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Derailed superstar Ravens' Lewis had career off to a great start
Posted: Tuesday February 01, 2000 01:49 AM
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Ray Lewis thrives on the fury associated with playing middle linebacker in the NFL. He's led the Baltimore Ravens in tackles in each of his four pro seasons and has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times. The only criticism he had of his own performance is that he played without enough self-control. "I still mess up a lot because I'm overaggressive at times," he said in December after being chosen as the starting middle linebacker for the AFC Pro Bowl squad. "Coach [Jack] Del Rio has made me focus on calming down and letting plays come to me." Lewis, 24, was charged by Atlanta police with murder late Monday in the slayings of two people outside an Atlanta nightclub hours after the Super Bowl. The charge came after a day of investigation into the slaying at the Cobalt lounge in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood about 4 a.m. Monday. Lewis was taken into custody before he was to board a flight to Hawaii to play in the Pro Bowl. Lewis became an instant star with the Ravens after being selected out of Miami in the first round of the 1996 draft. He led the team with 142 tackles as a 21-year-old rookie and had an NFL-best 210 tackles in 1997. He has served as the centerpiece of a young linebacking crew that includes Peter Boulware and Jamie Sharper. In the midst of his third straight outstanding season, in 1998, Lewis signed an extension through the 2003 season. His future, and that of the Ravens, seemed limitless. Led by Lewis, Baltimore finished with the second-ranked defense in the NFL this season and won a franchise-record eight games -- including a 41-14 rout of the AFC champion Tennessee Titans in which Lewis had a team-high 13 tackles. But Lewis' season was marred by a brush with the law that occurred only days before the Dec. 5 game against the Titans. According to Baltimore police, Lewis was accused of punching a woman in a bar and then leaving the scene. He was served a criminal summons in response to a complaint by Katrice Sherree Parker. According to the police report, Lewis and Parker, both 24, became involved in a dispute shortly before 1 a.m. Nov. 30 at the Windsor Mill Inn. Parker then called police and ultimately filed a complaint in District Court. Lewis denied responsibility, and Ravens coach Brian Billick spoke strongly on behalf of his linebacker. "It's not my position here to make excuses for Ray. If due process plays itself out, as it rightfully should, what happened will become fairly clear and we will be able to move through it quickly," Billick said. Lewis now has a much more serious issue on his hands, one that could spell the end to a promising career that was built around his unbounded aggression on the playing field. He is not unfamiliar to the violence off the field. He often wears a shirt with a picture of his former best friend and Miami teammate, Marlin Barnes, who was slain in 1996. Labrant "Anthony" Dennis was convicted in the beating deaths of Barnes and Timwanika Lumpkins, the mother of Dennis' 3-year-old daughter. Lewis, who is not married, has one son, 4-year-old Ray Anthony Lewis Jr.
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