Ray Lewis generated some unwanted attention for the Ravens late last week after making some critical comments about Joe Flacco on national TV. On Monday, on the heels of a frustrating Ravens loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Lewis struck a different chord in a video addressed to the team’s quarterback: “I’m sorry, my brother.”
Sunday proved to be a disappointing day for Ravens Nation. Fans had been banking on a strong showing from their team against the Cowboys, who currently hold the best record in the NFL. But despite a strong first-half showing, the Ravens came up short, losing 27-17 in Dallas and landing them at an even 5-5 record.
After the loss, Joe Flacco didn’t lay down or admit Dallas might be a better team. “We should beat this team,” he said. “I’m not kidding.”
Days earlier, the legendary hometown linebacker told Jason Whitlock on FOXSports1 that he had “never seen” Flacco be passionate about his job, among other criticisms. These were strong words coming from a man who spent five seasons on the same team with Flacco and enjoyed a Super Bowl win to close out his career, thanks to Flacco’s strong leadership and play during the 2013 postseason.
For his part, Flacco said on Friday morning on the “Mad Dog Sports Radio” show on Sirius XM that the controversy of words “is what it is, and Ray can think what he thinks.”
Perhaps Flacco’s assertion and the Ravens’ solid effort on Sunday led Lewis to do some thinking. This morning, Lewis posted a two-minute, 20-second apology video recorded from inside a car to Twitter. The ex-linebacker admitted that some of his negativity may have been rooted in frustration from not being able to help out with motivating players during the Ravens’ thus-far turbulent season.
“Like everybody else, I lashed out at the quarterback, because ‘that’s the person who’s supposed do carry us, or do whatever,’” he said. “Brother, your personality is what it is. You’re a man, and you put on your pants one leg at a time just like everybody else.”
He went on to directly apologize: “From a man, you’ll never hear it again – sorry for ever even calling out your name or putting your name into context of making you try to be anything that I am or anything that you’re not.”
Here’s the full video:
#RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/8DFEpLnPaO
— Ray Lewis (@raylewis) November 21, 2016
It’s hard to imagine Flacco not taking Lewis’ apology to heart, but either way, he has plenty to worry about outside of his former teammate’s publicly aired opinions. His 2016 Ravens squad has recently showed signs of strength after suffering a four-game losing streak, but they’re still stuck in a tie for first with the Pittsburgh Steelers after Sunday’s loss. The team now has six regular-season games left to put some distance between themselves and their AFC North rivals and secure a playoff spot.
As least now, Flacco knows his former teammate has his back, at least publicly. He can use that as motivation heading into next Sunday’s matchup against one of their other division rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals.
