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Cocky as they wanna be Love 'em or hate 'em, the brash Ravens are the champs
Updated: Monday January 29, 2001 4:01 AM
TAMPA, Fla. -- Ray Lewis stepped out onto the field at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday with all the swagger and purpose of an evangelist in a room full of sinners. He had something to say, Lewis did, something he's preached all season long. And you had to listen. You had no choice. He was in charge. We're the best, went the silent message. No matter what anyone says, we are the best. And you're not. So get out of the damn way. "Hey," the Baltimore Ravens' load of a linebacker said, "that's my thing. It's something I've done all year." It's easy to hate the Baltimore Ravens, the hands-down best team in football this season. They have an arrogance that smells like low tide in the harbor, an obnoxious attitude that most neutral fans yearn to see knocked down a notch or two.
All week long, the Ravens talked. Lewis. Shannon Sharpe. Tony Siragusa. Even their brainiac of a head coach, Brian Billick. While the New York Giants played the quiet confident role, the Ravens played the woofers. It was the kind of show that, unless you happen to be a Baltimore fan, might bug the heck out of you. "It might bug people," agreed kick returner Jermaine Lewis with a laugh. "Just the toughness, the 'cockiness.' But we knew we were going to be world champ." The Ravens, who backed up their bark by engulfing the hapless New York Giants in Sunday's Super Bowl, may be the most hated team to hit the NFL since the Dallas Cowboys in their heyday. The Ravens are so convincingly good -- despite an offense that borders on invisibility -- you almost can't help but to pull against them. Unless, of course, you're from Baltimore. Lewis struts at the center of it all. He endured a murder trial last spring and has come through it, in many eyes, with little remorse. That enough riles many. The fact that he may be stronger really works up his critics. Sunday, he was last out of the inflatable tunnel for pregame introductions, standing tall. He reached down slowly to run a finger against the grass. He looked at the finger disdainfully, wiped it on his jersey then launched into the throes of his pregame passion dance. "That's not a dance. That's Ray," says his defensive coordinator, Marvin Lewis. "That has nothing to do with anything but the energy in his body." His energy, his bald-faced sureness, has infected the entire team, made them all talkers, made them all believers. From the start of training camp, this team has looked to Lewis for the brashness it needs. "That's really the only guy that can get me excited by his [actions]," says Jermaine Lewis. "When I see [his pregame ritual], it just gets me excited." Lewis was named MVP of the game, a startling development for a man who just months ago was fighting for his life. He had five tackles and knocked down four passes in the 34-7 Baltimore win. On one play, late in the first quarter, he sprinted to his right through traffic, caught up with New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and tripped him up for a minimal game. It was the kind of play that makes him, and his team, so sure. So maddeningly sure. "Before we stepped out on the field, we knew what time it was. There was no denying us," Ray Lewis said. "Now everyone knows we're great," says linebacker Jamie Sharper. "I told my wife, thank God I don't have abs or good looks or all the chicks would be digging me right now," said the hefty defensive tackle Siragusa. The Ravens thrive on the certainty that they are invincible. If the Baltimore front office can keep this group together -- especially the defense -- they'll continue to thrive on it, too. And then fans all over the nation will have a choice. "Get on the wagon," suggests the cocky corner Duane Starks, "or go someplace else." These are the Ravens. These are the NFL champs. Hail to the new Cowboys. John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.
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