As soon as the Lamar Hunt Trophy was placed in Ray Lewis' hands, his teammates started up:
"Mufasa!" they called out.
Mufasa is leader from the Disney movie, "The Lion King." And it fits Lewis in so many ways: the power, the knowledge, the speeches.
But what's funny (and maybe you don't know about) is how much Lewis has taken on the lion persona. So I figured I'd share as he's about to go to the proverbial Pride Rock for the last time in his career.
Lewis is always wearing his "Psalms 91" shirt these days, but usually his shirt of choice is a black cutoff with a giant picture of a lion head on it. Seriously, I'm surprised it's not horribly faded by now from being run through the wash so many times.
Lewis' official online store is called, "Mark Of A Lion."
He's got the nickname, "Mufasa," which even San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis calls him. Lewis calls Willis "Young Lion."
Even in his personal life, Lewis has gravitated toward lions. He watches "Big Cat Diary" on BBC, running back Ray Rice revealed to me.
"He has a fascination with lions," Rice said. "He's told me a lot about lions and how they're territorial. He can tell you their sleeping habits and all that."
A number of people have said Lewis has the "heart of a lion," including Head Coach John Harbaugh to a referee who was extolling Lewis' virtues.
Also, check out this tweet that rapper Lil' Wayne sent out before Sunday's game, which got more than 8,000 retweets. Just perfect.
