Ray Lewis Can’t Beat Father Time, Mother Nature
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By DERON SNYDER
Ray Lewis was a year older and a step slower last month as he began his 17th NFL season. He covered less ground on pass plays and offered less resistance on running plays. The laws of nature suggest that trend will continue if Lewis mounts a comeback next year.
Sadly, the effort probably isn’t worth it. Not to the player and not to his employer, the Baltimore Ravens.
Lewis suffered a season-ending torn triceps in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 31-29 victory against the Dallas Cowboys. The future Hall of Fame linebacker who rarely misses a snap was a spectator as the Ravens staved off a pair of last-gasp drives that could have resulted in a loss.
But if you were watching TV with the sound down, and didn’t know Lewis was injured as the cameras kept showing him, you would have thought he was sidelined for strategic reasons and the commentators were discussing the reality of a new era in Baltimore. The fact that such a transition is inevitable made the sight no less shocking.
