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Lewis is this decade's Lawrence Taylor
Super Bowl XXXV Awards | Factoid
... Click here to send a question to Peter King's NFL Mailbag. TAMPA, Fla. -- I couldn't imagine what was going through Ray Lewis' mind Monday morning, precisely 52 weeks after his personal nightmare began. Who'da thunk this? And so I asked him, a couple of minutes after he got the keys to a sport truck for being named the Super Bowl XXXV MVP. "There hasn't been time for me to reflect," a gravelly voiced Lewis said, 10 hours after leaving the field of his dreams. "Last night, I just wanted to see my kids, my nephews and my nieces. They were running wild in the streets. My 5-year-old son [Ray III] said to me: 'Daddy, you were Super Bowl MVP.' Really, there's been a greater reward that's been on my mind, and that's the Super Bowl. But God has poured me out more blessings this year than I can count -- team MVP, defensive player of the year, Super Bowl MVP." I watched Lewis smile through his 15-minute press deal Sunday night, and though he hadn't slept overnight, and though his voice sounded like the batteries were running out Monday morning, he was the happiest man in the room. He even greeted Paul Tagliabue, the man who fined him $250,000 last summer, warmly. But Ray Lewis did just what he did through the season, and just what he has done consistently since his arrest a year ago. He kept up the defenses. He wouldn't let us know him. That's not necessarily a bad thing. He can talk or not talk or let us know him or not. Sometimes in this business we get maniacal about whether a guy talks, or whether he doesn't. Sometimes in this business we inflate a player's value or his ability in our eyes based on his cooperation level. Silly.
What matters is that the Ravens are legitimately 27 points better than the Giants, and Lewis is the biggest reason why. With five tackles and four deflected passes -- a huge number for a middle linebacker with the the upper torso of an Olympic weightlifter -- he's no fluky MVP. I knew the Giants weren't long for this game when their most important playmaker, Tiki Barber, was headed around left end on the first play of the second quarter, and Lewis, who had to make up eight paces, caught him from behind. Barber should have gained nine yards. He gained two. What an incredible play. What an incredible player. I do not say this without much consideration after a night of two hours' sleep: Ray Lewis has the impact on football games that Lawrence Taylor did. Am I comparing them? Damn right I am. I ran into Will McDonough, who's been covering football since I was 3, on Monday morning at the Starbucks in the Marriott lobby and asked him about Lewis. "I've never seen a linebacker play better from sideline to sideline in all the years I've covered football," he said. "Willie Lanier, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary," Lewis mused. "I'm 25. To be compared to them is a flattering honor. Wow. It's just overwhelming." That's what we thought of your game, big fella. Super Bowl XXXV AwardsOFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Baltimore WR Brandon Stokley, whose three catches for 52 yards were all the Ravens needed on offense. Stokley, a nobody, took Mr. Angie Harmon to the cleaners in the first quarter.DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Baltimore MLB Ray Lewis. Mid-fourth quarter, Paul Zimmerman announced: "At least I was right about one thing: I said before the game that never has a Super Bowl been so set up for a defensive player to be MVP." GOAT OF THE WEEK: New York QB Kerry Collins. With apologies to Jason Sehorn, who owned this category in the first quarter by letting someone named Brandon Stokley beat him drum-like, Collins won it by tying the Super Bowl interceptions record (four) in the first 47 minutes of the game. SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Baltimore return man Jermaine Lewis. In a game where field position ruled which team won and lost, Lewis returned five kicks for 145 yards and one touchdown. What a huge player in this game. COACH OF THE WEEK: Baltimore defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis. Can you imagine his scheme and motivation with the talent of the Buffalo Bills? They'd be the favorites in a tough AFC East next fall. Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only MeNon sequitur press box announcement of the night, in the middle of the third quarter: "We have a report from both benches that neither team changed cleats at halftime." What? The 10 Things I Think I Think
1. I think we are looking at one of the best three defenses of all time, and possibly the best one for a season. "They've got to stand the test of time against the Steelers of the '70s," McDonough said. "But right now, I think they're the best tackling team of all time. You cannot turn upfield on them after they've hit you once." 2. I think Ron Dixon did the silliest thing after a touchdown I've seen in a long time, removing a glove and slapping the CBS camera. I mean, what gets in the head of these people? What planet are you from when, at the most gleeful moment of your life you remove a glove and slap a national TV camera? Guess the camera challenged him to a duel, and Dixon was just responding.
4. I think this is how grim the quarterbacking was last night: I passed Ron Jaworski in the press box at halftime and he said: "I'm warming up." 5. I think these non-football thoughts: a. I'm shamefully out of the loop on the Montclair High bowlers. Please allow me to catch you up next week. Yes, there will be a next week -- one more week of MMQB! Your faithful correspondent is covering the first game in XFL history, New York/New Jersey at Lost Wages. b. Daughter Laura got the biggest kick out of three things during her first Super Bowl week from: buddy Perri Hillsberg winning a stuffed Grinch dog, Max, in a Busch Gardens game, a dog she'll give to Ann King the Grinch fan; the drive-thru Krispy Kreme, and putting an extra stale glazed on the roof of our rental car just to hear all the comments from passengers in other cars about how we had a donut on the roof; and the halftime show. She loved the 'N Syncs. (I know it's wrong. I want to get a rise out of you.) c. Way to handle the traffic, Tampa, and I hope you can feel the sarcasm dripping there. Ever had an event in this town before? Pathetic planning resulted in the worst traffic jams at a Super Bowl since the Pontiac fiasco two decades ago. d. You've got to be kidding me. People are watching Temptation Island? A disgrace. Worse than Jerry Springer. e. I am tired. 6. I think the classy move of the week was Bill Belichick picking up the phone and calling the men with whom he'd parted shakily, Ravens owner Art Modell and Giants GM Ernie Accorsi, and congratulating them on jobs well done. 7a. I think Brad Johnson quarterbacks the Ravens next September, though Trent Dilfer made it tough for Brian Billick to pick Johnson for chemistry's sake in free agency. Asked Monday morning if Dilfer would be back, Billick said: "I'd have no reason to think otherwise. I would love to have Trent back. ... Don't read that to mean, 'They don't really want Trent back.' [GM] Ozzie Newsome and I will make our free-agency determinations across the board in the next couple of weeks. I've read some stories that say sources close to the Ravens say Trent won't be back. Not true. Those sources close to the Ravens may be at the coffee shop across the street." b. Meaningless stat of the year: Trent Dilfer is 15-1 in his last 16 starts. You watched the game Sunday night. How many teams will pursue Dilfer when free agency hits next month? 8. I think, for football entertainment's sake, that was the worst Super Bowl in memory. 9. I think we should not forget two things about the Giants: They finally have their quarterback of the future in Kerry Collins, despite how awful he was Sunday night; a lot of quarterbacks will look awful against that defense. And they played better than everybody, including coach Jim Fassel, thought they would. 10a. I think this is my early line on Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans: Saints 22, Bills 21. b. But in the immortal words of Bill Parcells, I reserve the right to change my mind. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL and appears
regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's NFL Preview. Click here to send a question to his
NFL Mailbag.
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