Ray Lewis and Ray Rice worked together at the Baltimore Ravens for almost for four years. That time frame is enough for Lewis to have a special bond with the running back who he said he took under his wings. After news broke out that Rice punched his wife, Janay Palmer, the retired linebacker said that was disappointed with the young NFL player. He even dubbed it as a personal matter.
"This is personal for me. I'm torn. This is a guy, a young man, that I really took up under my wing and tried to mentor...For me, it stings. He's a friend. I've always tried to take this young man and teach him something different. When you watch this video, you see that something was lost. Some leadership was lost."
Now, in a recent episode of the Sunday NFL Countdown, the 39-year old, two-time Super Bowl champion said that he's offended by Ray Rice's actions.
"Am I a little bit offended when you talk about a guy by the name of Ozzie Newsome, absolutely," Lewis said. "Because he's one of the five-star generals in this world. And I don't want us to lose what's really going on here: Ray Rice put a lot of people at jeopardy with his actions. A lot of people. Not just himself. He needs to understand that. Because none of this happens if what happened that night on that elevator don't happen,” he said.
Ray Lewis also talked about how Baltimore Ravens cared for him throughout the years that he was with them.
“They've given me an opportunity at life," he said of the Ravens. "To change not only my life, but my family's life." If this incident -- what we're dealing with -- if they could continue to do this all over again, they would. If the NFL could do this all over again, they would.
Instead of dwelling on further Ray Rice news, Lewis urged the public to focus on preventing domestic violence.
“Sometimes I think we get lost in trying to find out whose head to go after and who to attack now about what they didn’t do. Sometimes we forget why we’re here. We’re here for one reason and one reason only. We’re here for domestic violence. We’re here because we saw a friend of mine brutally hit his wife in the face in an elevator. There’s some things you can cover up, and there’s some things you can’t.”
