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http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/b...s-whack-for-saying-joe-flacco-has-no-passion/
Ray Lewis is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, primarily because he was the NFL's best middle linebacker for most of his 17 seasons, but also because he won two Super Bowls, the last coming in 2012. He retired in early 2013, and has spent recent years as an NFL talking head for ESPN and now Fox Sports 1.
And because talking heads are, you know, required to talk -- even when there isn't much to talk about -- you sometimes hear them say things that don't make much sense. Which brings us back to Lewis, who was asked about former teammate and current Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
"Gifted? Absolutely. Passionate about what he do? I've never seen that," Lewis told Fox Sports 1 on Thursday. "I don't know what that looks like."
This is the same Joe Flacco who carried an old and broken-down Ray Lewis to that final Super Bowl victory. That's not hyperbole; according to Pro Football Focus' metrics, Lewis ranked 35th among inside linebackers in 2012, and was one of the Ravens' worst defenders that season.
Undeterred, Lewis continued.
"I don't know how many times you'll hear somebody just really go out on a limb to defend he's the greatest teammate I've ever had," Lewis said. "I don't know how many times you'll hear that. Maybe it's because his personality just isn't that personality. He's not a rah-rah guy. He won't say much. But, in the game of football, there has to be some burning fire behind you."
Here's where we point out that Flacco, who completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns, was the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII. Lewis' contribution in the Ravens' biggest game of the season: four tackles.
Meanwhile, another retired Ravens linebacker has a different take on both Lewis and Flacco.
"How many times are they going to keep letting Ray Lewis off the hook?" CBS Sports NFL analyst Bart Scott said during an appearance with CBS Sports Radio's Gio and Jones. "He already dissed Ray Rice when Ray Rice went through his situation. Now he's dissing Flacco? Come on, man. You got that ring on your finger because of Flacco.
"See, that's what I don't like. You're either with me or you're not. If you're a teammate, you've never heard me say nothing bad about Ray Rice, nothing bad of Flacco. Come on, man. That's brother-on-brother crime right there. He's supposed to be better than that. He's supposed to be from the old school. You never come out publicly against one of your boys. Come on, man. You're killing me."
Scott was just getting warmed up.
"Joe Flacco was a great teammate," he continued. "He was a great rookie. Come on, Ray. You're supposed to be better than that. ... You're supposed to be the people that set the rules about how to be a great teammate. This is what happens: You get on the other side, and you got to say something, right? ... People put pressure on you to make a splash. When the Ray Rice situation came out, (media) tried to get me to go against my brother -- and I wouldn't, and it shocked them. ... You got an issue with his leadership skills and all that stuff, you go talk to him. That's what real men do. You don't do that. That's whack right there, Ray."
Whack, indeed.
Lewis is right about one thing: Flacco isn't a rah-rah guy, though he conflates that with being a competitor. But fire-and-brimstone speeches don't automatically qualify you as fiery, or even a motivational speaker. In August 2013, months after Lewis had retired, Flacco recounted the time then-offensive coordinator Cam Cameron asked him to give one of those aforementioned rah-rah talks to his teammates.
"That's not me," Flacco said at the time. "I love Ray, and I love how he always spoke from the heart, but if you listened to those speeches, a lot of them didn't even make sense. He meant everything he was saying, but I didn't know what he was talking about 90 percent of the time."
Ray Lewis is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, primarily because he was the NFL's best middle linebacker for most of his 17 seasons, but also because he won two Super Bowls, the last coming in 2012. He retired in early 2013, and has spent recent years as an NFL talking head for ESPN and now Fox Sports 1.
And because talking heads are, you know, required to talk -- even when there isn't much to talk about -- you sometimes hear them say things that don't make much sense. Which brings us back to Lewis, who was asked about former teammate and current Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
"Gifted? Absolutely. Passionate about what he do? I've never seen that," Lewis told Fox Sports 1 on Thursday. "I don't know what that looks like."
This is the same Joe Flacco who carried an old and broken-down Ray Lewis to that final Super Bowl victory. That's not hyperbole; according to Pro Football Focus' metrics, Lewis ranked 35th among inside linebackers in 2012, and was one of the Ravens' worst defenders that season.
Undeterred, Lewis continued.
"I don't know how many times you'll hear somebody just really go out on a limb to defend he's the greatest teammate I've ever had," Lewis said. "I don't know how many times you'll hear that. Maybe it's because his personality just isn't that personality. He's not a rah-rah guy. He won't say much. But, in the game of football, there has to be some burning fire behind you."
Here's where we point out that Flacco, who completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns, was the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII. Lewis' contribution in the Ravens' biggest game of the season: four tackles.
Meanwhile, another retired Ravens linebacker has a different take on both Lewis and Flacco.
"How many times are they going to keep letting Ray Lewis off the hook?" CBS Sports NFL analyst Bart Scott said during an appearance with CBS Sports Radio's Gio and Jones. "He already dissed Ray Rice when Ray Rice went through his situation. Now he's dissing Flacco? Come on, man. You got that ring on your finger because of Flacco.
"See, that's what I don't like. You're either with me or you're not. If you're a teammate, you've never heard me say nothing bad about Ray Rice, nothing bad of Flacco. Come on, man. That's brother-on-brother crime right there. He's supposed to be better than that. He's supposed to be from the old school. You never come out publicly against one of your boys. Come on, man. You're killing me."
Scott was just getting warmed up.
"Joe Flacco was a great teammate," he continued. "He was a great rookie. Come on, Ray. You're supposed to be better than that. ... You're supposed to be the people that set the rules about how to be a great teammate. This is what happens: You get on the other side, and you got to say something, right? ... People put pressure on you to make a splash. When the Ray Rice situation came out, (media) tried to get me to go against my brother -- and I wouldn't, and it shocked them. ... You got an issue with his leadership skills and all that stuff, you go talk to him. That's what real men do. You don't do that. That's whack right there, Ray."
Whack, indeed.
Lewis is right about one thing: Flacco isn't a rah-rah guy, though he conflates that with being a competitor. But fire-and-brimstone speeches don't automatically qualify you as fiery, or even a motivational speaker. In August 2013, months after Lewis had retired, Flacco recounted the time then-offensive coordinator Cam Cameron asked him to give one of those aforementioned rah-rah talks to his teammates.
"That's not me," Flacco said at the time. "I love Ray, and I love how he always spoke from the heart, but if you listened to those speeches, a lot of them didn't even make sense. He meant everything he was saying, but I didn't know what he was talking about 90 percent of the time."
