Latest news with #SuperBowl35
USA Today
25-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ray Lewis takes his rightful place among the top 25 players in NFL history
Ray Lewis takes his rightful place on a list of the best players in the NFL history. More often than not, an NFL team's most famous player will be one playing on the offensive side of the ball, but this isn't the typical NFL city. The Baltimore Ravens were born out of Art Modell's decision to move the original Cleveland Browns to Maryland in 1996. It wasn't a popular move in Ohio, but B-more is most certainly thankful. The franchise has won eight divisional championships, two AFC titles, and two Super Bowls. Ray Lewis is the only man walking who was a member of both championship-winning teams, and recently, he was named among some of the best players ever to lace up a pair of cleats. Ray Lewis lands 14th on CBS Sports' top 25 players in NFL history Bryan DeArdo recently tried his hand at crafting a list of the 25 greatest NFL players ever. The finished product was quite the masterpiece. First in Ravens fans' hearts and 14th on DeArdo's list, Ray Lewis took his place among football's immortals. The entire list was stacked as follows: These types of lists are always subjective. Sure, we can toss ideas back and forth about who should be ranked higher, but it's hard to argue any of those players off the ranking. DeArdo mentions the following as his reasoning for placing Ray Lewis near the middle: "A throwback player, Lewis's intensity and mastery of his position led the Ravens to two Super Bowl titles. He was the best player on the Ravens' historically great 2000 defense that allowed just six points in three playoff games. In 17 seasons, Lewis racked up over 2,000 tackles, 31 interceptions, 41.5 sacks, 19 forced fumbles, and 20 fumble recoveries." It's hard to argue with that logic or Ray's resume. He's a two-time champion, Super Bowl 35's MVP, and a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He's a seven-time First-Team All-Pro, a three-time Second-Team All-Pro, and a 13-time Pro Bowler, and that isn't the half of it. Three times, Lewis led the NFL in solo tackles and combined tackles. He's a member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team, the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, and the Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor. He's a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Seriously, what else needs to be said? If Ray isn't on this list, it must be thrown out entirely.
USA Today
04-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
HBO's may have acted hastily featuring the Ravens and AFC North last season
HBO's may have acted hastily featuring the Ravens and AFC North last season The Ravens and the AFC North could have made for better TV If chosen by HBO this season. Never before had we seen Hard Knocks provide an inside look behind the scenes of an entire division and do so during the NFL campaign. In Season with the AFC North was certainly worth a watch each week. We saw the Baltimore Ravens and their bitter rivals navigate the home stretch of the most recent NFL regular season. Nothing similar had been seen on primetime television before. If only the decision had been made to wait a year. The Ravens and HBO's inside look at the NFL date back to the brand's first season in 2001. The defending champions allowed the cameras unprecedented access to Baltimore's first training camp after raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 35. Twenty-three years separated one Ravens Hard Knocks appearance from another. Is it crazy to state that, maybe Home Box Office should have waited one more calendar year? The Ravens and the AFC North may have made for even better television for Hard Knocks cameras in 2025. Much has changed in one of football's most competitive divisions since we watched the final episode of In Season with the AFC North last January. The Cincinnati Bengals haven't signed their best player to a contract extension and have managed to tick him off in the process. Issues with the organization don't stop there. They also haven't signed their first-round draft choice, Shemar Stewart, and Ravens star Marlon Humphrey had no problems with giving them a hard time about it on social media. No one knows what's going on with Aaron Rodgers and his perceived interest in joining Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Black and Gold doesn't have a starting quarterback. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns have too many. The Deshaun Watson era appears to be over, and despite adding two signal-callers in the most recent NFL Draft, one being Shedeur Sanders, the Brownies seemingly have a lot of bodies but no real answers at football's most important position. And, how could we ever forget about the coaches? John Harbaugh has aged gracefully. He enters his 18th season as Ravens head coach, and even though he turns 63 years old in September, he looks like he's still in his thirties. He's seemingly the only head coach in the division who isn't coming under fire. Mike Tomlin, Zac Taylor, and Kevin Stefanski were all recently placed on the hot seat by Bradley Locker at Pro Football Focus. The Steelers never fire coaches. Tomlin has never had a losing season at the Steelers' helm, so his inclusion might draw a few questions. But, regardless of where you stand on that, everything previously stated was mentioned to state the following. Here's a theory we can all agree on. Maybe HBO should have featured the Ravens and their rivals on Hard Knocks this season. No disrespect is intended to the NFC East, this coming regular season's subject. Still, with all of the storylines being birthed in the American Football Conference's northern division, it's easy to make the argument that HBO followed the Ravens and company a year too early.
