Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Lewis tries to end talk of murder trial
Ravens LB doesn't understand the fuss
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TAMPA, Fla. — Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis faced the Super Bowl media mob Tuesday afternoon and likened his situation to Jesus Christ.
“Jesus couldn't please everybody,” Lewis said. “He was spit on, slashed at, talked about, everything. He hung his head and never said a word. That's my attitude.”
Lewis, who was up on a double-murder charge be fore accepting a misdemeanor plea bargain in June, followed his script as well as he follows the Baltimore game plans that helped make him the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
His anticipated appointment with the largest media assembly in sports was limited to answers about only football. Several times, Lewis repeated his ground rule that he wouldn't discuss the incident in Atlanta on Super Bowl night a year ago that left two men - Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker - dead.
“What I keep trying to get through everybody's head is, what I went through, you can't get me to think about it or talk about it,” he said.
Several hundred reporters surrounded Lewis' booth on the sideline of Raymond James Stadium, and the start of his news conference was delayed by five minutes as waves of people made their way to his station. Lewis, like all players on media day, was dressed in his uniform without pads.
Only once in the past year, in an ESPN Magazine interview conducted by a friend who has known Lewis since college, did Lewis tell his side of events that landed him in jail for two weeks. He said he was not guilty, talking mostly about himself, although he did express a few words of sympathy to the victims' families.
He said none of that Tuesday, and comments about the
incident and his arrest were boiled down to a few early statements.
“Like I said, we're here to simply close that chapter,” Lewis said. “But at the same time, let's find out the real truth. The real truth is, this was never about those two kids who are dead in the street. It's about Ray Lewis, and that's the same thing this is about. And that ain't right.
“Don't be mad at me because I was on center stage. The person to be mad at is (prosecutor) Paul Howard, the mayor of Atlanta, the people who never one time said we're going to find out who killed these people. It was about Ray Lewis.
“Think about it. If you put Ray Lewis at the center of attention, how much media attention are you going to get? The same amount that's sitting here right now. But if I'm an Average Joe, y'all ain't here.”
A few teammates stood on bleachers and filmed the press conference with their video cameras. Some of the other booths where other Ravens were available for interviews were almost void of reporters at the beginning of the media session.
Lewis had been advised by a couple of veteran teammates, Shannon Sharpe and Rod Woodson, not to answer any questions he didn't want to answer.
Instead, most of Lewis' answers were short and sometimes clipped.
A more typical exchange between a reporter and Lewis went this way:
“Ray, do you want to say something to the victims' families?”
“Nah. No.”
“Why not?”
“Football. Football. Football.”
The Lewis story received an extra jolt — as if it needed one — Monday when Ravens coach Brian Billick turned his opening press conference into a long oratory on behalf of the embattled linebacker and against the media's interest in the story.
But Lewis appreciated how his coach, as the Ravens organization has all season, defended him.
“I think he done what's in his heart,” Lewis said. “He did the things he felt he needed to do. It went well, and here we are now.”
The questions kept pointing at the case, some more subtly than others.
Q: “Can you understand why people are interested in what happened?”
A: “Not really.”
Q: “What did it mean to you that people like (Giants linebacker) Jessie Armstead stuck by you?”
A: “Everybody who knows me stood by my side. It was heartwarming.”
Q: “Are athletes good role models?”
A: “I think they are role models to a certain point.”
Q: “Are you a role model?”
A: “I think they should see me as a role model because of what's in my heart, because of my mind and because of the passion for what I do in everyday life. What I do is not by coincidence or my work habit. It's what I'm blessed to do. It's what the Man Upstairs has given me.”
Q: “Wouldn't it be better to address the situation and hope it goes away?”
A: “I'm not here to please you.”
Q: “Who were the real killers?”
A: “I don't know. If I knew, I would have told them.”
Lewis - who shifted his weight uncomfortably in his director's chair several times during the hour-long interview - wore an AFC Champions visor. Tattoos of panthers peaked out from beneath both sleeves of his No.52 jersey. A third panther is tattooed on his chest.
There's a tattoo likeness of himself on one of his legs.
He wore diamond earrings, a diamond watch and a small chain around his neck that held what looked like dog tags.
“They're not dog tags,” he said. “A friend of mine gave them to me. One of them says, "Truth ... gladiator, warrior.' The other says, "It's God's will for my life.'”
That reference was one of several by Lewis on the afternoon that addressed spirituality.
“It's something about faith, about truly believing. About not letting questions frustrate you,” Lewis said. “I pray for a lot of people. I pray for this country because of the violence that goes around.”
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Lewis tries to end talk of murder trial
