The Ravens won't wait long to honor perhaps their greatest player of all time.
The team will immortalize retired linebacker Ray Lewis in a Ring of Honor ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 22, during a Week 3 game against the Houston Texans.
Lewis will be honored on the same day the Ravens take on his departed defensive partner of destruction, safety Ed Reed. Reed signed with the Texans this offseason.
Shortly after the season ended, Owner Steve Bisciotti said the Ravens will erect a statue of Lewis outside the stadium. But it will not be ready by the time Lewis goes into the Ring of Honor.
Lewis will join five other Ravens players, Owner Art Modell and eight Baltimore Colts are among those who receive the franchise's most sacred individual honor. The other Ravens players inducted are running back Jamal Lewis (2012), kicker Matt Stover (2011), tackle Jonathan Ogden (2008), outside linebacker Peter Boulware (2006) and defensive end Michael McCrary (2004).
Players enshrined in the team's Ring of Honor exemplify a rare combination of talent and personal characteristics that the organization strives to achieve and maintain, including character, gratitude, vision, passion, competitive spirit, humility, faith and courage.
Lewis embodied all of those traits over his 17-year career, ending with a second Super Bowl victory.
It's just the first of what will surely be many career honors that Lewis will receive, including enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
