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Ravens WR
Jermaine Lewis
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Ravens S Rod Woodson was describing a momentum-turning play by teammate Jermaine Lewis
in Baltimore’s Super Bowl XXXV victory: "He’s so explosive. He’s so
quick. He’s so fast."
Amazing. How can a man with such a heavy heart move so swiftly, so lightly on his feet?
How can a man who so recently suffered a parent’s worst nightmare bounce back so
quickly and live out every football player’s dream?
There were only two games left in the regular season when tragedy struck. Lewis’
wife, Imara, was eight months pregnant. She went in for a checkup and received the worst
news imaginable. The baby was stillborn. Geronimo Lewis should have been born around the
time of the Super Bowl. Instead, his death was being mourned as the Ravens prepared for
their late-season game against the Cardinals.
Labor was induced not long after it was learned that Geronimo was stillborn. Jermaine
and Imara had to say hello and goodbye to their son at the same time. It’s not
supposed to happen that way. Hello and goodbye are supposed to be separated by years and
years of memories and life experiences.
Meanwhile, there was a game to be played several days later. Jermaine was torn over
what to do. Should he continue to mourn with his wife or fulfill his professional
responsibilities on the football field?
Ravens head coach Brian Billick, the man with the giant ego, according to his critics,
was a man of giant perspective when Lewis needed him most.
"After the tragedy he faced, he was obviously conflicted about his perceived
responsibility to the team versus the emotional crisis he was facing at home,"
Billick said. "Obviously, it is hard to think clearly at those times. He was
conflicted about it and wondered if he could miss this, this and this practice and then
fly down late (to the game). I just felt like there needed to be a voice of reason of,
‘Jermaine, we will be OK. We are in a pretty good position.’ I knew had he gone,
even if we had been able to orchestrate that, in looking back on it, he would have
regretted it even if it had gone fine and there was adequate support at home. I think,
whether today, a month, a year, he would have looked back on it with his wife and
realized, ‘No, I should have stayed home with you.’ I guess, being older, I had
to help bring that perspective in for him."
Instead, Lewis would return to action the following week, the regular-season finale
against the Jets. He dedicated that game to Geronimo, and though he had not returned a
punt for a touchdown since the 1998 season, Lewis returned two punts for touchdowns in the
second half to lead the Ravens to a 34-20 win. That alone qualifies as a story straight
out of the fiction section of the library. What happened in the Super Bowl, however, was
pure Hollywood.
The Ravens had just taken a 17-0 lead over the Giants in the third quarter on Super
Sunday. The game appeared to be over. Then, the Giants’ Ron Dixon took the ensuing
kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Maybe the Giants had some life in them yet.
A thought went through Lewis’ mind: "I got to come back and get me one."
The ensuing kickoff went to Lewis at the 16-yard line. The Giants had kicked off to
Lewis’ left, and the Ravens’ had a wedge right return called, so Lewis took off
to his right.
Go, daddy, go.
Lewis brought the ball all the way across the field. He got some good blocks. And then
he saw it — daylight.
Go, daddy, go.
Down the sideline he raced. No one was going to catch him.
Go, daddy, go.
Just before Lewis reached the endzone, he pointed to the sky. He pointed toward young
Geronimo.
"I wanted to put everything in order and just move on," Lewis said. "All
I know is that he’s looking out for me."
I suspect young Geronimo was not watching alone. As his father was electrifying Super
Bowl XXXV, I’d like to think that Geronimo was in heaven watching with Kristopher
Brown.
It was five years earlier to the day that Cowboys CB Larry Brown was the most unlikely
of Super Bowl heroes, intercepting two passes against the Steelers. Earlier that season,
Kristopher had been born several months prematurely. He died 10 weeks later. The funeral
was held Nov. 18, the day before the Cowboys-Raiders game. The parallels between
Kristopher Brown and Geronimo Lewis, between Larry Brown and Jermaine Lewis, are eerie.
I suspect that after Jermaine Lewis’ kickoff return for a touchdown, Geronimo
spent the rest of the game debating Kristopher about whose daddy made the bigger play in a
Super Bowl.
Unquestionably, Lewis’ touchdown took all the mystery out of the outcome of the
game. The Giants were done.
"That play took every bit of air out of them," Ravens CB Chris McAlister
said.
Needless to say, the Ravens’ family was thrilled for Lewis.
"God definitely blessed him (today)," Woodson said. "You go through
different things for reasons. You try to find positives out of all the negatives that
happen. Jermaine deserved it. If anybody deserved it, Jermaine deserved it."
Nothing can ever help a parent completely get over the death of a child, but
Lewis’ touchdown did help him cope, in some way, with the death of Geronimo.
"This is closure," said Lewis, whose wristbands during the game read,
"Geronimo, rest in peace." |
