BAMAPHIN 22
FinHeaven Elite
Like a boxer in his corner, Ray Lewis bounced on the balls of his feet and swayed from side to side.
But it wasn't a human opponent he was facing, it was the perception that his relationship with his Baltimore Ravens teammates, coaches and Ravens fans has soured after televised comments two months ago.
In a sometimes-fiery, 23-minute news conference Wednesday with Baltimore-area media -- to whom he had not spoken since last October _ Lewis shadowboxed with his own words.
Speaking to Comcast SportsNet in April, Lewis seemingly addressed what the Ravens needed in the upcoming draft by stating, "The question is, 'Are you going to let me do what I do? If not, then let me go."' The Ravens drafted 340-pound defensive tackle Haloti Ngata in the first round to free up Lewis to make tackles, much in the way Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa did in the team's Super Bowl season.
Later in that same interview, he answered 'no comment," when asked about Billick's job status, which some saw as a vote of no-confidence in Baltimore's head coach.
"I truly believe it was (misconstrued)," Lewis said Wednesday, taking a break from the Ravens' mandatory minicamp. "If anybody would have played that entire interview, they would have seen that I was receiving a humanitarian award for the good deeds that I do off the field. I told (the reporter) from the beginning, 'Nothing about football.'
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/06/07/bc.fbn.ravens.rlewis.ap/index.html
But it wasn't a human opponent he was facing, it was the perception that his relationship with his Baltimore Ravens teammates, coaches and Ravens fans has soured after televised comments two months ago.
In a sometimes-fiery, 23-minute news conference Wednesday with Baltimore-area media -- to whom he had not spoken since last October _ Lewis shadowboxed with his own words.
Speaking to Comcast SportsNet in April, Lewis seemingly addressed what the Ravens needed in the upcoming draft by stating, "The question is, 'Are you going to let me do what I do? If not, then let me go."' The Ravens drafted 340-pound defensive tackle Haloti Ngata in the first round to free up Lewis to make tackles, much in the way Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa did in the team's Super Bowl season.
Later in that same interview, he answered 'no comment," when asked about Billick's job status, which some saw as a vote of no-confidence in Baltimore's head coach.
"I truly believe it was (misconstrued)," Lewis said Wednesday, taking a break from the Ravens' mandatory minicamp. "If anybody would have played that entire interview, they would have seen that I was receiving a humanitarian award for the good deeds that I do off the field. I told (the reporter) from the beginning, 'Nothing about football.'
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/06/07/bc.fbn.ravens.rlewis.ap/index.html
