WP: Ray Lewis Weighs in on Haynesworth "Football is Football Man"

[HailNatsSkinz]

Ray Lewis on Haynesworth

"Your days of long suffering, of pain, of working out and countless hours of suffering, they're for a reason," Lewis said. "To fulfill a legacy, chasing something. And nowadays, where everything gets this dispute here, and I don't want to do this, I don't want to do that. See, when I was coming up, we didn't have that choice, to tell an adult -- no matter who it was -- what we weren't gonna do."

Since this was all pretty vague -- and there was loads more -- Chad Dukes finally asked Lewis how he would handle a situation similar to the Haynesworth one.

"I mean, I don't have to create a response," Lewis replied. "The response is, whatever you want me to do coach, let's get it done. If you want to switch the defense because you think it'll work better in a 3-4 -- I played in a 4-3 my whole life, but we switched up to a 3-4.

"Ok, Ray, you're gonna have to take on more guards, you're gonna have to do this and that.

"Ok, coach, I'll adjust. Do I like it? Hmm, nah. But I'll adjust, so let's do it, you know what I'm saying? And through that process, I won the defensive player of the year in the 4-3 in 2000, and in 2003 I came back and won the defensive player of the year in the 3-4. So it don't matter. Bottom line. Bottom line. Football is football, man,...

Clink link for rest of article:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/06/ray_lewis_on_haynesworth.html?wpisrc=nl_sports

[SkinsCrushCowboys]

more of the same, but agree....not a huge Ray Lewis fan, but princess Albert has not shown Rays intensity ever, unless of course he ie heading to the buffet line. " Football is football man."...and I add character or lack there of is just character...you either have it or you don't. Unfortunately for the Redskins he does not and never will.

[KingGibbs]

Can't stand Lewis, but no denying he is one of the greatest football players ever. I saw an article about his work ethic and how hard he works in the offseason to get ready for the season. Hard not to respect a player like him. Now I must go puke.

[RFK Lives]

Yeah, I am no huge Ray Lewis fan but I cannot deny the man has enormous talent and his statement is on target. He is a bit of a throwback the way he plays ball.

[TheismannQuote]

Oh Ray and that Miami education. So eloquent. I'm a big fan of Ray Lewis but this made my head spin...

"Sometimes you got to do things you ain't want to do to get something you ain't never got. So be ok with it. But you can't always win selfishly. If you always win selfishly, then I don't know what the walk of Jesus ever represented then...."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/06/ray_lewis_on_haynesworth.html

[terrifNick21]

I'm in the minority I suppose when I say Im a big fan of Ray Lewis. Lol.... I agree with him. Haynesworth would be the most dominant player in the league if he had the passion Lewis does.

[jkypoo]

This would be relevant if Lewis were speaking about a fellow football player.

As it is and has been, AH is just an extremely large child with 21 million dollars worth of Twinkies to eat. He can't be bothered with football related issues.

[Hitman21ST]

I'm another one who does like Ray Lewis, one of the most dominant linebackers ever, and someone who, even at his age, I would love to have manning the middle with London. Ray's got the uncoachable aspect of leadership, he leads by example and is the unquestioned leader of that defense, which has been one of the best of the past decade and then some.

His attitude is right on and there's no way Haynesworth can say anything to him.

[ACW]

Love him or hate him, no denying that Ray is a WARRIOR.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

"When he was coming up....."

I had no idea Ray Lewis was 72 years old.

This makes his career all the more impressive.

[addicted]

Another sign of players not understanding the entire situation and just running with what the media is reporting. I like Ray Lewis and he is correct in what he says but I still don't believe for one minute that this is simply AH being a fat piece of trash refusing to play football. If the team lied to you, tried to force you off the team just one year after you signed with them and obviously improved them, just to save a buck why in the hell would you not think about sticking it to them if you could? AH knew that his 21 million was his, that missing last weeks practice would cost him 10k and decided not to show up and did it as a big FU to the team. Big deal, paybacks a mother. If this were July then it's a huge deal, him missing a few days isn't a huge story. And neither is him wanting to get traded. If it was then why did the Skins try and get himself traded already if they didn't like that idea? Whty were the Skins secretely trying to get AH off the team and get his agent to trade him if they wanted to keep him around? They don't give a damn if he's traded, they want him traded. They are just pissed that a player put his middle one up to them. If this were isolated to just AH I'd probably be tripping, but this crap goes on with Snyder almost every year. Snyders a liar and caused this mess.

Too many of you only see the surface, peel the onion and you'll see that both sides are wrong here

[instinct21]

Another sign of players not understanding the entire situation and just running with what the media is reporting. I like Ray Lewis and he is correct in what he says but I still don't believe for one minute that this is simply AH being a fat piece of trash refusing to play football. If the team lied to you, tried to force you off the team just one year after you signed with them and obviously improved them, just to save a buck why in the hell would you not think about sticking it to them if you could? AH knew that his 21 million was his, that missing last weeks practice would cost him 10k and decided not to show up and did it as a big FU to the team. Big deal, paybacks a mother. If this were July then it's a huge deal, him missing a few days isn't a huge story. And neither is him wanting to get traded. If it was then why did the Skins try and get himself traded already if they didn't like that idea? Whty were the Skins secretely trying to get AH off the team and get his agent to trade him if they wanted to keep him around? They don't give a damn if he's traded, they want him traded. They are just pissed that a player put his middle one up to them. If this were isolated to just AH I'd probably be tripping, but this crap goes on with Snyder almost every year. Snyders a liar and caused this mess.

Too many of you only see the surface, peel the onion and you'll see that both sides are wrong here

Lavar Arrington

[authentic]

"Sometimes you got to do things you ain't want to do to get something you ain't never got. So be ok with it. But you can't always win selfishly. If you always win selfishly, then I don't know what the walk of Jesus ever represented then...."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/06/ray_lewis_on_haynesworth.html

what?

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Many would say you need to take off the player blinkers and put aside the dislike for the owner addicted man, but that's your prerogative.

Since when was expecting a so called professional player to do what his coaches expect of him deemed "trying to force him off the team?" The consequent reaction to the team in said players total unprofessional behaviour and disrespect for organization, coaches and teammates alike is irrelevant to the point.

But back to the OP .....

I have little to no respect for Ray Lewis the man; a man who I happen to believe is one lucky ass SOB who, without his money, would still be deeply locked up for a double murder.

But to be impartial, and look at Ray Lewis the athlete, you can't help but respect the top class, professional attitude of a guy who's done it all, and still works his ass off and strives to get better on a daily basis. And the fat man, who wouldn't know "professional" if it jumped up and bit him hard on the ass, claims he wants to be remembered in the lore of a Reggie White ..... *I may be a while whilst I try stop laughing.

Hail.

[bikie]

can't believe it took a coward like AH to make me agree with ray lewis... have to wash this filth off...

[Hazel-Ra]

When he's right, he's right...

[Santana_Fan]

Love Ray Lewis. Wish Haynesworth would stop acting like a *****.

[DeadExField]

Haynesworth is washed up, period. Even if he does get his act together, he serves as a huge distraction and I'm sick of reading about him. It must suck to have to correct other people's mistakes. If you're not throwing 36 TDs a year, or receiving/rushing 1500 yards a year, or getting 15+ sacks a season, I will not pay you 40 mil.

[addicted]

Many would say you need to take off the player blinkers and put aside the dislike for the owner addicted man, but that's your prerogative.

For the record I'm not an AH fan but I am a sympathizer to him. The difference between the two is like this.

When McNabb was on the Eagles I was a sympathizer of his. I didn't like knowing there was a player getting so much disrespect from the fans for doing such a great job for his team like that and as a fan of the game I liked McNabb's ability to just win baby but was not a fan of his. After he became a Redskin I went out and bought a replica jersey of his and wear it in Texas with pride. I became a fan of his the moment he wore our colors because I was already a fan. As for AH, truth be told I was never a fan of him before joining the team. I didn't know squat about the man other then he was a probowl player playing for Tennessee. Today I am not a fan of Albert Hanyesworth but I am a vocal sympathizer of him because of the same reason I was a sympathizer of McNabb before he was here. I see way too many people trashing the man for what I don't see was completely his fault.

I wear no AH glasses, I am a Redskin fan first and foremost. However I will admit that I do not like how Snyder does business most of the time and this situation os no different. Like the guy said after I posted you just need to be around for a while and pay attention to know that similiar issues occured with Greg Williams, Lavar Arrington, Lavernous Coles, etc. Players and coaches were promised things and the team didn't deliver.

There is a pattern here, regardless of scheme or who was on the receiving end of it. I post this hoping you see my point of view.

Since when was expecting a so called professional player to do what his coaches expect of him deemed "trying to force him off the team?"

Ok lets be crystal clear about the time table of all of this happenings because you have it confused.

AH was signed last year amist controversary we illegally contacted him early (I think most believe we did) and in 2009 he did what he was told and played almost the full season for us. AH wasn't a model citizen and wasn't happy with the team or Greg Blache but he did fullfill his committment to the ball club.

The next thing that happened with AH was he announced in Feb he wasn't attending the new volentary camps. We come to learn last week that in Feb, around the time that ShannyAllen just came on board that they spoke with AH for 15 minutes, then spoke with AH's agent and gave him an ultimatium. Stay and do as your told, go and lose your guarentee.

I have several problems with this. In no paticular order they are:

1. Why not talk to AH the man himself instead of talking to agent? I don't care who you are, every man wants respected and talking to an agent and not the player is disrespect. Disrespecting anyone is the fast track to a breakup. No way do I think that AH was confused about the Skins intentions, the team tried to breakup with him but didn't want to cover the end of the bargain they owed him. They wanted him to be sympathetic to the team, how could anyone expect that to happen unless he was one selfless man in love with the game with no desire for financial stability. Sorry but if you put most of us in that situation, disrespect us and then ask for a favor the answer is hell no almost always.

2. What right did the Redskins have to actually have that conversation with his agent? The Redskins were stuck paying him that 21 million if he were on the team or off it April 1st. We were on the hook to pay him and it wasn't optional. We had to pay him that money. Make no mistake about that, we had to pay him that money. Why do so many of you think we had any option there at that time when we didn't? We had to pay him April 1st, name on thing AH did at that point to not get his money? If AH didn't have the guarentee and the Redskins truely could have kicked him to the curb and not pay him I would totally side with the team but that's not the truth. We were on the hook and asked him for a favor and he decliend,

3. What exactly was the intention of the Redskins to ask that of him in Feb? They speak of acting honorable, how is it honorable to intentionally damage a relationship with someone just because you don't want to honor your end of the bargain? The honorable thing wasn't done by either side

Now of course the key here to me is how disruptive was AH being between Feb-April? We didn't hear about anything about AH other then he was being shopped around and that he was skipping the VOLENTARY practices, the same practices that the new head coach said he was excused from. The truth of the matter is you like most posters here were oblivious to the AH drama unfolding behind the scenes until late last week. You still don't fault the organization for hurting a relationship that didn't need to be hurt.

There's a right way to do things, and a wrong way. The Redskins made many mistakes here. I'm not excusing AH for what he did in June, I'm excusing him for being human. If I were privately told you weren't needed by my company I would also feel betrayed and bitter. That's how I see Hanyesworth. I believe he looked at this June camp situation and said he'd rather pay 10,000 then to deal with a company that treated him like royality then crapped down his back. I sympathize with him for not showing up but don't like it.

If your going to have a public devorce but fight in private then you simply have to know that people will believe what they want. Up until June what did AH do to upset you? The rest of this post

The consequent reaction to the team in said players total unprofessional behaviour and disrespect for organization, coaches and teammates alike is irrelevant to the point.

But back to the OP .....

I have little to no respect for Ray Lewis the man; a man who I happen to believe is one lucky ass SOB who, without his money, would still be deeply locked up for a double murder.

But to be impartial, and look at Ray Lewis the athlete, you can't help but respect the top class, professional attitude of a guy who's done it all, and still works his ass off and strives to get better on a daily basis. And the fat man, who wouldn't know "professional" if it jumped up and bit him hard on the ass, claims he wants to be remembered in the lore of a Reggie White ..... *I may be a while whilst I try stop laughing.

Hail.

Like most everything written about AH over the past week is about what he did in June, yet the same people saying the negative posts were saying crap about him last month, the month before that, and further past. Fact is once Jason Campbell left the team the same miserable stinking pieces of trash who ***** about everything and complain non stop shifted there hatred towards this man and continue to rain it down like they are justified to do so.

The truth is AH isn't right to skip mini camp, but he certainily has me understanding why he did. Regardless I believe the same people who hate AH today hated him last month before any of this was known or public.

Now these same clowns just feel justified and refuse to see how the owner has a history of screwing with his players and coaches contracts or admit any of this sits at the organizations own feet. If ShannyAllenSnyder had done the right thing Hanyesworth would have already been shipped out of town and none of this would have been ever admitted. We would haved spared this from happening, and would be at peace today as a fanbase with Hanyesworth but instead we fight and argue because the team did him wrong and Hanyesworth did wrong.

Two wrongs do not make a right, but most definitely it takes two to fight and this isn't one sided like most want to imagine it is. This is one man's fight with his employer and I'm on the employee side, at least for now. Think what you want, it's your perogative as well

[Commander PK]

I think the bottom line is Haynesworth just doesn't want to work, and he doesn't want a coach like Mike Shanahan pushing him. I also think that deep down this has nothing to do with the 3-4, and everything to do with the fact that he is just a lazy millionaire with no character, no work ethic, and no drive to excel. The success he has had comes mostly from natural talent and size. How good could this guy be if he worked like a Ray Lewis?

[jistardy]

For the record I'm not an AH fan but I am a sympathizer to him. The difference between the two is like this.

When McNabb was on the Eagles I was a sympathizer of his. I didn't like knowing there was a player getting so much disrespect from the fans for doing such a great job for his team like that and as a fan of the game I liked McNabb's ability to just win baby but was not a fan of his. After he became a Redskin I went out and bought a replica jersey of his and wear it in Texas with pride. I became a fan of his the moment he wore our colors because I was already a fan. As for AH, truth be told I was never a fan of him before joining the team. I didn't know squat about the man other then he was a probowl player playing for Tennessee. Today I am not a fan of Albert Hanyesworth but I am a vocal sympathizer of him because of the same reason I was a sympathizer of McNabb before he was here. I see way too many people trashing the man for what I don't see was completely his fault.

I wear no AH glasses, I am a Redskin fan first and foremost. However I will admit that I do not like how Snyder does business most of the time and this situation os no different. Like the guy said after I posted you just need to be around for a while and pay attention to know that similiar issues occured with Greg Williams, Lavar Arrington, Lavernous Coles, etc. Players and coaches were promised things and the team didn't deliver.

There is a pattern here, regardless of scheme or who was on the receiving end of it. I post this hoping you see my point of view.

Ok lets be crystal clear about the time table of all of this happenings because you have it confused.

AH was signed last year amist controversary we illegally contacted him early (I think most believe we did) and in 2009 he did what he was told and played almost the full season for us. AH wasn't a model citizen and wasn't happy with the team or Greg Blache but he did fullfill his committment to the ball club.

The next thing that happened with AH was he announced in Feb he wasn't attending the new volentary camps. We come to learn last week that in Feb, around the time that ShannyAllen just came on board that they spoke with AH for 15 minutes, then spoke with AH's agent and gave him an ultimatium. Stay and do as your told, go and lose your guarentee.

I have several problems with this. In no paticular order they are:

1. Why not talk to AH the man himself instead of talking to agent? I don't care who you are, every man wants respected and talking to an agent and not the player is disrespect. Disrespecting anyone is the fast track to a breakup. No way do I think that AH was confused about the Skins intentions, the team tried to breakup with him but didn't want to cover the end of the bargain they owed him. They wanted him to be sympathetic to the team, how could anyone expect that to happen unless he was one selfless man in love with the game with no desire for financial stability. Sorry but if you put most of us in that situation, disrespect us and then ask for a favor the answer is hell no almost always.

2. What right did the Redskins have to actually have that conversation with his agent? The Redskins were stuck paying him that 21 million if he were on the team or off it April 1st. We were on the hook to pay him and it wasn't optional. We had to pay him that money. Make no mistake about that, we had to pay him that money. Why do so many of you think we had any option there at that time when we didn't? We had to pay him April 1st, name on thing AH did at that point to not get his money? If AH didn't have the guarentee and the Redskins truely could have kicked him to the curb and not pay him I would totally side with the team but that's not the truth. We were on the hook and asked him for a favor and he decliend,

3. What exactly was the intention of the Redskins to ask that of him in Feb? They speak of acting honorable, how is it honorable to intentionally damage a relationship with someone just because you don't want to honor your end of the bargain? The honorable thing wasn't done by either side

Now of course the key here to me is how disruptive was AH being between Feb-April? We didn't hear about anything about AH other then he was being shopped around and that he was skipping the VOLENTARY practices, the same practices that the new head coach said he was excused from. The truth of the matter is you like most posters here were oblivious to the AH drama unfolding behind the scenes until late last week. You still don't fault the organization for hurting a relationship that didn't need to be hurt.

There's a right way to do things, and a wrong way. The Redskins made many mistakes here. I'm not excusing AH for what he did in June, I'm excusing him for being human. If I were privately told you weren't needed by my company I would also feel betrayed and bitter. That's how I see Hanyesworth. I believe he looked at this June camp situation and said he'd rather pay 10,000 then to deal with a company that treated him like royality then crapped down his back. I sympathize with him for not showing up but don't like it.

If your going to have a public devorce but fight in private then you simply have to know that people will believe what they want. Up until June what did AH do to upset you? The rest of this post

Like most everything written about AH over the past week is about what he did in June, yet the same people saying the negative posts were saying crap about him last month, the month before that, and further past. Fact is once Jason Campbell left the team the same miserable stinking pieces of trash who ***** about everything and complain non stop shifted there hatred towards this man and continue to rain it down like they are justified to do so.

The truth is AH isn't right to skip mini camp, but he certainily has me understanding why he did. Regardless I believe the same people who hate AH today hated him last month before any of this was known or public.

Now these same clowns just feel justified and refuse to see how the owner has a history of screwing with his players and coaches contracts or admit any of this sits at the organizations own feet. If ShannyAllenSnyder had done the right thing Hanyesworth would have already been shipped out of town and none of this would have been ever admitted. We would haved spared this from happening, and would be at peace today as a fanbase with Hanyesworth but instead we fight and argue because the team did him wrong and Hanyesworth did wrong.

Two wrongs do not make a right, but most definitely it takes two to fight and this isn't one sided like most want to imagine it is. This is one man's fight with his employer and I'm on the employee side, at least for now. Think what you want, it's your perogative as well

Sounds like you need some Preperation A. H. Its the wide stuff.

[darklight1216]

I'm in the minority I suppose when I say Im a big fan of Ray Lewis. Lol.... I agree with him. Haynesworth would be the most dominant player in the league if he had the passion Lewis does.

You're not alone

I like the way Darnell Docket put it. If he's getting payed that kind of money he should be willing to play any formation: 3-4, 4-3, 5-6 etc.

Oh Ray and that Miami education. So eloquent. I'm a big fan of Ray Lewis but this made my head spin...

No one said that football players are well spoken.

Lol, I remember watching some pregame footage of Joe Flacco doing an impression of Ray Lewis. I don't remember his exact words, but he was like "I never forgot what he (Lewis) said that day, but I still don't know what he was talking about."

[addicted]

I think the bottom line is Haynesworth just doesn't want to work, and he doesn't want a coach like Mike Shanahan pushing him. I also think that deep down this has nothing to do with the 3-4, and everything to do with the fact that he is just a lazy millionaire with no character, no work ethic, and no drive to excel. The success he has had comes mostly from natural talent and size. How good could this guy be if he worked like a Ray Lewis?

AH worked extremely hard in Tennessee to repair his image as a dirty player and become the All Pro he was considered to be. The same man who was considered the best Defensive player in the game did not suddenly go from the best to the lazyest. I don't agree with that at all and neither did I see it. Last year the same guy who was carted off the field was back in there playing another down in the same quarter. Lazy people wouldn't have shown that heart on the field. Poor conditioning caused him to gas out, heart and hard work made him come back. He didn't have too.

To me your excusing everything I just posted with some made up excuse for not seeing how the team very much had a huge part in him today not wanting to come to work. Deep down this your right this isn't about a 3-4 change, it's about respect. He feels disrespected by the team and wants nothing to do with it. Who can blame him? If you gave me a pay check but treated me like crap I'd be wanting a new employer too. And it's not just AH who's had this happen to him. We all remember how Greg Williams was promised one thing by the team and shown another. I don't see why people just don't see that today. The pieces are all here for you to see, it takes more work to ignore them in my opinion then to admit they are actually there.

[ABSTRACT]

lol What did Ray Ray do to yall?? I didn't know so many people hated on him...Is it cause he plays across the beltway and whooped our **** for 15 years?? Idk...but I respect that man's game....probably the defensive player of the decade...I can't hate on that..

We might have our own defensive player of this upcoming decade (you know who I'm referring to), so its nothing to feel salty about...

[Commander PK]

AH worked extremely hard in Tennessee to repair his image as a dirty player and become the All Pro he was considered to be. The same man who was considered the best Defensive player in the game did not suddenly go from the best to the lazyest. I don't agree with that at all and neither did I see it. Last year the same guy who was carted off the field was back in there playing another down in the same quarter. Lazy people wouldn't have shown that heart on the field. Poor conditioning caused him to gas out, heart and hard work made him come back. He didn't have too.

To me your excusing everything I just posted with some made up excuse for not seeing how the team very much had a huge part in him today not wanting to come to work. Deep down this your right this isn't about a 3-4 change, it's about respect. He feels disrespected by the team and wants nothing to do with it. Who can blame him? If you gave me a pay check but treated me like crap I'd be wanting a new employer too. And it's not just AH who's had this happen to him. We all remember how Greg Williams was promised one thing by the team and shown another. I don't see why people just don't see that today. The pieces are all here for you to see, it takes more work to ignore them in my opinion then to admit they are actually there.

If Haynesworth had "heart" and "drive" he wouldn't have shown up in the shape he did last year. Football is all about off-season preparation, and last year for a man who gets paid millions to play a kid's game, he should have been in better shape, and that's ultimately his fault. It's a little late to show "heart" for 3 hours on Sunday, when you have not put in the proper preparation to be at your best. That's not just in Football, that's a principle that is applied everywhere in life. You have to do your homework.

Secondly, I don't get your idea that the Redskins have "disrespected" Haynesworth. The guy signed a contract upon his arrival, that could would have paid him INSANE money had he lived up to his side of the bargain. He apparently made it clear from day 1 since the coaching change, that he didn't care what coach wanted. He was going to do it his way.