| TAMPA, Fla. — Like so many of you, I look
forward to the Super Bowl every year. I don’t care about the hype, the attractive
locales, the parties or any of the excess that is usually associated with the event. I
hope to see a game that is in fact Super and to discover a few human interest stories
about good men who’ve struggled mightily to accomplish good, or perhaps even great,
deeds. I came to Tampa with huge expectations. After so many Super Bowls had been Super
duds on the field, last year’s game between St. Louis and Tennessee was the best
ever. Why shouldn’t I hope for more of the same? And as great as the Kurt Warner and
the "Music City Miracle" stories were last year, the incredible turnarounds of
this year’s quarterbacks, Kerry Collins and Trent Dilfer, offered even more potential
for the saga of Super Bowl XXXV to become an epic. This game was something to get excited
about.
But now it’s just four days before the game. I’ve been in town about 36
hours, and all my hopes for this Super Bowl have been trashed. There’s really not
much point in playing the game now. Nothing could overcome the callousness, egos,
arrogance and self-centered, self-serving obnoxiousness of Brian Billick, Art Modell and,
of course, Ray Lewis. What’s worse is that Billick may very well be more responsible
than Lewis for permanently staining this Super Bowl.
Upon arriving in Tampa, the Ravens’ head coach took it upon himself to chastise
the media relative to the Lewis situation, saying, "But those of you, and I’ve
seen some reports that are embellishing on it and embarking on an area that I just see no
productivity. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the families, I
don’t think it’s in the best interest of the league, I don’t think
it’s in the best interest of Ray Lewis and, quite frankly, I don’t think
it’s in your best interest, because I don’t think you all, when you do that,
come across real well."
Realize now, folks, that at this point nobody had asked a question. This was Billick
attempting to dictate to the world what was righteous and what wasn’t, according to
the only authority that mattered, Brian Billick.
And then it got worse. Here are a few more quotes from Billick, basically rewriting
history. "To begin with, it is important to note that all charges were dropped
against Ray Lewis. There was no plea bargaining. It became very apparent to the DA, it
became very apparent to anybody who witnessed the proceedings, that Ray’s involvement
in that did not warrant the accusation or the charges. That’s why they were dropped.
After the charges were dropped, Ray offered to testify, admitted readily to not having
handled the situation the way he wished he had in terms of not dealing with the police in
a forthright manner, and it was dealt with at a misdemeanor level. Those are the
facts."
Those are the facts according to Brian Billick. The only thing even vaguely resembling
the truth in Billick’s comments is his acknowledgement of "Ray’s
involvement in that." But it wasn’t "that," Mr. Billick; it was the
deaths of Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker. Even Lewis doesn’t dispute he took a plea
bargain. And still Billick couldn’t stop. He went on to add, "Ray Lewis made
himself available to you after the trial and answered all of your questions in full and in
piecemeal through training camp. As best he could, considering the circumstances, he has
tried to address the issues. He has constantly shown sympathy for the family …,"
and the lies just kept on coming.
Ray Lewis has never told a member of the media what happened on Super Bowl night a year
ago, or if he has, that person has never reported it. He has refused to answer questions
about it repeatedly and belligerently. The media has been told there is no need to talk
about it because Lewis has decided it’s in the past. And not only has Lewis never
publicly indicated the slightest sign of emotions for the families of the victims, he has
repeatedly indicated that he believes he is the victim and the Atlanta Fulton County
prosecutors and police are the culprits.
How can the Ravens continue to protect and defend Lewis while blaming the lawyers and
police, and apparently now the media, for the tragedy in Atlanta? Ravens owner Art Modell,
a man of some questionable moral fiber himself if you ask anyone in Cleveland,
straightened us out on that subject. Modell said, "If he (Lewis) had any guilt at
all, it was because he had the wrong people hanging around, as all superstars do." As
offensive as Modell’s opening "if" is, are we supposed to just accept that
all superstars have the wrong people hanging around them? Some do, but most don’t.
Modell clearly doesn’t get this any more than he understood the debt he owed the
people of Cleveland.
Modell went on to add, "I have the same sense of sorrow as he does for the victims
in that crime, but he had nothing to do with it." While it is clear that Modell just
doesn’t get it, it does seem possible that he cares for the victims’ families as
little as Lewis seems to. What is not debatable is that Ray Lewis was at the scene of the
crime, a brawl that ended in the deaths of Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker. He is most
definitely and without doubt culpable — for obstruction of justice, at
the very least. If Lewis would tell us all, just once, just one time, what in fact did
happen that night, I don’t know any member of the media who wouldn’t love to
just let the story fade away.
But then we hear from Lewis himself. According to the Ravens’ middle linebacker,
"We’re here to close this chapter. It’s true that I’ve got money, and
I’m black. But at the same time, let’s find out the real truth. The real truth
of this isn’t about those two kids lying dead in the street. This is about Ray Lewis.
…" And there you have it in a nutshell. It’s all we’ve ever heard from
Lewis. He isn’t going to tell us anything, and forget the dead kids. Ray Lewis is the
victim.
I could go on and on, but there’s just one more quote from Lewis I think everyone
needs to hear. "I’m not here to please you. You can say what you want to say and
write what you want to write, but I’m not going to talk about it. So the person you
want it from, it’s not going to come from who you want it to come from. You can look
at the story I did for ESPN (The) Magazine, you can look at me going to the NFL rookie
symposium, but you’re not going to hear it from me."
I don’t usually shill for ESPN, but I implore everyone who reads this to get a
copy of the issue with Lewis’ story in it. I read it as I have everything I can get
my hands on about this subject. I’ve asked every member of the media I’ve come
in contact with here in Tampa if somehow I missed it and they’ve ever heard Lewis
admit what did happen a year ago in Atlanta. The answer is always the same. Lewis has
never told the truth publicly or, for that matter, told us anything about what really
happened that night. According to him, "it’s in the past."
We’ve all had enough of this. All anybody wants is for the murderers of Richard
Lollar and Jacinth Baker to be found, and for this story to go away. All of us, that is,
with the apparent exceptions of Lewis, Billick, Modell and a number of the other Ravens.
In the case of all of them but Lewis, all they seem interested in doing is distorting the
facts, changing the truth and rewriting history.
As for Lewis, he’s one of the only people in the world who really has any idea
about what did happen to Lollar and Baker, and he’s not talking — he never has.
And with the support of people like Billick and Modell, we have no reason to believe he
ever will. |
