Ray Lewis

Early Life

Born in Bartow, Florida on May 15th 1975. Played for peewee football teams and eventually high school where he balanced his interest in football with wrestling. He was awarded as one of the 33 Florida High School All-Star Football Team in 100 years of its association.

College Football

Due to his success in football, Ray Lewis was offered scholarships to play for the University of Miami. He then went on to be arguably one of the best linebackers in Hurricane history.

Freshman Year:

• 81 tackles
• 2 sacks
• 2 tackles for loss
• Named to the freshman All-American Team

Sophomore Year:

• Topped the Big East league with 152 tackles
• 2 sacks
• 9 tackles for loss
• 1 game-winning interception for the Hurricanes
• Earned 1st place for the Hurricanes in both All-American and All-Big East-Conference honors

Junior Year:

• 160 tackles 2nd highest in University of Miami history.
• 8 tackles for loss
• 2 Sacks
• 2 Interceptions (1 Resulting touchdown)
• 1 Forced fumble
• 4 Pass deflections

In only 3 years Ray Lewis had compiled the 5th most tackles in University history.

Pro Football Career

The Draft:

Ray Lewis entered the 1996 draft as one of the top prospects as a Linebacker. He was selected as a first round, 26th pick by the Baltimore Ravens. Which was arguably one of the best draft picks in Baltimore's history. Ray Lewis still plays for the Ravens and is quoted to play for the purple and black until he retires.

Baltimore Ravens:

At the end of the 2007 season Lewis has:

• 1,367 tackles
• 11 forced fumbles
• 90 pass defense
• 83 tackles for loss
• 30 sacks
• 25 interceptions
• 2 touchdowns
• Appeared in a total of 162 games

Awards:

• Led the NFL in tackles five times. (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004)
• Led the NFL linebackers with 6 interceptions. (2000)
• 9 Pro Bowl appearances. (1998,1999,2000,2001,2003,2006,2007)
• Superbowl MVP award. (First linebacker to get MVP, first defensive player since 1971)

Madden NFL 2005 Cover

Ray Lewis was featured as the cover athlete of Madden NFL 2005 for being a future hall of fame inductee, possessing excellent leadership skills and being one of the best linebackers of this generation and previous ones as well. Ray Lewis' defense triumph earned Baltimore its saying "Defense wins championships"

Ray Lewis as a Gamer

Ray Lewis is known to be an avid Madden gamer.  During the Super Bowl XLIII weekend, gamers were given the opportunity to play against Ray Lewis on Madden 09 via XBox Live.

Legal Issues

Ray Lewis was on trial for the murder of Jacinth Baker and Richard Loller at a party shortly after the Baltimore Superbowl win. Lewis was eventually indited for murder and aggravated assault. Lewis pleaded guilty and was sentenced with one year of probation. The NFL fined him with $250,000 and he reached a settlement with Loller's family of $1,000,000.