After a rather uneventful Wild Card weekend in the 2012/13 NFL Playoffs the Divisional rounds did not let any of the fans down, as four very exciting games filled the card nicely for pigskin fans everywhere over the weekend. The 49ers inched themselves to one game away from the Super Bowl after last years epic collapse to the eventual champion Giants, the Falcons lost a 20 point lead to the Seahawks at home and came back to win with under a minute left after a missed field goal was waved off by a timeout giving them a second chance, the Patriots took care of business against the Texans. But by far the best game and best moments of the weekend belonged to the Ray Lewis led Baltimore Ravens, who upset the Denver Broncos in Denver with the help of Lewis' 17 tackles and Joe Flacco's heroics at the end of regulation where a 70 yard deep strike sent the game into double overtime where the Ravens eventually scored a field goal to take the 38-35 win and advance to the AFC Championship.
All of this is made extra special by the fact that this is the final year of Lewis' illustrious career, the man who has been in Baltimore from Year One of the move to Baltimore and was the key to their only Super Bowl win announced before the playoffs that he would return from a torn triceps injury and play in what would be his last playoff game in Baltimore during their Wild Card clash with the Indianapolis Colts. It wasn't a shock to many that this would be Lewis' last season after the injury he received during an early season loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but what was surprising was the amount of emotion from everyone involved in football about it.
Lewis is a divisive character, if you love him and you don't root for a team in the AFC North that isn't the Ravens, Ray Lewis is one of the best to play the game and has a passion for winning and his team that is unmatched. If you don't like Ray Lewis, well he is that loud dude who injures players on your team that you can't stand. Throw in the unfortunate events when he was accused of murder (he was acquitted) and you have yourself a man who has went through almost every chapter of life you can imagine in the public eye.
At the end of the day it is hard not to appreciate the man if you love sports. As someone who grew up watching football on Sundays during the run of his career he has been the one constant, if there was football being played on Sunday you knew Ray Lewis was out there giving 1000%, because 100% was just not good enough. One of the games best tacklers and hardest hitters in a time before player safety we see today, giving his body week in and week out for the sake of winning football games.
Hyperbole when a player is at the end of his career is rampant throughout sports. A player who has played for a team long enough is elevated temporarily as everyone remembers the highlights of their contribution to their sports fandom then are cast aside for the new crop of hometown heroes.
It is the circle of life in sports, players are heroes and role models one day and are scapegoats and villains the next, but Ray Lewis has been an example of the good of sports for the majority of his career. The values of teamwork, leadership, hard play, and hard work off the field of play are all things that people can learn in sports and in life. His motivational speeches are legendary and his personality is unmatched which is what makes him such a special breed of athlete. Monday through Saturday he is one of the kindest people in the sport, but on Sunday he is someone you don't want to cross paths with.
The Ravens are massive underdogs this Sunday when they head to New England to play the Patriots in a rematch of last years' AFC Championship Game, making it extremely likely that this Sunday will be the last time Ray Lewis puts on a football uniform, the last time Ray Lewis gives a pregame speech and the last time you will get to see #52 from the Baltimore Ravens show the world how football and sports are meant to be played: with passion, and full effort from the opening to closing whistle.
There are few athletes I consider myself to cheer for anymore, growing up and then becoming a sportswriter has left me distanced from being a true sports "fan" but the players from when I was a child always have a special attachment when they reach the end of their careers, this is no different. If the Ravens lose on Sunday it will be a sad day seeing a player that influenced the game so much as I was becoming a sports fan leave.
Growing up often means seeing athletes who were once superhuman fade into the distance, I was seven years old when the Ravens beat the Giants in the 2000 Super Bowl as one of the best defenses ever assembled rolled to the Ravens only championship. I was likely sleeping before heading to Grade Two that day, now I am 19 and one of my favorite athletes is still looking for that second championship and to retire on top.
At the end of their upset win last week Lewis said "We go out there everytime and try to achieve the impossible" This Sunday I will be sitting on my couch wishing and hoping that just one last time, with torn triceps and a full heart, Ray Lewis will get to achieve the impossible one last time in Foxboro and upset the Pats. It is a longshot and once again the Ravens are nine point underdogs, but if there is anyone you should believe in doing it, it is Ray Lewis.
