Ray Lewis (born May 15, 1975 in Bartow, Florida) is an American football linebacker for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. He is widely considered one of the most dominant linebackers in the NFL today.

Lewis played college football at the University of Miami. In 1996, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round as the 26th Pick. Lewis consistently gained over 100 solo tackles each season he played for the Ravens. He led Baltimore to a Super Bowl XXXV victory and was named Most Valuable Player for that game. He also won the Associated Press's 2000 and 2003 Defensive Player of the Year Awards.

Arrest for murder

Lewis' image was tarnished, however, following a Super Bowl party on January 31, 2000, when he was arrested, along with his friends Reginald Oakley, Joseph Sweeting, Kwame King, and Carlos Stafford, for the murders of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Baker and Lollar were stabbed to death outside a nightclub during a fight in the Buckhead district of Atlanta. The murder charges were eventually dropped, but Lewis pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice, and agreed to testify against Oakley and Sweeting, who were found not guilty in June, 2000. On April 29, 2004, Lewis reached a settlement with 4-year-old India Lollar, who was born shortly after Lollar's death. The Baltimore Sun reported that Lewis has agreed to pay at least $1 million. The settlement pre-empties a civil trial scheduled to begin on June 14. A suit filed by Baker's family was settled previously for undisclosed terms.

Since the murder allegations, Lewis' image has slowly recovered, and today he is considered the most dominant linebacker in the National Football League, and one of the best to ever play the game. He also has gained several national corporate endorsements, most of which draw upon his tough image. In 2004, Lewis was placed on the cover of the Madden NFL 2005 video game distributed by EA Sports.

External links and references

• Official web site
• Ray Lewis profile, NNDB
• ESPN's Ravenous: Ray Lewis AP top defensive player
• American Broadcast News' Ray Lewis Ready to Move On
• American Broadcast News' Ray Lewis Murder Trial Opens