Poll on ESPN: Is Ray Lewis the Greatest Defensive Player Ever?

[Slidemaster]

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/pos...ve-player-ever

Yes: 57%
No: 43%

There's another on the front page that ask who was better: Ray, or LT. LT is in a very slim lead, 51-49.

[Struds]

Despite the fact they were both LBs, LT played an entirely different position. Hell, he created an entirely new position.

Give him credit as the best OLB ever and Ray as the best ILB ever.

[Fang]

Ray Lewis is the greatest defensive player ever. I don't care what anyone else says. Johnny Unitas was the greatest QB ever. Has Baltimore been lucky or what?

[Jeebus]

Butkus.

Now poll for #2.

[RIKMAN]

Having seen Butkus and Nitschke and Nobis and Lucci and Curtis and others.

Ray Lewis is the best middle LB/ILB in football. Playing 17 years at a high level. In his first few years was the most dominant LB in the game, sideline to sideline.

Some guys may have harder (Butkus) but Butkus never dominated for the duration that Ray has. Really, I don't think there is anyone that close. LT was comparable but at a different position.

[Aclobat]

Me being 26, He is the greatest I have ever watched.

[Fang]

I remember Ray saying BEFORE he won a Superbowl in order to be considered the best you have to be the best. No disrespect to what Butkus did, but he never one the big one.

[mythoughts]

There's just no way, IMO, to seperate a Ray Lewis, from a Lawrence Taylor, or a Mike Singletary, or a Reggie White, and probably a few other. It all comes down to a personal bias.
Eagles and Packers fans will never say Ray Lewis, Ravens fans will never say Mike Singletary, Bears fans will never say Lawrence Taylor, and Giants fans will never say Reggie White.
Especially on Defense where stats aren't always comparable you just can't seperate the best of all time. I find it best just to add Ray into that group, which he clearly is.

[LarryN]

Butkus.

Now poll for #2.

"Moby Dick in a goldfish bowl". Classic.

I saw about a half million dollars worth of fines in that video....if Goodell had been commissioner then.

[bmore_ken]

There's just no way, IMO, to seperate a Ray Lewis, from a Lawrence Taylor, or a Mike Singletary, or a Reggie White, and probably a few other. It all comes down to a personal bias.
Eagles and Packers fans will never say Ray Lewis, Ravens fans will never say Mike Singletary, Bears fans will never say Lawrence Taylor, and Giants fans will never say Reggie White.
Especially on Defense where stats aren't always comparable you just can't seperate the best of all time. I find it best just to add Ray into that group, which he clearly is.

I disagree. Having saw them all play, I would have easily said LT before Ray put in his 17 years. In fact prior to Ray, not having seen Butkus play I considered LT the best at that time. Ray is the only LB in history with over 30 sacks and 30 picks. Numbers don't lie

[NCBirdfan]

There's just no way, IMO, to seperate a Ray Lewis, from a Lawrence Taylor, or a Mike Singletary, or a Reggie White, and probably a few other. It all comes down to a personal bias.
Eagles and Packers fans will never say Ray Lewis, Ravens fans will never say Mike Singletary, Bears fans will never say Lawrence Taylor, and Giants fans will never say Reggie White.
Especially on Defense where stats aren't always comparable you just can't seperate the best of all time. I find it best just to add Ray into that group, which he clearly is.

Jamison Hensley, now working at ESPN, gives credible evidence to support the claim:
Ray Lewis: Greatest defensive player ever

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who announced that he will retire at the end of the season, will leave this game with a lot of titles. Twelve-time Pro Bowl player. Seven-time All-Pro. Two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Super Bowl MVP. Here's another one that should be added to the list: greatest defensive player in NFL history.

Some will argue for Lawrence Taylor, Dick Butkus, Reggie White or Ronnie Lott. What makes Lewis stand above all of them is how he dominated in every facet. While Taylor changed the game in the 1980s, Lewis did the same in this generation with his range, strength, speed and intelligence.
When it came to the running game, Lewis was fast enough to chase down running backs and physical enough to make them pay when he did. In Lewis' first 16 seasons, Baltimore never allowed more than 3.9 yards per carry.

When it came to the passing game, he was explosive enough to rush the passer and athletic enough to cover running backs and tight ends. He's the only player in NFL history to amass 40 sacks and 30 interceptions.

No offense to other players mention, especially LT, but Ray Lewis is the best defensive player in NFL history - hands down.

[ms maggie]

Well the "best" is subjective but I can see it. Which is why it's good he's retiring now, while he's still playing well, not as well by his standards, but well enough.

[jonsensback]

Other than LT, I don't think anyone in my lifetime that has watched alot of football from the 70's on up, comes close.

But the "best" whatever pretty much is lame. Some oldtimers would say John U. was the best ever QB, while I would say the two of the best are playing right now (Peyton and Brady).

Opinions differ.

[Peej7245]

Well the "best" is subjective but I can see it. Which is why it's good he's retiring now, while he's still playing well, not as well by his standards, but well enough.

You bring up a good point:

I have seen, heard and read pundits who claim, smugy of course, that Ray Lewis is only the 3rd or fourth best MLB in the game today.

One way to look at it is that, yes, he is not playing to his standards.

The other way to look at it is that a 37 year old is being compared with others a decade or more younger. If I was Number 1, 2 or 3, I might wonder about myself if that 37 year old is as good, or almost as good, as am .

Maybe that 37 year old reset the bar into the stratosphere!

[Peej7245]

Other than LT, I don't think anyone in my lifetime that has watched alot of football from the 70's on up, comes close.

But the "best" whatever pretty much is lame. Some oldtimers would say John U. was the best ever QB, while I would say the two of the best are playing right now (Peyton and Brady).

Opinions differ.

Johnny U vs Manning and Brady...

What if Johnny U came along today with the same diets and training that modern players receive? What if he brought the same drive today that he obviously had during his career?

What if he had no foot speed?
what if he was Michael Vick short rather than Brady or Manning tall?

That's the risk in cross-generational comparisons (I think I sprained something with that word!)

[NCBirdfan]

It is definitely hard to compare players from different eras. For one thing, the rules have changed/evolved over time. Another is (as Peej pointed out) conditioning. Players today work out in multi-million dollar facilities. Back in the golden days, that was not the case. Practice facilities were not high-tech, but consisted of a few weights, and other primitive equipment. Also, equipment has changed as well as coaching, etc. So, it truly is an apples/oranges argument. Even when LT played, there were subtle changes in rules, etc. that changed the way players played. The game has become more of a finesse, pass-oriented game.

When Unitas played, the pass was not nearly as predominant and that is why he is still considered the best of all time, because of what he did in the era he played. In many ways the game was more violent than it is today and defensive linemen didn't worry about penalties when they went for the quarterback. And concussions were not scrutinized and were accepted as part of the game.

[chrisbraven]

Check out the poll again. Ray is #1!

That was hard work. heh heh heh

As he says, "This is a 60 minute ballgame!"


WIN FOR RAY
Braven

[chrisbraven]

My post above was not a reference to the poll, but to the RANKING list on ESPN.com, where fans rank the top 10 players of all time. THAT was the hard work I was referring to. Check it out:

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post...fensive-player

WIN FOR RAY
Braven