Ray Lewis is probably the NFL player most closely associated with Aaron Hernandez, and it’s not because of any on-field similarities.
Lewis was involved with a murder case in 2000 and ultimately plead guilty to a lesser charge of obstruction of justice. The experience gives him some unique insight into exactly what the former Patriots tight end is now facing as he awaits a murder trial of his own.
Lewis was recently asked to comment on Hernandez’s situation by Sports Illustrated senior writer Richard Deitsch. The future Hall of Fame linebacker wouldn’t take the bait on reflecting back on his case, but he did offer at least some general thoughts on Hernandez.
“[Any commentary] would only be to give a brief explanation on what you know,” Lewis said. “Because if you are talking about getting into the case — what happened, how it happened — that’s the judge’s job, that’s the police’s job. Having gone through the things I have been through, what I learned from that is everybody has something they want to say, and 80 percent of them are illiterate.”
Lewis continued to tread lightly on the subject when prodded, not providing much detailed thought or opinion.
“You have to be careful with it,” Lewis said. “You can’t speak about something you do not know. Give your opinion, and keep it moving from there.”
In his new role at ESPN, Lewis says he hopes to bring his unique “football mentality” and insight to the people watching at home. In this instance, it seems he was pretty reluctant to add any sort of perspective, never mind an “unique” one.
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