Is This The End For Ray Lewis?

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis will miss the rest of the season after an MRI revealed a torn triceps.

Ravens Coach John Harbaugh announced the diagnosis of a “full tear” of the triceps muscle during his Monday press conference.
The 37-year-old veteran was injured during Sunday’s win against Dallas, which also saw the Ravens lose cornerback Ladarius Webb to a torn ACL and defensive lineman Haloti Ngata suffer a right MCL injury. Harbaugh confirmed both injuries Monday. Baltimore is still without linebacker Terrell Suggs, who partially tore his Achilles’ tendon in the preseason and remains on the PUP list.

And just like that in the blink of an eye, Ray Lewis’ career may be over. Not the way that many envisioned. Not the way that myself, being a Steelers fan particularly, wanted him to go. But this could very well be the end of an era in Baltimore, the city that I now call home.

Yes, his injury is bittersweet. And even though his injury weakens the arch enemy of my favorite team, there is no cause for rejoice. No one should ever rejoice over another man’s injury which in addition could affect his livelihood. This couldn’t have been more apparent than a recent game played by the Ravens themselves against the Kansas City Chiefs just a week prior to this one, when the Kansas City crowd erupted into applause when starter Matt Cassell was knocked out of the game. There is no place for that at all, even in America’s most physically demanding sport. Like one Kansas City lineman put it after that game, “they are not gladiators” and shouldn’t be treated as such.

But still it’s hard at times to distinguish between the two, especially when talking about Ray Lewis. This man has literally given his soul and guts to the city of Baltimore and it’s virtually unfathomable to consider the Baltimore Ravens without the future Hall of Famer even though this moment was coming for quite some time with his level of play steadily on the decline for the past few years. This could actually be an indication to the team that makes it easier for the Ravens to drop Ray after the season similar to what the Steelers did with Hines Ward last year.

Even though Ray Lewis has defined the franchise and been its leader seemingly from the day Baltimore took him with its second pick in its first draft class back in 1996, football is still a business first and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we have seen the last of Mr. Lewis on the field.

And that my friend’s would be a tragedy. And is the main reason why I hope he comes back next season. Ray deserves to go out on his terms. And for selfish reasons, my Steelers need to give him his own personal “farewell tour”, and one befitting of an all-time great.

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With that said, here’s hoping to a speedy recovery Ray and this Steelers fan wants to see you again in 2013.

We all know that you’re great for getting your boys fired up for game day with your famous speeches, but please refrain from that on November 18th and December 16th.

And let your body rest.  🙂