• 9 months ago
On The NFL Honors red carpet in Las Vegas, Former NFL star and Pro-Bowler, Ray Lewis, discusses how much attending NFL Honors means to him and what life has been like for him off the football field.
Transcript
00:00 I found Ray Lewis. I don't know how I did it. I did a little politicking, but he's here.
00:03 You're looking dapper as usual. How fun is it for you to participate, be a part of,
00:09 be here on the ground in Vegas for NFL Honors? Oh man, it's... You know, I had a legendary moment
00:14 last night, and I don't think... Sometimes we don't slow down enough to grab time,
00:18 you know, essence. And me and Lawrence Taylor had a real sit down last night over a cigar,
00:25 and to hear somebody that I looked up to at 13 years old and wanted to know what that felt like,
00:31 just to know him one day. And Lawrence Taylor told me last night, he said,
00:36 "Man, do you know I finally watched your film? Like, I actually watched your film,
00:41 and you were crazy." And I'm like a kid. I'm like, "What the freak?" Because there's nowhere else
00:47 that you're going to ever get that legendary moment. Nowhere else, right? I don't care if we
00:51 go to any other thing, doesn't produce that. This week produces that. And that's why it's always
00:56 beautiful, because if you've done it before, you get an opportunity to come witness, right,
01:02 what all of that transition looks like. The ones who almost made it, didn't make it. The ones who's
01:07 never made it, the one... Right. And so it's kind of like a mentoring session as well, because you
01:11 run into so many young guys who really want to know what does it mean. Teammates, right? So this
01:16 week is one of those weeks. And I'm truly tell you, this is one of the weeks that you know God
01:22 is in the mix, because he makes a lot of men that come through these doors, leaders of their
01:27 communities, leaders of this world. So it's been a good week. Last question for you. Speaking of
01:33 God, faith, spirituality, I do want to ask you, how has your life on the field grown you as a man
01:40 off the field? Yeah. You get off the field and you realize
01:45 every time that you go full speed, it's not a car wreck. Right? Like, which is why a lot of
01:54 us struggle when we're out of the game. Because the system and schedule is so set that you're
02:01 programmed, programmed, programmed. When you get off there, you realize, I got this much time to
02:07 spend with God. Like, wait a minute, you mean to tell me I could go on a bike ride and just pray
02:12 for two and a half hours? That's different. And not have nowhere to go? I've never seen life on
02:20 the other side since I was 10 years old. I retired at 37 years old. I just stopped playing or playing
02:27 or interviewing or commentating, whatever it was. This is my first year I've ever took a break.
02:32 And I never saw life the way I see life now. Sis, I'm telling you, it's crazy because it's a
02:39 freedom. It's a freedom that I've never seen. And most don't get on this side and find that freedom
02:45 because they regret something I didn't do. Somebody asked me the other day,
02:48 do you want to still play? For what? For what? I gave y'all everything I had. And now I'm free
02:59 on this side to pass that knowledge and give that love. So man, I see life different. It's
03:05 a different space. And I challenge guys, no matter what you're going through, it ain't what you're
03:09 going through. It's the process of what you're about to go through. I love that. We're about
03:13 to go through the Super Bowl. Who you got, Chiefs or 49ers? The best team. Now I'm gonna tell you
03:18 the truth. Y'all ain't putting me in that mess. Okay, I tried. It didn't work. No, because look,
03:23 I've been in those locker rooms. And just imagine when you turn on the television, right,
03:28 and you hear somebody say, oh, there's no way they can win. This team is not gonna win. There's no
03:32 way. And I'm like saying they ain't in this locker room. So how they gonna tell us what we can do?
03:37 So I cannot tell you what Sam Fran and Ken Zitta is about to do. But somebody about to dance this
03:43 Sunday. That's the show. Like somebody joins a very unique fraternity again. I love it. Thank
03:48 you so much. Jim, I appreciate you. God bless you, too. Thank you.

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