Ray Lewis

BALTIMORE — Usually several thousand seats remain empty when players are introduced 10 minutes before kickoff of NFL games. Not Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Every inch of available space was seemingly occupied. On the sideline, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided he didn't have a good enough view and inched closer to the tunnel from which the Baltimore Ravens would emerge — or, more specifically, the tunnel from which Ray Lewis would enter for the final time as a player.

NEW ORLEANS — When the lights came back to the Superdome, America's biggest sporting event had changed. This was the story line that no one predicted, a dose of unexpected drama that no one wanted. Super Bowl XLVII stopped for nearly 35 minutes because of a power outage, and while the Baltimore Ravens tried to protect an enormous lead, the San Francisco 49ers somehow were recharged. No, the lasting memory from this game will not be that John Harbaugh defeated his younger...

Ray Lewis, who has played 17 seasons for the Baltimore Ravens and defined the team's defensive excellence, announced his decision to retire Wednesday, telling teammates that "this will be my last ride. " "I told them I just felt so much peace in where I am with my decision because of everything I've done in this league," Lewis said during the Ravens' media session with several of his teammates watching. "I've done it, man. There's no accolade that I don't have individually but I've never played the game...

On the most important business trip of his professional life, Terrell Suggs walked onto the grass field at Tulane University for the week's first practice and quickly spotted the camera, the only one allowed anywhere near the Baltimore Ravens . If nerves were wound too tightly in the days leading up to Super Bowl XLVII, Suggs never showed it, shoving his face in the lens and providing an impromptu rap performance as his teammates got to work....

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Ray Lewis's cubicle, near a back doorway in the visitors' locker room at Gillette Stadium, was a hub of activity Sunday night. A couple stalls down, Terrell Suggs sang and whooped and hollered, and Lewis answered his every call, sing-songing right back. Men with celebratory cigars walked through in suits, and Lewis shouted after them as he packed his bag and pulled on his suit, the unmistakable scent of victory in the air. To the side, looking for an entry, a...

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens turned linebacker Ray Lewis's final home game into a going away party, sending off the future Hall of Famer with a 24-9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the AFC playoffs Sunday. Lewis announced early last week that he would retire at the end of this season, ending a 17-year career that included 13 Pro Bowl selections and two awards as defensive player of the year. The announced crowd of 71,379 at M&T Bank Stadium crowd...

NEW ORLEANS — At 12:18 p.m. local time Tuesday, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis sat at a raised table and wrapped a towel around his neck, and from there, the Super Bowl media day circus was on. Lewis will be one of the faces of Super Bowl week, for reasons he embraces and others he'd like to forget. He's a certain future Hall of Famer and a man whose words often veer toward faith and family. But there also are questions about whether he used performance-enhancing drugs and his...

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ray Lewis, for so long, has leaned on the emotional and spiritual elements of football, life and their intersection. Those are what have pushed him to this, the end of his 17th season, the end of his career. He has either one more game — Sunday's AFC championship game at New England — or two, if his Baltimore Ravens win and advance to the Super Bowl. Swirl all the emotions and spirits together, all that Lewis has meant to his franchise and his city,...

BALTIMORE—With linebacker Ray Lewis out of the lineup and reduced to watching from the sideline, the Baltimore Ravens had their difficulties slowing down Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton . But the Ravens got major offensive contributions from quarterback Joe Flacco , running back Ray Rice and rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith to get back into the win column and put themselves in at-least-temporary control...

She disappears into a back room to find her hat and gloves. Nearly 13 years have passed since someone killed Priscilla Lollar's oldest child, and in that time, she says, she has never visited his grave. She has thought about what that moment would be like, and deep down she knows it is something she needs to do. But she's afraid that pain would soon follow, and so instead, Priscilla has chosen for years to feel nothing. Early on Jan. 31, 2000, Richard Lollar...

NEW ORLEANS — The last game of Baltimore's most beloved gridiron star since Johnny Unitas is hours away, the last time in 17 years the soul and grit of the Ravens will trudge from tunnel to stadium, gladiator-style. Torn triceps, the terrible team he played on just a month ago . . . they all conspired against his fabled ending. Still, he stands. Menacingly — in the middle of the field, in the middle of the controlled mayhem, in the middle of one of the great tales of perseverance...

When the Baltimore Ravens won their first Super Bowl a dozen years ago, some in the organization were every bit as pleased for the team's owner, Art Modell , as they were for themselves. "The thing that jumps out at you is the affection that everyone had for Art and what it meant to him after 40 years in the business," former Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "Obviously you had your feelings about what it meant to you personally, but your first thoughts...

NEW ORLEANS — At 12:18 p.m. local time Tuesday, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis sat at a raised table and wrapped a towel around his neck, and from there, the Super Bowl media day circus was on. Lewis will be one of the faces of Super Bowl week, for reasons he embraces and others he'd like to forget. He's a certain future Hall of Famer and a man whose words often veer toward faith and family. But there also are questions about whether he used performance-enhancing drugs and his...

She disappears into a back room to find her hat and gloves. Nearly 13 years have passed since someone killed Priscilla Lollar's oldest child, and in that time, she says, she has never visited his grave. She has thought about what that moment would be like, and deep down she knows it is something she needs to do. But she's afraid that pain would soon follow, and so instead, Priscilla has chosen for years to feel nothing. Early on Jan. 31, 2000, Richard Lollar and...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Ray Lewis's cubicle, near a back doorway in the visitors' locker room at Gillette Stadium, was a hub of activity Sunday night. A couple stalls down, Terrell Suggs sang and whooped and hollered, and Lewis answered his every call, sing-songing right back. Men with celebratory cigars walked through in suits, and Lewis shouted after them as he packed his bag and pulled on his suit, the unmistakable scent of victory in the air. To the side, looking for...

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ray Lewis, for so long, has leaned on the emotional and spiritual elements of football, life and their intersection. Those are what have pushed him to this, the end of his 17th season, the end of his career. He has either one more game — Sunday's AFC championship game at New England — or two, if his Baltimore Ravens win and advance to the Super Bowl. Swirl all the emotions and spirits together, all that Lewis has meant to his franchise and his...

The Ravens' worst fears were confirmed Monday when a n MRI exam revealed that middle linebacker Ray Lewissuffered a torn triceps in his right arm, an injury that will likely end his season and could force him to contemplate the end of his Hall of Fame career. Ravens Coach John Harbaugh made the announcement about Lewis, who has a complete tear. Lewis was hurt while making a tackle Sunday on Dallas Cowboys running back Phillip Tanner in the fourth quarter of the Ravens' 31-29 victory.

BALTIMORE — There is a patch of gray in Ed Reed's hair, a reminder whenever he looks in the mirror that he's 33 and not 23, that, as he puts it, "Father Time is marching on. " Ray Lewis keeps his hair so short it is impossible to detect any change in hair color, but there is no doubting the receding hairline, regardless of how expensive his suit may be. The pair has been the heart and soul of the Baltimore Ravens defense for so long it...

BALTIMORE — Usually several thousand seats remain empty when players are introduced 10 minutes before kickoff of NFL games. Not Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Every inch of available space was seemingly occupied. On the sideline, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided he didn't have a good enough view and inched closer to the tunnel from which the Baltimore Ravens would emerge — or, more specifically, the tunnel from which Ray Lewis would enter for the final time as a player.

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens turned linebacker Ray Lewis's final home game into a going away party, sending off the future Hall of Famer with a 24-9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the AFC playoffs Sunday. Lewis announced early last week that he would retire at the end of this season, ending a 17-year career that included 13 Pro Bowl selections and two awards as defensive player of the year. The announced crowd of 71,379 at M&T Bank Stadium crowd...