Ray Lewis is a name that is synonymous to American football, more so since he is heralded as the greatest middle linebacker in the history of the National Football League or NFL. Some of the accolades that Ray received in his glittering 16-year career playing for the team Baltimore Ravens, are 2 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Awards, 7 First Team All-Pro selections, 3 Second Team All-Pro selections, 3 NFL Tackles Leader Award, and 2 First Team All-American selections. On top of all these achievements, Ray Lewis helped his team win 2 Super Bowl championships. His name is right up there with the likes of Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Jim Brown, and other Hall of Famers. Actually, Ray Lewis himself is a Hall of Famer. It was actually in 2018, 5 years removed from his last professional football game with the Ravens when Ray Lewis was officially inducted in Pro Football’s distinguished Hall of Fame listing.
Despite the awards that Ray Lewis has received, he has had his own fair share of controversies as he was charged with obstruction of justice for a murder that took place in the year 2000. Born in Bartow, Florida on May 15, 1975, Ray is the eldest in a brood of five. It could be said that he worked his way and persevered to reach the football and athletic greatness that he has achieved. From his beginnings as a member of the Miami Hurricanes football team, he has come a long way. Truly an inspiration in the field of athletics, let us have some of the top quotes from one of the greatest football players of all time.
1. “Grinding is my rest.”
2. “Bottom line, your body is a temple, and you have to treat it that way. That’s how God designed it.”
3. “Forget everything else. Forget that there was any sunlight left. What would you spend today thinking about.”
4. “I love sports. I love all sports. But this ain’t volleyball. Like, you actually can touch somebody in this sport.”
5. “I don’t train for football; I train more for a lifestyle.”
6. “Greatness is a lot of small things done well, stacked up on each other. Day after day. Workout after workout.”
7. “If there’s something in your life that you know needs changing, make sure you change it before God’s got to change it. Because if God’s got to change it, you ain’t going to like it.”
8. “Let them see something they’ve never seen before, and when something goes wrong, smile, cause there’s always a next play.”
9. “I’m a prideful person when it comes to competition.”
10. “Man doesn’t dictate what you do or how you do it. If you believe in God, believe in God have your faith in him. That’s where my faith lies.”
11. “If you knew, if you really knew the way God works, he don’t use people who commits anything like that for his glory. No way. It’s the total opposite.”
12. “We already know what yesterday has got for us. It’s already gone. Tomorrow, too far away. What about right now?”
13. “You gotta be hungry for it. You’ve got to put everything you got on it. Everything! Every second.”
14. “The greatest opportunity in the world is found here today, We already know what yesterday has got for us. It’s already gone.”
15. “The only way to defeat pain is to recognize pain exists.”
16. “Whatever the majority of people were doing, I found myself doing the opposite. I wanted to chase something great.”
17. “The love that’s out there in that stadium and the love that this city has for me and the respect that these players have for me—it’s overwhelming.”
18. “So now you’ve got to go out and show them that I’m a different creature now, than I was five minutes ago.”
19. “Outside of these doors, it is the real world. Someone tries to get you to do something wrong, run.”
20. “You have to be honest about who you are.”
21. “What’s the difference between you and the man sitting beside you? It’s 1%. In my business, only 1% makes it.”
22. “The reflective mode of life, of everything that I had ever been through, everything, it made sense.”
23. “My experience tells me that well over 50%, well over, of people who volunteer for anything, the attrition rate is that high.”
24. “Man believes in the possible, God believes in the impossible.”
25. “And that’s my honor, that’s what my goal is, to always keep my mum’s name ringing, because I know what sacrifices she went through for me.”
26. “If you ask me about my qualifications what I would say to you is that I am qualified by virtue of experience.”
27. “So the way we feel, somebody gonna feel like that tomorrow, and somebody gonna feel like that in a week. That’s a fact.”
28. “When God tells you something, believe in him. Listen to me, no matter the journey—too many ups and downs but when you believe in me.”
29. “You have to find that place that is very quiet in your head, and anytime I read it, anytime I come across it, my Bible, the first Scripture in there is Psalms 91.”
30. “There is only one way to win, one way to play. All out, all the time.”
31. “We get one opportunity in life, one chance at life to do whatever you’re going to do, and lay your foundation and make whatever mark you’re going to make.”
32. “You take five fingers. Individually, I can pin any one of them, but if I pin them together, it’s damn near impossible to turn this around.”
33. “Without praying every day there is no journey, there is no destination. It’s only one way you make it to the next level. You’ve got to put it all together.”
34. “You have to be the first one in line. That’s how leaders are born.”
35. “You will be aware that mentoring arises out of a particular theory on human development, but it has never been articulated in such a way that there are recognized qualifications.”
36. “Wins and losses come a dime a dozen. But effort? Nobody can judge that. Because effort is between you and you.”
37. “Some people take certain things and they try to forget what that pain felt like.”
38. “My mom calls me an older soul because, growing up, she taught me stuff real early.”
39. “Now I spend most of my time chasing wisdom, chasing understanding.”
40. “It’s simple: when God is for you, who can be against you?”
41. “With everything that we went through, the up and down roller coaster all year, the injuries and things we went through. We dealt with so much the entire year.”
42. “What makes you grind? You have to always be chasing something.”
43. “Whatever legacy you’re going to leave; leave your legacy!”
44. “Everyday of my life, I am trying to find a different way to get better.”
45. “Nothing surprises me, Jennette, so we can dispense with that.”
46. “Life is about being a versatile athlete and training in all realms of life.”
47. “My goals were clear. My actions were in line with that goal.”
48. “Never be comfortable with just good enough.”
49. “My pain is my badge of honor.”
50. “Don’t waste talent. No matter what you do, don’t waste talent.”
51. “Every day, we’ve got to do something physical. It’s mind, body and spirit.”
52. “I don’t care where we’re going; I’m gonna wear a suit all day, every day.”
53. “I saw all of it, but only thing that kept me around it’s my effort.”
54. “I love passion. I love for a coach to be passionate.”
55. “God has never made a mistake. Ever.”
