26
Jan
2012
This is why Ray Lewis might be the best teammate in the NFL (VIDEO)
(Image via NFL.com)
Ray Lewis has long been a controversial figure in the NFL, but no one can argue the man’s ability on the field as one of the finest linebackers of our generation. But the thing that perhaps makes Lewis even more special are his innate gifts as a leader, and his undeniable ability to motivate his teammates around him to be better.
As we watch yet another Ravens defensive coordinator get plucked away for an NFL head coaching job in Chuck Pagano (after Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and Rex Ryan before him), you can’t help but wonder if it really hasn’t been Lewis who has been the true guiding force of the Baltimore defense all along. Not taking anything away from Pagano, but with guys like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed in that locker room, it feels like almost anyone could step in and coach this unit to the playoffs.
The latest proof of Lewis’ status as the unquestioned leader of the Ravens comes from his post-game locker room speech immediately following their gut-wrenching AFC Championship loss to the Patriots. Watch and listen as Lewis drops into preacher mode to put things into perspective, congratulating his teammates on a job well done this season, telling Joe Flacco “you played your ass off” in the loss and to keep his head up, while also exhorting them all to get back to work and become stronger as a team.
For this clip, Lewis’ speech has been set to Ravens season highlights, as extra motivation for sad Baltimore fans everywhere.
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
15
Nov
2011
Watch Marshawn Lynch fake Ray Lewis out of his jock (GIF)
Yup. It happens to even the best of ‘em.
Watch Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch send both Ray Lewis and Jarret Johnson flying with this incredible juke move from Sunday’s 22-17 win over the Ravens:
(Image via kissingsuzykolber.com)
Yikes. That’s just nasty.
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
26
Aug
2011
VIDEO: Ray Lewis calls play-by-play from the sideline
This is the first pre-season highlight we’ve bothered to post here at R&R, and not surprisingly, the clip has very little to do with the action on the field. During the final moments of last night’s 34-31 win over the Redskins, Ravens’ LB Ray Lewis was being interviewed on the sideline when his attention was diverted by his team’s last-minute comeback attempt.
Watch as Lewis drops straight into play-by-play mode as he encourages rookie QB Tyrod Taylor (aka “the human highlight reel”) in leading the Ravens on a game-winning drive:
Love or hate the Ravens, you can’t help but appreciate Lewis’ pure, unadulterated love of the game.
6
Jul
2011
Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout Edition (VIDEO)
(Image via FunnyorDie.com)
As much positive spin as there seems to be coming from the NFL labor negotiations of late, we’re still just over two weeks from when training camps are scheduled to begin, and we’re still sitting around waiting for some real news, with no football in site. So, in our latest installment of “laughing to keep from crying over the whole nightmare”, we bring you this opus from the good folks over at Funny or Die: Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout Edition.
In the trailer for this fake sequel (which is more-than-plausible, and in fact looks better than half of the crap being spewed out in in today’s originality-bereft Hollywood, where bastardizing the best movies of my childhood seems to be the only idea left … ahem. Sorry, minor rant there), Twilight‘s Taylor Lautner appears alongside Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta and Dennis Haysbert, as the man who welcomes the disenfranchised NFL’ers into his cornfield, spurred on by the voices in his head. Ray Lewis, Tony Gonzalez, DeSean Jackson, Antonio Cromartie, Steve Smith (NYG) and a litany of other NFL players (who currently have nothing better to do) come to Iowa rekindle the magic and purity of the game in the National Corn League … at least until the lockout finally ends and the money comes calling, that is:
VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
11
Nov
2010
Thursday Night Football is BACK!
(Image via NFL.com)
It’s a great time of year to be a football fan. No longer do we have to endure the endless din of the baseball season, and the NBA is just getting started, so the gridiron gets center stage for the next few months. And the midway point of the season also brings the return of Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network. Which means we get one more night of the week where we have an excuse to drink, and we don’t have to endure crap like Grey’s Anatomy on television.
Tonight we get a good one, with two 6-2 division-leading teams facing off in and inter-conference battle. With the Falcons vs Ravens, we get to see Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Roddy White, Anquan Boldin, Ray Rice, Michael Turner, Ray Lewis & Tony Gonzalez (to name a few), so there will be no shortage of star power on the field. Should be a great match-up, and White – who leads the NFC in receiving – is expected to play. But both teams come into tonight with very little rest since their last game, so we’ll see if that has any effect on their play.
For those of you without NFL Network – which seems to be a healthy percentage of homes out there, you can watch the game live online here.
21
Oct
2010
Reminder: We LOVE The Violence With Our Football. Always Have, Always Will
Jack Lambert is the NFL's archetypal linebacker ... does this look like a "clean" hit to you? (Photo: Walter Iooss Jr./SI.com)
(This is the second in our unintentional series of reminders to our loyal audience that the NFL is, in fact, a violent sport. Check out the 1st installment from last season, featuring even more highlights of now illegal hits!)
The sports world has been in a general state of hysteria this week over the shocking fact that violent collisions take place in football. All of the sudden, everyone is horrified over the notion that vicious hits and injuries are an inherent part of the game … as though this was anything new.
NEWS FLASH: Football has always been a violent sport. The NFL has not-so-subtly branded itself for decades around its hard-hitting, violent image. From the time we were very young, we were regaled with stories and NFL Films footage of old-school players like Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Deacon Jones and Jack “The Assassin” Tatum. We saw the black & white images of players standing over lifeless bodies, and listened to these men tell of the pure joy & satisfaction of driving an opponent into the ground and hearing the breath exit their bodies. It’s one of the most highly revered traditions of the game.
“I believe the game is designed to reward the ones who hit the hardest. If you can’t take it, you shouldn’t play”
– Jack Lambert
In our youth, we watched guys like Ronnie Lott, Lawrence Taylor and Mike Singletary, and found ourselves appreciating a bone-crushing hit by a defender more than an offensive touchdown. We learned the power of intimidation on the field, and when we played football from Pop Warner through High School, we aspired to play like those guys. To this day, some of my most vivid football memories as a fan involve a devastating tackle. Go ahead, stop and think about it for a minute …
dJack Tatum's hit on Darryl Stingley is widely considered to be the most violent hit of all time (Photo: Riesterer/AP via NYDailyNews.com)
Over the years as fans, we’ve been taught to value the big hit as a defensive weapon, and have come to understand that injuries are just a job hazard for those who choose to come across the middle. In recent days, guys like Ray Lewis, Brian Dawkins and Patrick Willis have nobly carried that tradition forward. But now, they’re being asked to change the way they play the game? Veteran Seahawks S Lawyer Malloy invoked the memory of Lott when discussing the challenges defenders could face in light of the league’s heightened stance:
“When I came into the league you really didn’t have to worry about how you hit, and I’m proud I came in in that era because it’s definitely getting harder and harder for myself and some of these young guys on defense.”
Can I have the ‘Wooo!’ hits like Ronnie Lott use to talk about? They’re really taking that out of the game and it’s really a shame.”
14
Sep
2010
Hit Of The Week: Ray Lewis crushes Dustin Keller (VIDEO)
(Photo: Baltimore Sun/Kenneth K. Lam)
We’re starting a new tradition every Tuesday here at ReadAndReact by bringing you the Hit of the Week! We’ll find the most brutal tackle (or block) from each weekend of NFL games, and present it for your viewing pleasure. That’s good times right there, and we’re kicking the series off with unquestionably the one of the baddest men in the NFL, Ray Lewis.
With under a minute to go in last night’s Ravens/Jets game, with New York trying for a game-winning score, Mark Sanchez drops back and fires the ball toward TE Dustin Keller over the middle. Unfortunately for Keller, Sanchez leads him right into the awaiting arms of Lewis, who viciously de-cleats him with a crushing blow. It’s a beautiful, textbook hit; delivered cleanly, but with bad intentions … enjoy:
WATCH THE VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP
22
Sep
2009
Week 2 NFL Highlights – Drunken Lions Fans edition
Every Tuesday here at ReadAndReact, we’ll bring you video clips of the best highlights from the previous weekend’s NFL action. This week, we kick things off with a highlight that comes from the stands rather than the playing field, as we capture Lions fans in their natural state: DRUNK.
Watch as these two fully inebriated ladies make a scene during Sunday’s Lions/Packers game, and ultimately get escorted away by Detroit’s finest:
And now, back to your regularly scheduled in-game highlights.
Kenny Phillips INT off of Jason Witten’s foot:
Ray Lewis stuffs Darren Sproles on 4th and 2
15
Apr
2009
5 things intergalactic bounty hunter IG-88 *MUST* terminate in 2009
Interstellar hit-droid IG-88 does not mince words nor motives. He has determined that some elements of the 2009 NFL season are TOO ANNOYING to tolerate, and must be REMOVED.
BACKSTORY from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/IG-88
“IG-88 was an assassin droid line designed by Holowan Laboratories. The IG-88 line was a derivative of the IG-100 MagnaGuard droid. IG-88 later became one of the galaxy’s most infamous bounty hunters. However, the bounty hunting was just a cover for the droid’s grand plan—the Droid Revolution.
There were only four made, all identical. Moments after activation, the original massacred the scientists and transferred his consciousness into the other three. They then escaped the lab. It is possible it was the droid’s incompletely formed identity that made him obsessed with hunting and killing.”
REPEAT: IG-88 CANNOT TOLERATE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE UPCOMING CAMPAIGN AND MUST UNCOIL THE FOLLOWING:
(1) TERRELL OWENS ON THE BILLS, AND THE CIRCUS THAT COMES WITH IT. Seventeen weeks of mind-numbing, follow-the-herd pre-game-show segments about TO living it up in Buffalo. Enough said.
(2) The Dallas Cowboys “NEW STADIUM.” MILES BEYOND TEDIOUS.
(3) Browns vs. Steelers on PRIMETIME TELEVISION. STOP WITH THIS. The Browns have not beaten Pittsburgh since 2003, and only three times since 1995. NOT quality television. Please stop airing these wretched games EVERY season on ESPN or Monday Night Football. While it is annoying to NFL fans in general, it is TORTURE for Cleveland fans until their team learns the sheer, basic fundamentals of the game.
(4) RAY RAY.
(5) The *SAFE* Super Bowl Halftime Show featuring performers from 22 years ago. IG-88 WILL NOT TOLERATE.
