When Ray Lewis was set to begin his new life as an NFL analyst for ESPN, his former teammate Haloti Ngata decided to give him a little warning.
Ngata shot Lewis a text, reminding him of where he spent the last 17 years and urging him not to go too hard on his old team.
"Just to take it easy – watch out," Ngata told Lewis.
So will Lewis listen to his 340-pound friend?
"Definitely," Ngata joked. "I've been his protector for a while."
Lewis' new post-playing career path as an NFL analyst has been a topic of discussion around Baltimore and inside the Under Armour Performance Center. The former Ravens linebacker has drawn positive reviews for his performance on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown," and his old teammates joked about his new role.
"Ray is already corporate, man," quarterback Joe Flacco said with a smile. "He's already giving the company line about whatever they want him to say."
The Ravens have come under plenty of fire in the media for their start to this season, especially after their lopsided loss to the Broncos in Week 1. Flacco joked that Lewis is probably throwing his old team under the bus by now.
"He's probably off the Raven bandwagon already – whatever," Flacco joked. "He'll be on it this week, of course [since he'll be in town]."
Lewis has actually been positive in his assessment of the Ravens, saying that they would “be fine” after the Week 1 loss. Even in his conference call Tuesday ahead of his Ring of Honor induction, Lewis praised the Ravens and used words like "we" and "us" when talking about the team.
"I like where we are, but I like the potential of where we can go as well," Lewis said.
Lewis will be back in Baltimore Sunday to be honored at halftime of the matchup with the Houston Texans. It will be a chance to reconnect with the fans and some of his former teammates, and the Ravens plan to make sure he knows that they're listening to what he says about them.
"It'll be good to see him," Ngata said. "I'll just make sure when I see him, I'll tell him don't talk trash about our team when he's talking about us."
