Have you ever heard Tom Brady describe his biggest ever defensive challenge on the gridiron? Or Peyton Manning talk about a remarkable linebacker who was an impossible challenge. Ray Lewis was a nightmare for star quarterbacks of his time, stifling them with his almost supernatural ability to sense their plays. If they blinked, Ray would read it too, or so the legend goes.
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Brady has stated time and again that he couldn’t pass in the middle of the field because Lewis had the ability to hit his receiver and put them to sleep. Those players wouldn’t even be able to play the following week.
Manning, on the other hand, had said once that Lewis used to study films “like a quarterback” and never spared him and his teammates on the field. It was almost like the linebacker knew Manning’s moves before he even made them.
The former Baltimore Ravens linebacker was the most dominant non-QB player for a reason. And yes, Manning was right — Lewis used to diligently, obsessively rather, study films.
In a re-surfaced interview clip between Lewis and Graham Bensinger, the former Ravens star is seen asserting that he does everything before a play based on what he “studied” in the week leading up to the game.
“There’s so much that goes through my head before every play,” he added. Everything matters before the ball is snapped. “From the formation” to “the look of a quarterback”.
Lewis asserted that even if it’s a “dummy point”, which is basically deceiving the opponent, he would try to remember if he had seen a similar thing in the tapes. If the receivers were lined up at “off the hash” marks, or even “on the hash”, that too was a sign Lewis would look out for, while trying to interpret and execute.
Even the running backs weren’t off his radar. Lewis would check if the ball carriers were keeping their “heads straight,” if they were “at home”, or “off-set”.
Interviewer: And how did you know (all) that?
Lewis: Easy! Film study. Hour after hour after hour after hour.
The two-time Super Bowl champ “wouldn’t move” until he understood how the opposing offense executed their plays. This preparatory routine would continue until game day.
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At the end of the day, it’s all about putting in the work, as Lewis explained in the clip. Legends like Brady and Manning have always asserted that they would watch tapes before games, which helped them understand the upcoming defensive unit they were about to face.
It’s not an easy job either, just by the sound of it, or Kyler Murray wouldn’t have an ‘independent study’ clause in his contract, which ensured he studied films. And that is expected as standard from a franchise QB like him.
