I guess we should all be/get ready for the Ray Lewis murder case stories for the next 2 weeks...

[alien bird]

While Oakley and Sweeting were not angels in any way, it was clearly a case of self defense....

Oakley says he is coming out with a book about it this summer.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...lings/1862971/

[HoustonRaven]

What's even more disappointing are the Ravens fans who also climb on the murderer band wagon.

[iggyman555]

some dude called 105.7 today saying how ray is a terrible person and wouldnt want his daughter dating him, in the end scott asked him where he is from, the guy is a steeler fan then scott hung up on him and started mentioning how the guy forgot to mention that rapistburger has a history of sex assault

[bmorebirds_24]

I seriously can't fucking believe Ray is making his final run at a ring and people want to keep bringing up what happened 13 years ago. Leave the man the fuck alone and let him enjoy his career.

BTW- This is not directed at anyone just venting that this is all brought up after 13 years and taking away from his final ride.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[Dade]

Great post and good article.

[RAVENOUS52]

Really, all the murderer smack is nothing more than fuel to Ray's fire... He uses it as motivation and frankly, it amuses me whenever people accuse him of murder. The Internet has millions of My Cousin Vinny wannabes, but at least Vinny dealt with FACTS.

[alienrace]

How can Ray be a "murderer" and how can there be these "unsolved murders" when it was determined by the jury to not be a murder, but self defense?

That is what kills me on this subject. If no murders took place, there are no murderers involved!

[RavenusMaximus]

Nothing about this case is unsolved. All of the facts are well documented. Just poor writing in that article.

[darb72]

Haters should also know that the guys who were stabbed were far from innocent. They brought their criminal records with them on their move from Akron OH to Atlanta, and started the violence by hitting a member of Ray's party over the head with a champagne bottle (that's info that is key to the self defense verdict).

A bad scene all around; I'm sure their families loved them and I personally don't think they deserved to die for their actions. But if street toughs hit some guy in a crowd of guys who are the size of NFL players over the head, you'd think they wouldn't be surprised by the consequences. Just sayin'

If I'm not mistaken, and to be fair the last time I read up on the case was 13 years ago, the two dead guys were breaking parole by being out of Cleveland. The media was trying to portray them as good guys who happened to get caught up in a bad situation, when the truth is they caused the situation in the first place.

[jaydee414]

Oakley says he is coming out with a book about it this summer.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...lings/1862971/

Well, there's one I can scratch off the summer reading list right now.

[Beau Petard]

"That is what kills me on this subject."

alien, ya made me chuckle!

[highwater]

I'm guessing I'm not alone, but I have found myself informing people constantly over the past week about their ignorance over this whole issue. I'm so tired of talking about it. I'm a pretty mild-mannered guy but I blew my top yesterday when someone told me he can't root for the Ravens because "they made a hero out of a guy who's a thug and a murderer." My response wasn't as calm as it had been earlier in the week -- I think I've just run out of patience.

[Beau Petard]

Point of interest for anyone who cares--
Went out for a birthday dinner with 2 other couples this evening, and one of the guys (from Ohio, but a former Browns-current Ravens fan) was asking about Lewis' escapades. It was interesting in a "reasonable" way, in that he asked about Lewis because he had not followed the events of that time, and had read a news article earlier today about the whole thing, and wondered what was what.

Thanks to youse guys, I was able to summarize the whole incident in about three paragraphs without pissing off SWMBO (no rest for the weary, mes amis! ) Even clarified the concept that although nobody really has confessed to what has happened, Lewis was undoubtedly NOT a murderer, and NOT involved in the specific actions that included the stabbings. I did tell my friend that it was obvious that Lewis was guilty of certain offenses, and perhaps knows more than he testified too, but the legal system ended up NOT finding this "buddies" guilty. In addition, I mentioned that I have been overwhelmingly impressed that Lewis made a pretty significant life change afterwards, and has walked the walk.

To be honest, I'm more impressed now with Ray than I ever thought I would be.

[RavenusMaximus]

To be honest, I thought very little of Ray's character for a long time. Even though, I never thought he was actually involved in the killings, I thought he was a jerk for having buddies like that in the first place. Then when he had the sudden turn around, it seemed very phoney to me. Add in the baby's mama's and I really had little respect for him off of the football field, but now I see a different man. One who has gone through all of the ups and downs, and I really do think he is sincere now.

I actually can say I like Ray Lewis. Not as a football player, but as a man. We have all made mistakes, and I think he has paid for his and given extra on top of that. Of course the only people who can really make this call are his kids. All of them.

[Ravens825]

I have to admit i did not like the Ravens for several years when they first moved. I wanted a football team, not the shitty ass Browns.

For a long time the vision of Ray in Prison Orange as he was shown thousands of time on Maryland television was my long time impression of him, a prisoner/criminal charged with murder.

I think that is still most of the perception of these ass hats who continue to call him a murderer.

Having been in trouble myself (nothing serious of course) and seeing the legal system first hand in both the defendants seat and the planitiff you gain a greater understanding of how things work.

One evening 2 years ago a guy pulled a pistol out on me after a unfriendly chat. I called the police and he was arrested 4 blocks away. When i went to court to testify he had been charged with 7 or 8 different crimes. The DA told me that even though the charges fit with the way the laws were written there was no way to get a conviction on all the charges.

Being a smart ass i asked "If you can't get a conviction on all counts why charge him with it at all"? He told me "It is easier to make a plea bargain if there are charges we are willing to drop that we never would have gotten a conviction on to begin with". He plead guilty to 3 or 4 of the charges while the rest were dropped and he went to prison for 3-5 years. If they had been able to convict on all charges the total time was 15-20 years.

Ray did his time for the crime he plead guilty to. I do not think he killed anyone. I do think that there are only a few people who know EXACTLY what happened and he is most likely one of them.

I have read a good bit lately about him being overbearing with his emotions and preaching (for lack of a better word). There are many, many professional sports players who regularly make a cross sign or pay homage to god during interviews. I have seen many, many players cry and scream and shout after a play off victory. Most of these complaints i have read are on other teams forums, guess they are butt hurt they didn't make the big dance.

To many people Clinton is still a cheater and big Jen is still a rapist. Sadly most of the people who are not Ravens fans will always think of Ray as a murderer no matter what you tell them. They are not interested in the "facts" they are too occupied with their perceptions.