Lewis never lacks for motivation against Titans

Ray Lewis plays football for its challenges. Even now.

He plays for the challenges presented by grown men staring at one another from the opposite side of the line of scrimmage, ready to test the will of their opponent.

I can block you. I can run over you. No you can't.

Lewis said this is why he continues to occupy the middle of the Baltimore Ravens defense. And after 13 seasons and so many tackles, his legacy is still being written. Arguably he's already the best middle linebacker in NFL history.

Lewis and the Ravens face the Titans on Saturday at LP Field in an AFC divisional playoff game. The winner goes to the AFC Championship, one step from Super Bowl XLIII. This is the kind of game Ray Lewis craves.

"For me as a man, to be in the business I'm in, if someone is going to challenge me, I'm going to make sure I'm physically prepared to bring on any challenge that anybody brings on me," Lewis said Tuesday during a conference call. "I look forward to it."

The Titans give Lewis and the Ravens a formidable challenge.

Chris Johnson and LenDale White run behind one of the NFL's best lines and formed the league's seventh-best rushing attack in the regular season. They offer variations of styles — White the pounder, looking for lanes, and Johnson the speedy yet durable rookie who always seems to be one step from breaking away.

And if Lewis needed any more motivation, he can think back to Week 5 when the Titans went to Baltimore and won 13-10 — in a game the Ravens limited Tennessee to 47 rushing yards.

It's because of Lewis that Baltimore's defense forced the most three-and-outs (60) in the league this season. He's why the Ravens were one of the best in the league in red-zone defense and run defense and pass defense.

He's the big reason their defense is not only respected but also feared. The unit has taken on the boisterous, cocky, animated, yet spiritual persona of its leader.

"He's hungry. He plays with that fire and guys feed off him," Titans tight end Alge Crumpler said. "He shoots gaps, he makes plays, he's very instinctual. He gets in the backfield. He just has a great knowledge of what offenses do."

Lewis, the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, is approaching the midway point of his second decade in the NFL, despite playing the game with the instincts of a bloodhound, the intensity of a drill instructor and the recklessness of a Hollywood stuntman. He led Baltimore's No. 2-ranked defense during the regular season with 160 tackles, marking the 11th time he led the Ravens in the category.

"He keeps himself in great shape. He takes care of himself physically and studies the game with the best of them," Ravens Coach John Harbaugh said. "I hope all of our young guys emulate Ray Lewis, and if they do, they've got a chance to have a great career, too."

It's no surprise that this season the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year earned his 10th Pro Bowl selection.

"I tell guys all the time, man, you can come in and make a spurt in this league real quick and be forgotten or you can come in to make a spurt in this league and be here for a long time," Lewis said.

He likely had similar words for Johnson when they spoke on the phone before the Week 5 meeting. The linebacker was already a fan of the rookie and got his number from a mutual friend. Johnson said Lewis had some good advice and "thought it was pretty cool" that he called. White is a Lewis fan, too.

"He's proven. He's been doing this for a long time," White said. "It's inspiring to me, to know I can be like that one day, I can play that long with that much intensity, and that well."

(tennessean.com)