Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne took exception with Ray Lewis' final "Squirrel Dance" at the end of Sunday's playoff game.
"I saw it as disrespectful," Wayne said Monday on WNDE-AM in Indianapolis. "They'd already had a tribute every quarter."
Lewis "loves" Wayne, but he disagreed with him on Tuesday.
"It wasn't about them at that time," said Lewis, who was informed of Wayne's comment by running back Ray Rice but has not spoken to the wide receiver about it.
"That was about capping off a heck of a legacy of 17 years. When he was in pop warner playing football, I was in Baltimore. To salute my city that way, I guess the trot around the field was disrespectful too. No. It wasn't even about them."
Lewis was sent to the field one last time for the team's final offensive play by Head Coach John Harbaugh and was urged by his teammates to do the dance. So he put his helmet back on, replaced wide receiver Torrey Smith and lined up deep in the backfield. When Flacco took the final kneel, Lewis broke into his moves.
"The game was over," Lewis said. "I didn't go towards their sideline or make no big issue of that because I've never been that type of player. But [it was] to salute my city, knowing that people love to see that."
Lewis indicated that Wayne may have just been upset by the loss, but stressed how much he cares for the veteran wide receiver, who is a fellow Miami alum and also a close friend of safety Ed Reed.
"Of course after a loss everybody is bitter," Lewis said. "I've felt the same way many times.
"I love Reggie to death. Reggie will tell you how much I love him. There was never nothing personal between him and the Colts. I texted Chuck [Pagano] immediately after the game and told him how much I care for him, how much I love him. It wasn't even about them. It was about me honoring my team and honoring my city."
