Amani Toomer bad mouthing Ray.

[Captain Silver]

Oh I understand the specifics, and you can chose to believe what is written in SI and quotes from a D.A. who is going to talk and say whatever he likes protecting his best interests. But the fact was, were it not for star power, notoriety, the people actually holding weapons would have been charged first, period. There was a clear bias as to who Ray was. You could argue it as maneuver to find the real killers, but the fact he went to Ray damaged any chance to actually prosecute the real murders. Their defense lawyers dream.

I am telling, my brother in law is bond, when he hears something it is the truth. I remember when I lived with him, he said intel said stay out of subways, they don't know where, what, or why, but just do it. I was doing a lot of work in DC at the time and I used to take the Metro in occasionally. I stopped. Two weeks later the London subway bombing happened. Wasn't the same place, but when he talks, I listen. I'm not buying a thing the Atlanta D.A. is selling.

[HoustonRaven]

DA's charge people all the time to compel testimony. It's pro forma in every prosecutors office.

While it's certainly possible this DA had star signs in his eyes, it can't be determined from an every day tactic out of his DA bag of tricks.

[The Fanatic]

it could easily be viewed as "look at me I'm retiring" but I think there is a zero percent change that's what he intended by the timing of it. He intended it as way to get the players and fans pumped up after what's been quite a disappointing season on the field performance wise. He intended it to give us the push to get us over the top.

The exact same way pagano has timed his return to help his team. He could easily have held out til next season but its a boost to his players to see hi back and hopefully push them on.

Bet he didnt say the same about him.

That's exactly why he held the announcement back.
From what I understand and have heard on various reports is that he (Ray) and Harbaugh have known about this decision for quite some time, and have discussed numerous times as to when to announce it, and when it would be most beneficial to Ray and the team to return to the field.
I think they knew they could get to the playoffs and wanted Ray to have as much healing time as possible before he put the injury at risk.
It's also been reported that this is why Ray had such an escalated rehab to this injury because he and Harbaugh knew he was not returning next year, but wanted Ray to have the opportunity to take the field again and possibly be a contributor to a title run.

No way Ray wanted to end his career on IR or anything of that nature.

If this announcement wasn't made this week the way it was all the hype and media heads would be pumping up the Colts and their story with the Andrew Luck stuff and the Chuck Strong stuff with his story this year.

Certainly a great motivating story they have that needed to be curtailed to some extent.

This bombshell of Rays' did it for sure!!

I equate this to similar fashion to what Billick did in the Superbowl at media day to deflect what surely would have been a disgrace with the media trying to bring the team down by harping on the Atlanta incident rather then the team and its success to get there.

My opinion...

Well Played!!!!!

[Big Bird]

As many do, I believe Ray Lewis to be the greatest Linebacker ever to play the game. He was also a fury generator with the defensive team. On top of that, he is an excellent human being. He was unfortunate in that he chose to hang around the wrong guys down south. What he saw or did not see is a matter of conjecture. It's the same old shit from wannabes choosing to shoot down others to mask their own inferiorities. Love ya Ray, as a player and a human being.

[akashicrecorder]

a discussion about Atalanta is in order.

Awesome! I once did a report on the Race of the Golden Apples for Greek Art class ...

[StingerNLG]

I take Amani Toomer's opinion about as serious as I take Amani Toomer's opinion. The guy has been irrelevant for most of his career, an OK receiver. How many pro-bowls? I think the number is zero.

How his opinion on Ray Lewis is taken seriously by anyone at this point would be an amazement.

[StingerNLG]

Toomer didn't say anything inaccurate, just that if you're going to talk about Ray's career, a discussion about Atalanta is in order.

Is it though? It's been discussed. And discussed, and discussed, and discussed. And Ray Lewis as you point out too doesn't shy away from it himself. And he used it to get his life together. So what's there to discuss except to bring it up to try and tarnish what Ray became and what he's done for this league and people around him?

And I don't specifically mean you here HR. I'm talking about people like Toomer.

After watching A Football Life, and seeing the personal aspect to what Ray does, my outlook on him is a little different. I see the man beyond the football player now. And that man deserves to leave Atlanta back where it belongs, 12 years ago.

[akashicrecorder]

I believe it was a retrospective of our Super Bowl season, the kind they show on NFL Network a lot, where Brian Billick commented on the hate that Ray got from everyone after the incident. People would hurl nasty, racist things at him. At a point it's time to move on. Not move on from the unfortunate fact that two people died. But it's time to get off this whole "Ray is not a saint because of Atlanta" thing. Who said he was? Who said he was perfect? At this point, and I hate to sound like one of THOSE fans, it just sounds like a lot of bitterness and haterade.

[DarienA]

If it truly was a look at me I'm retiring announcement then Ray would be interviewing left and right... except as a recent article pointed out Ray has declined ALL interviews including a Shannon Sharpe requested interview.

[Paintballguy]

If it truly was a look at me I'm retiring announcement then Ray would be interviewing left and right... except as a recent article pointed out Ray has declined ALL interviews including a Shannon Sharpe requested interview.

Exactly ray knows he'll have a lot of time in the spotlight after he's retired. He doesn't have to use his retirement as an attention grab. He's trying to give him team something to motivate them more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cj34]

The guy is a total a-hole. He's done nothing except bad mouth his own teammates the last few years.

[RAYvens Fan]

Who? I thought a toomer was something that needed to be removed!

[lovefootball]

Who? I thought a toomer was something that needed to be removed!

Nice, I'm laughing as I type. LOL

[Beau Petard]

I LOVE opinion boards, since I can give my opinion!

I confess to not listening often (at all?) to sports talk radio, but I try to keep up with you younger types on the who's who of sports literati. So I can only go with the OP's comment that "Toomer says you can't forgive what happened in Atlanta and you have to take that into account when you look at Ray's football career" as fodder for my opinion.

And before I give my opinion, I googled (under "NEWS") "amani toomer", "amani toomer on ray lewis", and "amani toomer ray lewis". I had to laugh when the first option produced NO results, and the second two offered only one -- this thread! [N.B. if anyone o'you yung'uns can offer a better/more efficient information search thought, I'm all ears!]

Seems to me that Toomer is a bit off base if he really said that one "can't forgive what happened in Atlanta". Is Toomer without sin such that he can cast the first stone on this one? I've been critical over the years (going back to early 2000's Sunspot days) of Lewis' behavior and actions. I notice that he pled guilty to OOJ, owning up to what I believe is what he really did in terms of participation. I notice that he served probation, AND payed a (for that time) enormous fine. Why cannot I, or anyone, forgive him? He's paid his debt to society. (FTR, I also think Lewis knows more than what he offered to the court/trial, but that's another discussion, and NOT part of his football career.)

Which segues nicely into my second thought on Toomer's comment that "you have to take that into account when you look at Ray's football career". In a word -- Why? If that is so, there are a lot of big name, star celebrity NFLers who need to update their People Magazine profiles so that "the world" can assess their football careers. You know....guys like:

--->Ben ("s'cuse me, Toots, I know we're in the bathroom, but you're shoe's untied!)") Roethlisberger;

--->Payton "Here, honey, I'll do an interview with you in the locker room, let's dangle my doodles in your face" Manning;

---->Eugene 'Big Daddy' "Sure, heroin's illegal, I knew that!" Lipscomb (who, BTW, was honored by NFL types such as Dan Rooney, Steelers Vice President Art Rooney, Jr., team scout Bill Nunn, former long-time coach Dick Hoak, long-time Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope, former sports editor of the Pittsburgh Press Roy McHugh, and former team officials Joe Gordon and Ed Kiely;

and I know there's a lot more, but that is hardly the point.

Ray Lewis was hardly an angel in his pre-Ravens Super Bowl days. He made some REALLY bad choices in Atlanta. What I've posted before and I'll post again is, the guy has walked the walk in the aftermath, apparently staying essentially trouble-free (subsequent non-substantiated charges by gold-diggers in Woodlawn notwithstanding) and following a much more desirable life path, while playing some magnificent football in that time. So, YEAH, Amani, let's take Ray's Atlanta troubles into account regarding his FOOTBALL CAREER, along with his ensuing (more or less) model societal behavior, along with his contributions to the Ravens team and organization, including the Baltimore and surrounding community, and the overall "good of the game".

Being the sinner that I am, I can forgive him Atlanta, and I can EASILY account for his football career...

[B-more Ravor]

They interviewed the DA and the DA was very frank about the incident. Ray wasn't talking and was one of the few people who was known to have seen the fight. He was charged to compel his testimony and nothing more. After the trial, The DA was asked is he thought Ray committed the murders and he said bluntly that he did not. Even the victims relatives don't believe Ray killed anyone that night.

Sorry, but I think that's a bit (OK, a whole lot) of revisionist history on the DA's part. At the time, right after the plea deal, I recall Ray's attorneys saying that they had tried to get the DA to listen to them, but he wouldn't unless Ray confessed. Ray's attorneys kept telling the DA to drop the charges and the DA would have Ray as his star witness, but he wouldn't go for it. It was only after all of his case against Ray feel apart at trial and he was facing losing against the other 2 defendants as well, that he finally went to Ray to make a deal. But, it was too late to save his case.

Howard was gunning for Ray the whole time.

[JohnBKistler]

Ray was most certainly not a saint that night. Witnesses do have him fighting and he did, for a while, keep his mouth shut to protect his friends.

I don't think that is accurate. If I recall correctly, many witnesses that testified (for the defense as well as the prosecution) all said they did not see Lewis fighting anyone. Most said he was by the limo, trying to get everyone in his party back inside. Only 1 witness, a felon with a history of perjury, I believe, testified that Lewis fought anybody.

Agree that Lewis was no where near a saint that night...he made horrible choices, both in his company that evening and in the frantic hours after the murder (remember, his limo was shot at as it sped away) when he decided to try and cover up for his friends. But none of that makes him a murderer, which is what the DA and mayor claimed before ever questioning him. Also recall, this was less than 3 months after Rae Carruth had his 8-month pregnant girlfriend murdered and there was a strong sentiment to not let high priced athletes get away with serious crimes.

He was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion way before the actual facts of the case came out in court. I can still remember the incredulous Rick Reilly the night the Ravens won the SB basically calling Lewis a murderer.

[Beau Petard]

Ravor-
I seem to recall that scenario as well.

I guess the thing for me is, I feel like recounting Lewis' situation reminds me of watching old episodes of Law & Order, where Jack McCoy does something very similar to what the Atlanta DA did, and viewers tend to applaud his "creativity"!

As Billy Martin might have said in an old Lite beer commercial, I feel strongly both ways! The Atlanta DA likely knew darn well that Lewis himself actually did NOT do "the crime" of murder", but may have believed that charging him with it was the only way to uncork the lid on what happened. As a rsponsible, concerned citizen, I agree with the DA.

OTOH, given that the DA knew that Lewis did NOT actually commit the act, many Ravens fans feel that Lewis got the short end of the stick. In a way, I also feel that the DA seemed to be playing political drama to the media for (perhaps) his own gain, not with the well-being of justice and the citizens of Atlanta as the appropriate focus. I tend to also agree with the idea that Lewis was a pawn in this situation.

So, I think I can see two sides of the situation, but I think Toomer has a lot of balls to allegedly say what the OP said he did.

[CRZA938]

I wont be politically correct here toomer can go suck a dick

I literally laughed out loud. Thank you sir..

[PerpetuallyBored74]

The Atlanta D.A. thought he had his OJ trial.

Remember how everyone involved in that fiasco CA$HED in on it?

[PerpetuallyBored74]