Ray Lewis

[JoeyFlex5]

5 hours ago, Steve0x said:

Rex Ryan did a great job with the Ravens though

was rex ryan a former player? lol 

 

6 hours ago, ravensdan said:

Yeah. Also sometimes the better and more instinctual the player the more frustrated they can get trying to coach up others.... Mike Singletary. 

this. the players who were a mile ahead of the competition mentally, tend to believe EVERY player can diagnose and read and react the same way. peyton manning is one of the most brilliant football minds of all time, but everybody he was ever played under or played with all say he will never be a coach because he is too demanding and expects a level of performance which very few are capable of. ray lewis i doubt could ever be a football coach, he is far too lively and emotional, and if he isnt out on the field to make his own play calls work, then he will get frustrated repeatedly when his MLB cant beat offensive players to the ball on every snap like he did. 

 

[The Raven]

9 hours ago, Willbacker said:

Wrong!!! A lot of players were inspired by not only Ray's speeches but his play on the field. He was an absolute general. I cant believe just cuz of a 5-11 season one time after the SB with you can say that. Guys like Gen Washington and MLK weren't motivational either I guess. Yeah. No! Great leaders are great motivaters.

It's not just because of the 5-11 season. It's mainly because I don't believe in fairy tales. This idea that motivational leaders in sports can make players better is just a bull crap feel good story that hack sports writers print because they're hacks. Maybe I'm alone on this, but no pregame speech ever motivated me to play better. If motivation doesn't come from within, do you really have it?

[Steve0x]

But younger players look up to Ray Lewis. If they were on Ravens they would listen to him and learn from him. Just like Notre Dame fighting Irish listen to Knute Rockne

 

Thats why players want to play for that college. They listen to him. And heres another great motivator Vince Lombardi 

 

If you listen to these motivators you'll learn something about how you play the game. 

[BmoreBird22]

1 hour ago, The Raven said:

It's not just because of the 5-11 season. It's mainly because I don't believe in fairy tales. This idea that motivational leaders in sports can make players better is just a bull crap feel good story that hack sports writers print because they're hacks. Maybe I'm alone on this, but no pregame speech ever motivated me to play better. If motivation doesn't come from within, do you really have it?

I mean, I think a player can get you a little more fired up and hyped up, but that wears off. I also believe a great motivator can pull you out of a mental slump, but that's not gonna make me play any better. 

I always played hard in every single sport because... that's just how you play sports.

[The Raven]

7 hours ago, Steve0x said:

3 minutes ago, Steve0x said:

But younger players look up to Ray Lewis. If they were on Ravens they would listen to him and learn from him.

 

This is the fairy tale I was talking about. The idea that the amazing Ray can just steer guys in the right direction is just a myth. 

[Tank 92]

58 minutes ago, The Raven said:

It's not just because of the 5-11 season. It's mainly because I don't believe in fairy tales. This idea that motivational leaders in sports can make players better is just a bull crap feel good story that hack sports writers print because they're hacks. Maybe I'm alone on this, but no pregame speech ever motivated me to play better. If motivation doesn't come from within, do you really have it?

I think you are both correct, sorta.  I think the pre game speeches probably do help the young guys focus, but doesn't matter much with the vets. But the on field "leading by example" goes much farther to motivate all, especially at practice. I agree though, if you aren't self motivated anyway none of it has any effect.

[The Raven]

If you love the game, you're gonna put everything into it until you're done. If you don't love it, no stupid speech will make you love it and work harder.

[Tank 92]

1 minute ago, The Raven said:

If you love the game, you're gonna put everything into it until you're done. If you don't love it, no stupid speech will make you love it and work harder.

No question.  But leading by example is more like teaching than motivating.

[The Raven]

Just now, Tank 92 said:

No question.  But leading by example is more like teaching than motivating.

That much I can agree with.

[K-Dog]

I am not 100% convinced the RAVENS would have made to the Super Bowl with out Ray announcing it was his last ride.

[Tiznut]

3 hours ago, Tank 92 said:

I think you are both correct, sorta.  I think the pre game speeches probably do help the young guys focus, but doesn't matter much with the vets. But the on field "leading by example" goes much farther to motivate all, especially at practice. I agree though, if you aren't self motivated anyway none of it has any effect.

Just remember that flacco respected Ray but thought the speeches were over the top. 

[ravensdan]

3 hours ago, K-Dog said:

I am not 100% convinced the RAVENS would have made to the Super Bowl with out Ray announcing it was his last ride.

Flacco was far more responsible for that win thanLewis. As much as I love Ray he was good but not great in 2012. Flacco was great. 

[Steve0x]

And I'm so grateful Ray Lewis made that final ride speech. Because if he didn't id would never got this ticket 

 

Edited July 17, 2016 by Steve0x

[Tru11]

7 hours ago, The Raven said:

If you love the game, you're gonna put everything into it until you're done. If you don't love it, no stupid speech will make you love it and work harder.

All the cult leaders throughout history will disagree with this.

If someone can use speeches to convince people to commit mass suicide , i dont feel its far fetched that speeches can motivates people to do a better job playing a sport.

It simply depends on who is doing the talking tbh.

Ray play and career speak for itself so its only natural that players are willing to follow his lead since he already reached the pinnacle of the sports.

Now if he was some bum who could not even make the pro bowl as an alternate then yeah i dont think anyone would care.

You might believe for yourself that you have put everything into it already but if someone then comes along who have archieved the highest possible and tells you that you can do even better if you follow him , then that might give you the extra motivation to try to do just that.

People like me and you are down to earth and thus wont be that easily convinced but dont underestimate how easily influenced majority of the people are.
People will believe anything depending on who is the one that is telling them and what the source is they are using.

PS:

Heck take religion.

people are still motivated by words spoken over 2000 years ago.
hell  some go as far as being committed to blow themselves up based on words spokes over almost 1500 years ago.

Politics are the same....

Even work related motivation can be different.

A person will usually work harder for a kind and caring boss who pays them above their worth compared to a boss that treats them bad and pays below their worth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2016 by Tru11

[K-Dog]

7 hours ago, ravensdan said:

Flacco was far more responsible for that win thanLewis. As much as I love Ray he was good but not great in 2012. Flacco was great. 

If you notice the wording of my post, I wasn't referring to performance. 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, The Raven said:

11 hours ago, The Raven said:

 

This is the fairy tale I was talking about. The idea that the amazing Ray can just steer guys in the right direction is just a myth. 

Football is a Team sport. I won't use the cliché. The chemistry of a football team has as more to do with winning or winning a championship than anything an individual can dream about doing.  Leaders are part of that chemistry and right kind of leaders inspire and keep a team believing. Ray was one of those leaders.  Don't fret, you're not the only one that didn't recognize the import of those personalities.  

11 hours ago, The Raven said:

If you love the game, you're gonna put everything into it until you're done. If you don't love it, no stupid speech will make you love it and work harder.

Once again, in football no one goes it alone. Not on a winning team.

11 hours ago, K-Dog said:

I am not 100% convinced the RAVENS would have made to the Super Bowl with out Ray announcing it was his last ride.

That was some poignant and powerful stuff that went on that year.

8 hours ago, ravensdan said:

Flacco was far more responsible for that win thanLewis. As much as I love Ray he was good but not great in 2012. Flacco was great. 

It's not just because of the 5-11 season. It's mainly because I don't believe in fairy tales. This idea that motivational leaders in sports can make players better is just a bull crap feel good story that hack sports writers print because they're hacks. Maybe I'm alone on this, but no pregame speech ever motivated me to play better. If motivation doesn't come from within, do you really have it?

It's not about motivation really. It's about commitment to a greater purpose. Don't worry, you're not the only one lately that can't seem to get their thoughts around the concept.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

On July 16, 2016 at 4:56 AM, PerpetuallyBored74 said:

2013: I never said KLM and Anthony were busts, I said they were "late round flyers who did not pan out"

2012: If Upshaw was solid, they would've re-signed him as he was cheap to keep. He was decent at setting the edge, not great at it. And was below average at everything else: pass rushing, tackles for losses, coverage, etc. He is JAG, an OK starter, but nothing really special. Basically replacement level.

2011: So...you agree with me on Jimmy and Pernell? Since you pretty much elaborated on what I said about them. My point with Pernell being that after showing such promise as a rookie, he was underused until his 4th and final year here. You can't expect to build a decent defense when you only get one good and one great year from one of the scant few good healthy players you draft on defense before that good player leaves. And I didn't say I expected Chykie to ever be anything other than a nickel or dime CB, at best. What I said was he was a "project they invested too much time in" meaning that once it became clear he'd reached his ceiling after showing no improvement after 2 seasons, it was time to move on and try to develop someone else. Instead, they kept him for another two years.

2009: So how come when he shed the weight and switched back to OLB, Kruger became productive? You wouldn't want that productivity for 3 or 4 years, you're willing to settle for one year because it happened to be the year we won the SB? And what if Kruger had been just as productive in 2011 or 2010, maybe...we would've won another SB or two? And where did I say anything about overpaying him like the Browns did.

2008: I acknowledged that Zibby and Haruki were excellent backup and ST guys. And yes, it would be nice if we did nab a Pro Bowler in the 4h or 5th round every once in awhile. That's not an unrealistic expectation. In fact, the better teams in the NFL do just that (and we actually have with guys like Arthur Jones and McPhee, so I don't even know why you're raising this point.)

2007: Yeah, he was. For San Diego who we traded Barnes to for a 7th round pick. He was only a Raven for 3 years where we got 5 sacks from him. With San Diego, he had 11 sacks in just one year. You really want to argue that we got the better end of that deal?

2006: So, we're just going to ignore what I said about Ngata, Landry and Martin. Likewise, we're going to dismiss what I said later about the 2006 draft being one of our defensive cornerstone drafts.

My overall point is that many of these have been good players, even a few great ones, but either they kept (or keep) getting hurt or we misuse or underuse them until they've got one foot out the door. And that's why when Ray, Ed & Haloti were gone and Suggs started showing his age, our defense fell back into mediocrity. Hopefully, though these last 2 drafts will begin to turn that back around.

I think the issue is you were basically calling drafts bad because other teams threw way too much money at our good picks so we only got a couple good years out of them. That's not a reflection on the quality of the picks. 

Upshaw wasn't resigned because we have way too many players with upside were trying to get time. They feel Zadarius can replicate what he did - not a knock on Upshaw, it's bc Z is a good pick as well. 

They tried to use McPhee by moving him into other positions to get him more snaps. He slumped his second year. 

Kruger started out at OLB. He struggled mightily so they tried him somewhere else to see if he was a better fit. He was simply a late bloomer... Plain and simple. Some guys hit the ground running and other take a while. As I recall, they only switched him to DE for one year... So what's the excuse for the other 3 that he underwhelmed? Still a good pick. 

And your comment on Chykie contradicts your sentiments on McPhee and Kruger. So after 2 season and 2 positions struggling - they should have just scrapped Kruger?? And Chykie wasn't bad at times when he was a sub package guy... We just tried to make him a starter which failed. There's a lot of players who we would've completely missed out on if we followed that plan of just dismissing guys if they struggle for a year or two. 

 

I guess my my issue is with why you're calling picks bad. If a player pans out and becomes a good player it's a good pick - they evaluated and saw the potential. Just some guys take longer to develop or play better in different environments. 

Also keep in mind you're only looking at defensive picks. You said it'd be nice to hit on some great players in later rounds... But this ignores Pitta, Yanda, Urschel, Wagner, Gillmore, and Juice just in recent years. 

 

Plus I hate when ppl knock the FO for not drafting Pro Bowlers every year. First off bc it's a crock, a popularity contest, and fan vote is part of the criteria. Not a great measure on if a player is actually good or not. 

2nd there's probably only 100-125 or so Pro Bowl players in the league. There's maybe a 4-5% chance of selecting a Pro Bowl player in any given draft. 

And I'm pretty sure there was an analysis done on teams draft picks and pro bowls and we were top 3. There's only a cpl teams doing it more frequently than us. It's not like teams are snapping their fingers and viola their 3rd, 5th and 7th round picks are hitting the pro bowl. 

[Militant X 1]

On 7/15/2016 at 0:37 PM, Ravenseconbeast said:

Ray Lewis was a team leader.   One of the best one in our generation.   He helped spark a light into the team.   Football can be a mental game.  

But there were a lot of factors in place to win the Superbowl.   Don't forget it takes the full roster to win championship...and we needed every single player that year to contribute in a big way.   

Ray was an exceptional player along with Ed Reed but we needed the ENTIRE team to step up to win the chip!  Great post!

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

On 7/16/2016 at 8:15 PM, The Raven said:

It's not just because of the 5-11 season. It's mainly because I don't believe in fairy tales. This idea that motivational leaders in sports can make players better is just a bull crap feel good story that hack sports writers print because they're hacks. Maybe I'm alone on this, but no pregame speech ever motivated me to play better. If motivation doesn't come from within, do you really have it?

Motivation always comes from within. 

That doesnt mean that there arent people who have the ability to connect with others and help them draw that motivation out of themselves. Sports are a lot mental/psychological. There absolutely are people that can motivate others to be better. It's not always by giving great speeches or rah rah stuff.... sometimes its accountability, sometimes its getting people to follow your lead (you hear people say all the time "id follow that guy into battle"... when you see that guy fired up and ready to go, laying a big hit... it makes it easier for you to get fired up and ready to go and lay a big hit. That motivation came from within, but it was inspired by seeing the other guy first).

If you havent been motivated to play better by someone else then chances are either youve never played with a great leader - or, maybe... just maybe youre that person that your teammates drew inspiration from and followed.

A lot of people can and do motivate themselves 100%... i never needed someone else to fire me up, but my co-captains/coaches would often ask me to talk before games or lead by example bc others tended to follow me (not tooting my own horn by any means). I transferred to a new college after my sophomore year and the soccer team went 2-14 the year before i got there. With about 85% the same roster my first year we went 9-7, snuck into the playoffs and made it to the semi-final where we took the eventual champion to double overtime where we eventually lost in a golden goal situation. 

The following year we went undefeated and won the championship (however, i did help recruit 4 other top notch players for that year which explains the dramatic swing in results).

Yes, i was a better player, but my talent alone wasnt enough to account for that entire uptick in performance. The fact that i cared, held people accountable, and motivated everyone (coach on down... they had a history of losing) it brought everyones play to a higher level.

Some people have that professional workman-like attitude when it comes to sports.. they show up and do their part. I always tapped into the emotional aspects and that spirit of team; and ive been a part of some special things happening on a soccer field. Motivation is a real thing -- Ive seen it first hand and had team mates report experiencing the same thing.

Edited July 20, 2016 by BOLDnPurPnBlacK