Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis Says He Plans to Retire Following Postseason

by Mike Cole on Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 12:45PM

The Baltimore Ravens will host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon in a wild card round matchup. It may be the last time we ever see Ray Lewis on a football field — as a player at least.

The Ravens linebacker announced Wednesday that he plans to retire following the postseason, marking the end of a 17-year NFL career.

Ray Lewis told the team today "this will be my last ride."
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Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 02, 2013

The All-Pro linebacker hasn’t played since Week 6 this season because of a torn triceps muscle. However, he is on the team’s active roster, and while he’s not saying for sure that he’ll play this weekend, it certainly sound like he’ll be out there.

“There is no reason for me not to be playing Sunday,” he said, according to the team’s Twitter page.

There’s no denying that Lewis has been one of the most dominant defensive players of his generation and of all time, as evidenced by his 12 Pro Bowl selections and a pair of AP defensive player of the year awards. However, Lewis had appeared to have lost a step in the past couple of years, especially this season in the game he played in before suffering the arm injury.