"If you don't play less, you don't take less"

[glorydays]

This quote from Ray-Ray got me thinking...

"I don't play less," Lewis told the NFL Network in Hawaii, where he will play in the Pro Bowl. "If you don't play less, you don't take less. That's just life."

... now, I must admit - the baseball analyst side of my brain immediately said: "Well, let him go. He'll never play at the level that the dollars that he wants. He is a typical player playing over his head in the last year of his contract."

But than my lesser football analyst side of my brain started to chime in - and in the end, it won the arguement.

In football, if you play less, you get hurt, benched or released. You have a much more difficult time of just getting by on talent alone or saving it for your contract years. And unless you pocess the type of talent that Randy Moss has, a team has no problem throwing your butt out on the road -see Sam Adams. Players rarely play til the last year of their contract. Larger contracts are often restructured or if a player isn't good enough, he can get cut before his contract expires. Therefore, last year's Ray Lewis was not atypical of what Ray-Ray is capable of at his age...

And here is where my football side of the brain won the arguement - Ray has not played less... he plays harder than any other player in the NFL. In baseball, when you play hard, you run out ground balls, slide hard into second, dive for every ground ball and get your uniform dirty. You are considered a gamer and many gamers don't have the talent but the desire. Ray has earned every single penny he has played for because he has both talent and desire and to be honest - he has outplayed his expiring contract for the Ravens.

Ray Lewis wants to win as much as he wants to make another truck-load of money but he wants to be respected and that = $$. I see no problem with that. Therefore, IMO the Ravens owe him a final big fat daddy contract. They need to go to Ray and say "we want to give you a 3-year contract - you tell us what you want to be paid." And I think that will go a long way to earn the respect that Ray is looking for. And perhaps, if negotiated from this point of view, Ray will ask for less than what he could get from the Jets or Cowboys and end up leading the Ravens to another Super Bowl.

[TJ Wrangler]

This quote from Ray-Ray got me thinking...



... now, I must admit - the baseball analyst side of my brain immediately said: "Well, let him go. He'll never play at the level that the dollars that he wants. He is a typical player playing over his head in the last year of his contract."

But than my lesser football analyst side of my brain started to chime in - and in the end, it won the arguement.

In football, if you play less, you get hurt, benched or released. You have a much more difficult time of just getting by on talent alone or saving it for your contract years. And unless you pocess the type of talent that Randy Moss has, a team has no problem throwing your butt out on the road -see Sam Adams. Players rarely play til the last year of their contract. Larger contracts are often restructured or if a player isn't good enough, he can get cut before his contract expires. Therefore, last year's Ray Lewis was not atypical of what Ray-Ray is capable of at his age...

And here is where my football side of the brain won the arguement - Ray has not played less... he plays harder than any other player in the NFL. In baseball, when you play hard, you run out ground balls, slide hard into second, dive for every ground ball and get your uniform dirty. You are considered a gamer and many gamers don't have the talent but the desire. Ray has earned every single penny he has played for because he has both talent and desire and to be honest - he has outplayed his expiring contract for the Ravens.

Ray Lewis wants to win as much as he wants to make another truck-load of money but he wants to be respected and that = $$. I see no problem with that. Therefore, IMO the Ravens owe him a final big fat daddy contract. They need to go to Ray and say "we want to give you a 3-year contract - you tell us what you want to be paid." And I think that will go a long way to earn the respect that Ray is looking for. And perhaps, if negotiated from this point of view, Ray will ask for less than what he could get from the Jets or Cowboys and end up leading the Ravens to another Super Bowl.

You must have a really smart baseball half of the brain.

[Miller192]

You must have a really smart baseball half of the brain.

LOL....that was funny!

[glorydays]

You must have a really smart baseball half of the brain.

lol... or the football side is just brain dead...

[Sports Guy]

LOL....that was funny!

True or false...Ray will re-sign with us.

[Miller192]

True or false...Ray will re-sign with us.

I think he will.

I don't buy into anything he is saying in these interviews. Ray has never handled contract negotiations well.

Again, I don't know what sort of numbers yet we are going to put out there. I do know that there hasn't been any contact with the Ravens and himself and the Ravens will not franchise him.

As I said before, I don't think Ray is going to give anyone a hometown discount. If a team wants to overpay for him then so be it, we're not going to pay Ray a ridiculous amount of money because he is Ray Lewis.

I think we will give him a fair deal and there's some behind the scenes things that will keep him here. At the end of the day, I think he stays.....again, I don't know what other teams are going to do.

[Sports Guy]

I think he will.

I don't buy into anything he is saying in these interviews. Ray has never handled contract negotiations well.

Again, I don't know what sort of numbers yet we are going to put out there. I do know that there hasn't been any contact with the Ravens and himself and the Ravens will not franchise him.

As I said before, I don't think Ray is going to give anyone a hometown discount. If a team wants to overpay for him then so be it, we're not going to pay Ray a ridiculous amount of money because he is Ray Lewis.

I think we will give him a fair deal and there's some behind the scenes things that will keep him here. At the end of the day, I think he stays.....again, I don't know what other teams are going to do.

Yea, I feel the same way.

Ultimately, if the Cowboys put well over 20 million in guaranteed money out there, you have to let Ray go...I hate to say that and if we didn't have a salary cap, i would give him whatever but you have to be smart about it.

[TJ Wrangler]

LOL....that was funny!

lol... or the football side is just brain dead...

All in good fun. I was worried everyone would find it stupid.

[Dipper9]

Yea, I feel the same way.

Ultimately, if the Cowboys put well over 20 million in guaranteed money out there, you have to let Ray go...I hate to say that and if we didn't have a salary cap, i would give him whatever but you have to be smart about it.

Ray loves Baltimore, there is no doubt in that statement. However, just like Favre, and Emmitt, and Montana, and Rice, and even Johnny U, I have a feeling that Ray is going to be ending his career in another uniform, probably either the Jets or Cowboys. If I had to guess, I'd say Ray is the main attraction at the New Dallas Stadium next year.

[Hank Scorpio]

True or false...Ray will re-sign with us.

If Ray re-signs with us, I think the deal will either be backloaded or he'll be leaving money on the table elsewhere.

At this point, from what I have heard, I would be surprised if Ray is back.

I'm not making some grand proclamation, things can change. But we'll need some give from Ray to make this happen IMO.

[RHall31]

I think what it will all come down to with Ray is, do they offer him for how they think he'll play in the future, or how he's played in the past. Ray probably
believes he'll be the best inside linebacker in football for the next 4 years.
If the Ravens offer him that kind of money, they're nuts!

[McLovin]

Dallas or any other team would be crazy to break the bank for Lewis. If they do, good for him, let's move on. We'll have to someday anyway.

Remember when TO was coming to town? The media kept saying 'Ray Lewis will keep him in line.' TO eventually came out and said "I'm a grown ass man, no one is going to control me", or something to that effect. Lewis is going to command some respect wherever he goes, sure. But his whole leadership spiel is only going to play well in Baltimore. He already owns this team. If he goes somewhere else, it's going to be 51 egos vs. Ray.

[The Rick]

Dallas or any other team would be crazy to break the bank for Lewis. If they do, good for him, let's move on. We'll have to someday anyway.

Remember when TO was coming to town? The media kept saying 'Ray Lewis will keep him in line.' TO eventually came out and said "I'm a grown ass man, no one is going to control me", or something to that effect. Lewis is going to command some respect wherever he goes, sure. But his whole leadership spiel is only going to play well in Baltimore. He already owns this team. If he goes somewhere else, it's going to be 51 egos vs. Ray.

I think this is a fair argument, I just don't think I buy it. T.O. is not and never will be a "grown ass man". At least not between his ears. He's a complete fool and would be a moron not to respect Ray Lewis.

I really think a defensive unit would love to play with Ray Lewis and anoint him their captain. Matched with particular personalities, sure, I could see this not working too well. But not everyone is like T.O.

BTW - Thanks Miller for the update, as always!

[NewMarketSean]

Ray would have totally kept TO in check. TO is a teddy bear with a mouth. If Ray Ray came at him in the locker room TO would have probably cried naked and then said "yes Ray, whatever you want me to do I'll do it. Thank you sir."

[Dipper9]

Dallas or any other team would be crazy to break the bank for Lewis. If they do, good for him, let's move on. We'll have to someday anyway.

Remember when TO was coming to town? The media kept saying 'Ray Lewis will keep him in line.' TO eventually came out and said "I'm a grown ass man, no one is going to control me", or something to that effect. Lewis is going to command some respect wherever he goes, sure. But his whole leadership spiel is only going to play well in Baltimore. He already owns this team. If he goes somewhere else, it's going to be 51 egos vs. Ray.

Exactly! Ray will be an outsider in the locker room, just like Favre was this year for the Jets. Players don't like the big time superstar coming into "their" locker room and trying to take control. Sharpe said it best, and I paraphrase..."In Baltimore, you are RAY LEWIS, everywhere else you are number 52."


Edit: My next post is number 5555....gotta make it a good one.