I have been reading this book and basically it is by a football player who overcame a tough childhood and being born to a teenage parent, and growing up with no father, who he has not seen until adulthood. In between that he dealt with growing up with his mom being in an abusive relationship, him sleeping in the garage where he had to use a deck of cards to exercise and tried to get stronger, so he can stand up to his stepfather and defend his mama. He end up having to raise his brother and sisters and he eventually end up having children of his own. He also went through a legal issue, getting arrested and then being in jail for days even bouncing in and out of jail, and then in and out of the courtroom also, after being accused of a murder. Then had to resume his football career and then deal with adversity also from the fans as well, and the person I am indeed talking about is Ray Lewis.
In 1996 When the Cleveland Browns eventually relocated to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Ravens in March 1996. It was their first NFL Draft as the Baltimore Ravens and In April 20, 1996 Ray Lewis was drafted and became a Baltimore Raven, and in his first year in the NFL he came ready and came blasting making his first interception against the Oakland Raiders, and even Made his first Sack on Jim Harbaugh, who at the time was the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. The original Baltimore Raven him playing since the first existence of the From his tough pedigree of having to be the man of the house really lead him to become even the man of the team. He has had ups and downs but many ups and downs regarding his career, and even had a great team with also support in the secondary with Ed Reed, and eventually soon in his career had a great sidekick on The Line with Terrell Suggs. But Ray Lewis himself overall has had a great team that responded to his intensity and even has had the players and the coaching staff hyped in pregame. The best thing from Ray Lewis he realize he needs the team to make achievements.
When I was 12 years old I first saw Ray Lewis in NFL Commercials, I heard of the name but didn't really invest on who the guy was and he was 6 years into the NFL. I was a Packers fan and I hardly looked into the Ravens, but I still knew they were in existence. The 2003 NFL Draft I first saw Ray Lewis I remember when playing Madden NFL 2002 and saw that the Ravens and Giants were in the Super Bowl. So based on how he plays and his work ethic I was thinking he had to at least win a Super Bowl. When I first began following Ray Lewis after seeing him in the Madden NFL 2004 commercial where he was bossing the rookies around. I am like is he a star football player for a football team and my brother told me that the guy on TV is Ray Lewis. Then When I played Madden I actually thought he was a running back because the last Name or on the Icon Display said Lewis and I thought Ray Lewis was actually a running back, and then My brother said "That is not Ray Lewis that is Jamal Lewis." When we did a fantasy draft in Madden NFL 2004 Ray Lewis was the first defensive player I drafted. Then I found out Ray Lewis plays defense and I wonder why did I thought he was an offensive player, But then I found out the defensive position has a ton of value to, based on how he plays. Even though his team fell short of the playoffs finishing 9-7, but looked to me had they had an impressive year. I eventually saw that Ray Lewis eventually became a cover boy of Madden NFL 2005, and it was awesome to see him as the first defensive player to be on the cover of a Madden NFL video game and I was really excited to see that he was on the cover.
So I end up reading the book of "I feel like going on." I remember one year I actually saw in January 2012 he fell short of the playoffs, and then I saw his reaction to that tough loss where he said in the next coming season he declared we are going to win the Super Bowl especially where he stated he is part of the team that is meant to win the Super Bowl and in the 2012 season was really where his final journey was about to begin. The fact that his goal was to end his career winning the Superbowl, despite the fact that he had a serious injury that ended his career he still persevered and kept playing even though he may not played a literal full season. Where he played full games but he did galvanized his team to success and try to play at his own potential galvanizing his own self. There were emotional moments especially when he and his team has been to the playoffs, and then playing his final home game where he played offense in the victory formation and did the final dance in front of the audience. After that was over it seems like the road games became where it really got down to business, he had his next playoff game on the road where he was not getting a lot of love, and seeing it in his perspective, he had faced a load of adversity where he end up facing Jeers or even slanders during the game on his verge to retirement, especially in the game against the Broncos. During the game they were even trailing big against the Broncos and looked like it was all over, and this was Peyton Manning's first playoff game as a Denver Bronco and he was tearing the house down. But The comeback and the storm came really from the offensive side from the Baltimore Ravens, where Joe Flacco made a huge deep pass and Jacoby Jones made the catch and ran for the touchdown which indeed led the Ravens to overtime in their game against the Broncos and then the victory. Thanks to the coaching and the motivation by Ray Lewis, which led to him passing on the same motivation and toughness also to the rest of his teammates. Even with the biblical scripture "No weapon Forged against us shall prosper" Which is in the Bible scripture Isaiah 54:17. That same energy passed on to where and when he got knocked out of the playoffs and I am sure Ray Lewis where he had dealt with the agony of last year where he and his team was knocked out of the AFC Championship and the fact that he had to deal with it for a full year. Also the jeers coming from the Pats fans was a lot of fire lit under Ray Lewis mind. Seeing that fire be manifested in the game was a lot to say. Seeing the game and even in the book where he saw and witnessed a lot of mocking from the Pats fans making the Road game for the Ravens a Ray Lewis retirement party, and like I said it lit a huge fire under Ray Lewis and Low and behold it did it didn't immediately start once the game started but later in the game it did, but later in the game they did. They were down 7-13, and then they scored 21 unanswered points to lead the Ravens to victory, with the intensity from Ray Lewis and even the team and even them showing up as a team and rebounding from last year especially to the team that has beat them last year in The AFC Championship and even on the road. The victory let them to the next stop and the final stop for Ray Lewis in his final game which was Superbowl 47, which also marked the history of two brothers as head coaches battling each other. For Ray Lewis to win a Superbowl in his final game, made a huge moment where he lived up to his expectation where he said, "We are going to win the Super Bowl." Even said we have the team to win it has a lot of meaning.
My personal thoughts of this book: Well I am glad I read this book, it has a ton of insight on how he became the man, not just football player, yes the man that he became. Ray Lewis was the most well respected players on the field. Hearing the story in his perspective especially during his years through Pop Warner, high school, college football and the pros. Seeing his tough life and even all his struggles and then making it through all of that, seemed like it made him a very exhilarating man. Seeing all the impact and challenges he has been through leave me to wonder sometimes is "What excuse do you have to stop yourself?" or on the other hand is "What do I think I can get out of this book?" I got the "I feel like going on" book on my birthday, and it has became one of my favorite books I read. Especially with Ray Lewis being one of my favorite players. The Man I respected and to see a lot of success come on his team.
What I learned from the book and when I read the part where Ray Lewis said "Man deals with the impossible... God deals with the Impossible" The fact that Ray Lewis had a near career ending injury in the triceps where players have not returned from this injury, but it seemed like he is the first one to have. The perseverance of this player especially where he guaranteed that his team was going to win the Super Bowl it showed me that it is good to have confidence and the hard work and the resilience. Got to keep fighting and in this book we see how Ray Lewis had to fight mostly throughout his life, and the final season of his career was no different. If you are striving for something you got to climb the mountain to get what you are striving for. I even love his quotes where he said, "We are Crazy, Crazy for greatness." The respect I have for this guy he netter settles for anything less than great, and that is what I need for myself and reminds me of myself where if I want something I do whatever it takes to get it. Honestly I can be passive at times, and can be a quitter but some times I can not give up to strive for something which is something I am learning myself. Why be a quitter and be stuck lamenting about your losses, especially Ray Lewis where he had to endure a full year of a devastating loss in the AFC Championship. But in the new year he made a strive to comeback and surprise everyone especially his opponent and the fans that were cheering against him, and brought his team a victory and a trip to the SB that he was fighting for. The challenge I really learned was sometimes I can let the past tear me down and be upset and stuck about it, and unfortunately we get stuck on the easy side, where we quit and either accept failure or stay mad about it and don't take advantage of the opportunities that is there for us to take and strive for. If it is there for us and we want to get it, just take what is there even if you have to play tug of war with someone else. It is easy to be a quitter, and just settle with being defeated, Don't stay defeated rebound and figure out how to be a winner, the toughness is seeing the same challenge and see the odds against you and battle it and surprise everyone and knock out all the disrespect and even every other barrier and push all that stuff out of the way or just knock it down and destroy it because you will see success on the other side. Even pushing through pain, and adapting through it and be rewarded going through the pain. Ray really defined The Definition of Toughness.
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