Ray Lewis says NFL lockout will mean a new crime wave
posted at 11:45 am on May 23, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
When I first heard Ray Lewis predict a crime wave if the NFL season gets canceled, I wondered at first if Lewis worried about the fans or the players. In this ESPN interview, it sounds like Lewis means the fans, but in professional sports, it’s hard to tell — a subject about which Ray Lewis has significant first-hand knowledge. After being introduced as one of the highest profile players in the game, Lewis insists that the standoff is about egos rather actual economic interests, and again one has to wonder whether Lewis means the owners or the players. (He never actually specifies, but since Lewis is representing the players in this dispute, one can take an educated guess.) The highlight of this clip is Lewis’ dire warning of the massive criminality about to ensue because so many people “live through” NFL players, as the Daily Caller notes:
“What we’re going through right now, we’re affecting way more than us,” he said. “Too many people live through us. People live through us. Walk in the streets the way I walk in the streets.”
And according to Lewis, one of the major results of lockout would be an increase of evil, which he says will come in the form of more crime.
“Do this research if we don’t have a season — watch how much evil, which we call crime — watch how much crime picks up if you take away our game.”
In other words, give us the football and no one gets hurt. I’ve seen some pretty absurd arguments on both sides in sports labor disputes, but this one takes the cake, especially since most of the criminal news attached to pro sports either comes from the players, or from the drunken fans who show up to the games.
An NFL lockout is not a public safety risk, no matter what Ray Lewis claims. It is a symptom of a dysfunctional labor-management relationship, which is all the more absurd given the ridiculous amounts of compensation both sides receive. But if Lewis really is concerned that people live far too much through the NFL and its players, then the league is well on the way to solving that particular problem.
Blowback
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Shut up and go run for office or something…
singlemalt 18 on May 23, 2011 at 11:47 AM
Not if they get a side side and behave. :)
ThePrez on May 23, 2011 at 11:48 AM
Not if they get a side job and behave. :)
Grrrrrr!
ThePrez on May 23, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Have a seat, Ray. I’ll adopt a college team for the fall, they can’t do any worse than my Bills.
trubble on May 23, 2011 at 11:49 AM
LOL. headline/pic genuinely got me. Thanks!
NickelAndDime on May 23, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Lewis is trying to out stupefy himself. How many people think, “I would go mug someone, but the Cowboys – Eagles is on this afternoon.”
rbj on May 23, 2011 at 11:50 AM
They commit crimes, so we don’t have to?
o_0
Abby Adams on May 23, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Sounds like President Obama:
I’m the only thing standing between you and the pitchforks.
And similar to all labor unions: Give us what we want or you will get hurt.
All threats. All pathetic. All predictable.
Good Lt on May 23, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Talk about your illusions of grandeur, huh? lol
Murf76 on May 23, 2011 at 11:51 AM
Why anyone watches sports anymore I have no clue. The compensation is so out of whack it’s ridiculous for both the owners and the players. I have no clue how anyone even affords to go to a live sporting event anymore.
Rocks on May 23, 2011 at 11:52 AM
Clearly you’ve never been to an Oakland Raider’s game.
John the Libertarian on May 23, 2011 at 11:53 AM
No Rapture, no football; what’s next, no Mitch Daniels?
Akzed on May 23, 2011 at 11:54 AM
Can’t we just fund some midnight Football games to prevent this?
honsy on May 23, 2011 at 11:55 AM
There’s a czar spot somewhere in the “Zero’s” administration for this brain power. I’m sure they’re are on the phone with his “peeps” as we speak.
sgtstogie on May 23, 2011 at 11:56 AM
Did the 1982 strike result in more crime? I rather doubt it.
sadatoni on May 23, 2011 at 11:56 AM
Seriously? No football means the end of civility and the rule of law?
Koa on May 23, 2011 at 11:56 AM
But I thought players were the “slaves” and the owners were the “masters”… I am so confused by street cred pro athletes and what the eye winks mean.
So – if we maintain the slave trade (i.e. NFL season) there will be less crime, as opposed to going away from the plantation means more crime for those freed slaves.
Got it, I think.
Odie1941 on May 23, 2011 at 11:56 AM
Maybe he means if there’s a lockout the players won’t be able to afford to hire all the thugs and bums as part of their “posse” anymore. That’s a lot of angry guys with entitlement issues to let loose all at once.
DrAllecon on May 23, 2011 at 11:57 AM
I didn’t realize Ray had an intellectual, analytical side.
a capella on May 23, 2011 at 11:57 AM
The biggest “crime” is what they charge for tickets to a game. They’ll solve this dispute…maybe not by the start of the season, but we’ll have a season.
JetBoy on May 23, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Here’s a great idea. How about the dumb@$$’ of Ramsey county (Minnesota) lower their standard of living an additional half a percent, in order to throw yet more money at the Ray Lewis’ of the world.
MNHawk on May 23, 2011 at 11:59 AM
Good grief. Only in America would a murder-suspect football player be sought out for commentary. “Hey, why dontcha give Ray-Ray a call and get a quote. Ask him about crime and football. Yeah, that’s the ticket! Ask him if this lockout makes him feel like stabbing someone. That’ll be some good stuff right there.”
Rational Thought on May 23, 2011 at 11:59 AM
It’s just a game, Ray.
Vashta.Nerada on May 23, 2011 at 11:59 AM
This is what you can expect from someone who has a job that happens to include getting hit in the head lots and lots of times.
pilamaye on May 23, 2011 at 11:59 AM
Just give me the damn ball!
thebrokenrattle on May 23, 2011 at 11:59 AM
is this racism?
booter on May 23, 2011 at 11:59 AM
Mmmm…
JetBoy on May 23, 2011 at 12:00 PM
If you follow Ray Lewis at all you’ll find that he tends to take more of a mentor role than a role of someone seeking credit or accolades, so the delusions of grandeur argument holds no water. Also, on a daily basis he deals with riffraff that most of us avoid by our nature, so he’s certainly seen how a fight between two people can fail to become physical simply because the combatants are both wearing the same colors (kind of like gangs). Having a football season undeniably brings together cities by giving the townsfolk, riffraff included, a reason to come together as one (root root for the home team). Not having a football season takes away this opportunity for communities to act as one unit. This will necessarily come with an increase in crime, but that doesn’t mean that crime won’t be lessened by having less drunk people together in one area. Ray Lewis’ analysis is clearly off, but its not because he’s full of himself.
jdubyah on May 23, 2011 at 12:00 PM
no one cares RAY!
SDarchitect on May 23, 2011 at 12:01 PM
I can remember when I loved Base Ball. Then they had a strike for the whole season and I learned other things were more important than supporting spoiled rich boys with my hard earned money.
kh6zv9 on May 23, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Let’s try that again…
Mmmm…
JetBoy on May 23, 2011 at 12:01 PM
I guess John Edwards was right; there are two Americas. I suspect maybe even more than that.
saiga on May 23, 2011 at 12:02 PM
Of which element of society is he speaking? The people I know will find something else to do on a Sunday/Monday.
missouriyankee on May 23, 2011 at 12:03 PM
Well…duh.
All those football players with free time on their hands? Of COURSE the crime rate’s going to skyrocket.
bigmacdaddy on May 23, 2011 at 12:03 PM
This seems like an inverse of the usual “More people beat their wives in Wisconsin on game days” argument.
Ray should probably just go ahead and shut up, though, given his past legal problems.
teke184 on May 23, 2011 at 12:03 PM
If there is an NFL strike, watch for some colleges (especially tier 2 Division 1 conferences (Mid American, Mountain West, Conference USA, etc.) to move some of their games to Sundays and be televised. Then there’s always the Lingerie Football League.
bw222 on May 23, 2011 at 12:04 PM
Is not Ray Lewis already a murderer? I know his “OJ jury”
found him “positively, 100% not guilty!”
Really Right on May 23, 2011 at 12:05 PM
Plaxico is due for release. He’ll know how to deal with anger issues. However, I would recommend something with an external safety, and perhaps a holster.
a capella on May 23, 2011 at 12:05 PM
what people? Black people? He thinks so little of ‘his people’.
Or is this just a better way of saying:
“Do what we want or there will be rioting and massive crime”.
Where did he learn that tactic?
ramrants on May 23, 2011 at 12:06 PM
Lewis is representing the players? Seriously? No wonder this is dragging out so long. He’s barely coherent.
Dee2008 on May 23, 2011 at 12:07 PM
Ray is a thug, court records show that. He is an entitled whiner. I won’t hold my breath to see his name along with other NFL’rs on the “Stop Black On Black Genocide In Africa” freedom march. He is using his muslim presidents tactics of threats to the man if we get our reparations. I’m done with the NFL. Not another dime. In the closet with the NBA rapists and racists.
frizzbee on May 23, 2011 at 12:07 PM
He had a Glock 19, which has multiple safety features on it.
The main problem was that he tried to fish it out of his pants by holding onto it by the trigger.
teke184 on May 23, 2011 at 12:08 PM
I assume that he means that the NFL players will be doing the crime???
PatriotRider on May 23, 2011 at 12:08 PM
That was my immediate impression.
Geez even rich football players have entitlement issues.
People need to get a grip.
This crap is getting ridiculous.
Badger40 on May 23, 2011 at 12:08 PM
Ray’s going to have to do better than that to knock Rashard Mendenhall out of the lead for stupidity.
Christien on May 23, 2011 at 12:08 PM
For the New Jersey teams you have to buy a Personal Seat License to that team’s game. That gives you first dibs on the seats and the licenses cost several thousand. The amount of tickets available outside this scheme, is extremely limited. To think public funding was used to build this.
amazingmets on May 23, 2011 at 12:09 PM
Maybe he’s just afraid he’ll get bored…isn’t he the same Ray Lewis that he plea bargined his way out of a murder charge about 10 years ago?
tnarch on May 23, 2011 at 12:10 PM
And I was having a good day and a Bronco fan and you had to go and bring up the Raiders
KBird on May 23, 2011 at 12:10 PM
It’s kinda like having a Walmart in town and all that shoplifting temptation…
golfmann on May 23, 2011 at 12:10 PM
+1000.
Which leads me to wonder if Bambi was dropped on his head a few times while an infant.
GrannyDee on May 23, 2011 at 12:10 PM
Comments like his make it even easier to side with the owners.
LastRick on May 23, 2011 at 12:11 PM
Well, my “waiting to be read” book list will not be the hardest hit…
Freelancer on May 23, 2011 at 12:12 PM
This from the guy who got away with killing JonBenet Ramsey?!
The nerve.
radioboyatl on May 23, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Houston doesn’t have a professional football team so we won’t be effected one way or the other.
Mike Honcho on May 23, 2011 at 12:13 PM
That’s what I meant. He needs something requiring more than trigger activation. I believe he was wearing sweatpants and had the thing in his waistband. Not a good combo, overall.
a capella on May 23, 2011 at 12:13 PM
What he meant is if he doesn’t get to play football, he might be up in the middle of the night, out club’n with his bud’s, someone might have a gun, …
TulsAmerican on May 23, 2011 at 12:13 PM
There are different classes of stupidity, some of which follow a player around for his entire career.
Take former Packers and Steelers running back Najah Davenport, for example. There’s a reason why his nicknames are “The Dumptruck” and “Dookie”.
teke184 on May 23, 2011 at 12:13 PM
Men who play for a living can’t be counted on to be logical or thoughtful. When they call on Charles Barkley or any inordinate number of professional jocks to comment on social issues, it is to laugh.
These are fools in jerseys, nothing more.
Richard Romano on May 23, 2011 at 12:15 PM
Calling on athletes to talk about social issues? That’s turrible.
teke184 on May 23, 2011 at 12:16 PM
Crap… When I first heard this I thought he meant ‘because of all the football players with idle hands’…
-
On th eother hand… He could be right. Time will tell, and now… someone will check the stats.
-
RalphyBoy on May 23, 2011 at 12:17 PM
Right on! It also speaks to the contempt men like Lewis have for the general sport’s fan; people who make 1/40 what they make and yet support them faithfully.
This is the reward they get.
Richard Romano on May 23, 2011 at 12:18 PM
Soooooo….the NFL is actually a “work-release” program???
landlines on May 23, 2011 at 12:19 PM
Barkley, for one, loved to pontificate on social issues, such as Gay marriage. The man is a moron — his arguments amounted to trash-talking without the basketball.
Richard Romano on May 23, 2011 at 12:20 PM
If that’s the case, Los Angeles better hope there’s never another baseball stoppage. Imagine if the Dodgers weren’t playing? Armageddon!
spaninq on May 23, 2011 at 12:26 PM
Um….no. I’m not sure how you reached that conclusion. I doubt if it was one of your Steelers saying something stupid like this you would reach such an absurd conclusion.
I think Ed is a little biased after seeing this happen too many times. ;)
Jon Fezzik on May 23, 2011 at 12:27 PM
Only the Raider’s fans, Ray. They will commit crimes 7 days a week instead of six.
cartooner on May 23, 2011 at 12:28 PM
Ray is RIGHT. Without football, Ray may get arrested for murder AGAIN.
cat-scratch on May 23, 2011 at 12:35 PM
Why don’t the fans just watch the players’ cribs on MTV, and luxuriate in vicarious conspicuous consumption?
disa on May 23, 2011 at 12:36 PM
oh…I got it now…
disa on May 23, 2011 at 12:37 PM
Last week I witnessed a young ghetto scumbag violently attacking a small woman in the entrance to a doctor’s office on 61st St in Manhattan, just off Park Avenue. He had her on the floor, pulling her by the hair, and was simultaneously choking and kicking her. It was an awful thing to happen upon – if I had a gun I would have shot him dead on the spot. The savage ran off like the wind when he was disturbed. I wish I had have known football was to blame, I wouldn’t have been so angry the last few days.
Sharke on May 23, 2011 at 12:38 PM
But on the plus side, domestic violence will go down.
How many studies have been done, linking NFL losses to spikes in domestic violence?
taznar on May 23, 2011 at 12:40 PM
Just one more reason out of a thousand, to abstain from pro sports. It’s not about a game anymore, it’s about money. This dude is just looking out for numero uno, and the bucks.
I just can’t stand pro sports anymore. It’s just not what it once was, and the players don’t have near the love for the game, as they do the money attatched to it.
capejasmine on May 23, 2011 at 12:41 PM
Sadly, that’s true.
Dingbat63 on May 23, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Ray Lewis is a murderer, and he got away scot-free.
slickwillie2001 on May 23, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Yeah that will sure put the public on your side. Idiot.
WisCon on May 23, 2011 at 12:47 PM
Y’know, there’s a reason I call the NFL the “National Felon’s League.”
Just sayin’.
Vic on May 23, 2011 at 12:49 PM
Mary in LA on May 23, 2011 at 12:50 PM
Steelers arrested 2000-2009.
Cool searchable site.
Christien on May 23, 2011 at 12:55 PM
Thanks for posting this. I never know what to think about anything until singers, actors or athletes shed much needed light and wisdom on the topic.
mankai on May 23, 2011 at 12:59 PM
Rashard Mendenhall said some pretty stupid stuff lately and I don’t seem to recall Ed jumping to his defense. They linked to a story calling him out on his asinine tweets.
ButterflyDragon on May 23, 2011 at 1:03 PM
Hey, he went to The U. What do you expect?
Ward Cleaver on May 23, 2011 at 1:05 PM
I played football as a child growing up and I loved it. I played football in high school and I loved it. Then the pro’s went and sullied the the game to the point that I don’t much care for it at all anymore. Thanks, Ray et al.
FlatFoot on May 23, 2011 at 1:10 PM
Thug spokesman for a league of thugs. figures
james23 on May 23, 2011 at 1:11 PM
Ray Lewis, thug and philosopher!!!! What a guy!
tomshup on May 23, 2011 at 1:19 PM
Actually Ray, I don’t walk in the streets. I use sidewalks, unlike my ghetto neighbors that I have to navigate my way through everyday when I drive home from my job. The punks stand in the streets and actually challenge you to hit them. Screw you and your rich hoodlum associates.
Big John on May 23, 2011 at 1:19 PM
And he’ll be personally participating in most of it.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on May 23, 2011 at 1:27 PM
Utterly off topic to the overall thread (my comment here) but Glocks have horrible safety devices. They are negligent discharges just waiting for the right ingredient to be added, the human.
Big John on May 23, 2011 at 1:30 PM
True. Good point.
Jon Fezzik on May 23, 2011 at 1:30 PM
It’s not the fans people should be afraid of. It’s some of the players in the National Felony League when they get a little too much time on their hands…
Caper29 on May 23, 2011 at 1:34 PM
If the people associated with the NFL to make their living are only a paycheck away from turning to a life of crime, it’s just another reason to save my money and spend it on other things.
When I compare the demands of obnoxious, high-paid, spoiled and pampered professional sports figures to young men and women making similar or worse demands on theirs bodies in the military for a ridiculously small fraction of their net pay, I just shake my head.
I will not miss pro football this year if they don’t play.
hawkdriver on May 23, 2011 at 1:35 PM
You mean like this glock? (I’ve met this guy)
hawkdriver on May 23, 2011 at 1:38 PM
I’m old enough to remember when pro athletes were actually role models (the good kind) for America’s youth. Today? Not so much…
Big John on May 23, 2011 at 1:39 PM
Did he say “egos?” Really?
Flabbergast me to hell.
hillbillyjim on May 23, 2011 at 1:42 PM
Does this mean there will be more or less wife/children beatings on Sunday afternoons?
Amjean on May 23, 2011 at 1:44 PM
What?
Please enlighten me.
I have never heard this before. Cannot find anything on it.
Perhaps you’re confused.
Badger40 on May 23, 2011 at 1:52 PM
Ray Lewis, the man, is a horrible, murdering human being and I am certain whatever he has to say is not worth hearing. However, he can play ball and make millions doing it. What a screwed up world!
Willie on May 23, 2011 at 1:58 PM
Another athlete thinking he is smart. Ugh.
search4truth on May 23, 2011 at 2:03 PM
amazingmets on May 23, 2011 at 12:09 PM
public money was not used to build the new Giants Stadium, excuse me, Meadowlands.
However, I won’t be speding another dime at a game at the Stadium, costs way to much and I’m too old to be that cold. I’ll watch from home on my flat screen in HD thanks.
Willie on May 23, 2011 at 2:04 PM
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