted Cleveland Browns Elite Lamar Jackson Jersey , who were attempting to start anew in a city that had gone 12 years without an NFL team.Selected 26th overall in the 1996 draft after establishing himself as a star at the University of Miami, Lewis had no idea what he was getting into.”We had no team. We had no logo. We had nothing,” Lewis recalled. ”There was nothing to really respect.”Over the next 17 years, the Baltimore Ravens reached the postseason nine times, won two Super Bowls and built a hard-hitting and relentless defense in the image of Lewis, their unquestioned leader.A 13-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Lewis helped make the Ravens far better than respectable while establishing himself as one of the best linebackers to play the game.His unparalleled play and unmatched leadership made him an obvious first-ballot entrant into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Lewis received the news last February, and still gets chills thinking about it.”That knock on the door was like the first time I got my first jersey,” Lewis said. ”It was like when you ran home and you wanted to put on your pads. You weren’t playing no game, you just wanted to put on your pads because you were part of an elite team. You made it. So, it’s almost like the same feeling.”He will be enshrined Saturday, joining offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden as the second Ravens star to have a bust in Canton, Ohio.”It’s pretty clear Ray was the heart and soul of the Ravens for 17 years. If anyone is deserving of this honor Game Lamar Jackson Jersey , it’s Ray Lewis,” Ogden said. ”He is a guy we all looked to – both on offense and defense – to lead our team.”There are many great linebackers in the Hall of Fame. Few of them combined skill and authority the way Lewis did.After delivering an emotional speech before the game , Lewis would continue to push his teammates in the huddle before taking ownership of the middle of the field, looking to punish anyone in a different jersey.”One of a kind. I think he’s the best that ever played,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. ”It’s not just the on-field play; it’s the whole package.”Harbaugh acknowledged he carries the bias that comes with coaching Lewis for the final five years of his NFL career. Others, however, back the assertion.”He’s the best I’ve seen,” said Mike Singletary, a Hall of Fame linebacker and former assistant coach in Baltimore. ”If people thought I was good, I know that Ray was better.”It’s hard to determine Lewis’ most notable quality. His ferocity on the field? His teaching and leadership skills? Or was it his relentless drive to win?Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson, a teammate of Lewis’ on the 2000 Super Bowl team, chooses all of the above.”What needs to be said about a guy who was, by far Lamar Jackson Womens Jersey , the best leader I witnessed in my 17 years of play? His singular focus to be the best player and teammate he could be what separates him from other Hall of Famers,” Woodson said.”His play was off the charts. He was a virtual tackling machine – and a playmaker. He caused fumbles, recovered fumbles, interceptions, tipped passes. He did it all for longer than anyone who played his spot in the middle.”The 6-foot-1, 245-pound Lewis spent countless hours in the weight room and took an equal amount of pride in mastering the mental aspect of the game. He derived great pleasure from matching wits with great quarterbacks, most notably Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.”Those two guys were chess players,” Lewis said. ”The game was one thing, but it was the preparation before the game that was a totally different thought process. And then, every time we walked off the field, we gave each other mad respect.”Lewis wasn’t perfect. He was arrested and charged with two counts of murder in Atlanta in 2000. Those charges were dropped, and he pleaded to obstruction of justice, a misdemeanor.But questions about his role in the crime were an underlying theme before Baltimore faced the New York Giants one year later in the Super Bowl Youth Lamar Jackson Jersey , a game which the Ravens won 34-7 and Lewis was voted MVP.”Ray Lewis is going to be Ray Lewis. He’s not going to apologize for who he is,” Harbaugh said. ”But whenever he made a mistake, he was the first one to acknowledge it.”In his first season in Baltimore, the Ravens finished 4-12. In his final season, which he dubbed ”my last ride” entering the playoffs, Baltimore beat San Francisco 34-31 in the Super Bowl.It was a whirlwind career filled with ups and downs, and Lewis promises that kind of speech at his enshrinement.”This moment for me is one you dream about your entire life,” he said. ”Savor that moment. You don’t have to run a 40, you don’t have to do bench presses, you ain’t got to do none of that. All you have to do is deliver something I think a lot of people want to hear.”And so, whether it becomes my greatest (speech) or not, I’ll tell you this: it will have people and myself on a roller coaster that we will never forget.”— The Baltimore Ravens are a franchise that’s known for being hard hitting and strong in terms of running the football. That was maybe no more true than in 2018, when Lamar Jackson entered the offense and spearheaded one of the historically great rushing offenses the league has ever seen.Averaging almost 153 yards per game on the ground for the total year (a figure that would’ve been higher if Jackson had played for 16 games) their stable of backs were huge contributors to the success of the 2018 team that took home the division thanks to their ability to help control the clock. Since they were so crucial to the the Ravens this season Lamar Jackson Men Jersey , let’s take a look at their total outlook for next season:Current Depth ChartGus Edwards: ERFAJavorius Allen: UFATy Montgomery: UFAKenneth Dixon: 2019 cap hit = $807,391Alex Collins: Placed on injured reserve, RFAOffseason outlook:This is a backfield that is equal parts crowded and complicated. All five of these players have had their fair share of nice moments with Baltimore, and despite most of them being impending free agents, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this group remain together for the most part.It definitely seems as though Edwards will be back; the undrafted runner out of Rutgers turned heads in the second half of the season with his downhill running style which meshes well with Jackson at quarterback. He’s still listed as Baltimore’s starter, something he definitely earned after coming out of relatively nowhere.After him, it looks like they’ll have to make a decision between Allen and Montgomery who played comparable roles for the team which makes sense since they’re similar players. They can both fill the receiving back role fairly well, with Montgomery being a better pass catcher while Allen seems to be a better runner.What’s interesting about the team depth chart is that Kenneth Dixon, who outplayed Allen and Montgomery down the stretch, is still listed below them on it. He’s also the only back on the roster currently under contract for 2019, at least until the tender is applied to Edwards as is expected.Dixon will more than likely be back if he can keep his head on straight (which he hasn’t always done to be fair), though it’s fair to wonder the same question about his fellow veteran runner. Alex Collins broke out as baltimore’s top offensive weapon in 2017, but disappointed in a returning role this year Color Rush Lamar Jackson Jersey , having his spot ultimately taken by the few guys listed above.As a restricted free agent, it wouldn’t be shocking if Collins stays in the picture, though if a team comes in a with a big enough offer, it may not take a ton to pry him away. He likely knows he won’t be the unquestioned starter so if another team ends up being interested in making him that guy for them, it’s possible he requests Baltimore ultimately allows him to seek greener pastures.We’ll see what happens with what’s been a somewhat nebulous position for the Ravens for the past few years, but for now the 2019 outlooks is pretty solid. Be sure to let us know what you guys think, and to keep it right here for more positional previews on the way.