Our days watching Ray Lewis deliver punishing hits on running backs and quarterbacks alike may be numbered.
But that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of him and NFL football.
The future Hall of Famer could soon be join ESPN as an analyst and contributor reports SI.com’s Richard Deitsch. ESPN seems a likely landing spot for the much-revered Lewis. His career accolades are rivaled by few players in his generation.
As a personality and, now, a potential television personality, Lewis is off the charts.
He’s mentored scores of NFL players, past and present, as well as provided motivational talks and workout ‘sessions’ for college teams and communities.
TheGrio: Ray Lewis will go down as a Hall of Famer off the field, too
Lewis’ former head coach in Baltimore Brian Billick recently called Lewis the “greatest individual leader on a football team” he’d ever seen on ESPN’s ‘Mike and Mike in the Morning.’
SI.com’s Deitsch also reports Lewis’ son Ray Lewis III and his college football career (Lewis III will be a freshman at dad’s alma mater University of Miami in the fall) weighed heavily on the decision to work with ESPN. The schedule is reportedly flexible enough for Lewis to attend games and remain involved.
Follow theGrio’s Todd Johnson on Twitter @rantoddj