Ravens Insider: This motivational speaker gave the Ravens an impassioned bye-week speech

[ExtremeRavens]

The Ravens returned from their bye week 1-5 and on the brink of collapse. They were in dire need of a palate cleanser. So the team invited motivational speaker, Eric Thomas, to the training facility in Owings Mills.

Thomas wasted no time calling them out.

“The reason why you may not be 5-1 is because you told me you came in at the beginning of the season thinking this was going to be a phenomenal year,” Thomas roared at the only volume a world-renowned speaker and pastor knows. “That’s probably what messed you up.”

He held the eyeballs of the entire room. Marlon Humphrey sat in the front row and took notes. Roquan Smith was beside him, his head shadowing the speaker’s every step. Thomas wore a black T-shirt with “You Owe You” written in large, neon text. That’s the name of his new book, but it felt on-the-nose for his message that day.

“You probably came in and had a mindset that made some of y’all chill,” he said. “You probably came in and was like, ‘We the Ravens.’ You probably came in and was like, ‘Look what we’ve done.’ You probably came in like, ‘Look who our players are.’ And you probably didn’t focus on what you should’ve been focusing on.”

Baltimore was a popular Super Bowl pick and the favorite among sportsbooks in early September. After consecutive years crowned AFC North champions only to be sent home in gutting fashion, this figured to be their year.

Instead, the integrity of the entire operation came into question by Week 7. Something was wrong. They phoned Thomas. He has millions of followers across social media platforms and has built international recognition for his passionate talks. Various sports teams at all levels have invited “ETthehiphoppreacher,” including other NFL teams.

The Ravens needed some soul-searching, and Thomas was willing to be their guide.

“Let’s not focus on the five [losses],” he told them. “Somebody give it to me because I don’t play. … How we gon’ end the season? Some brave soul talk to me.”

Cornerback Jaire Alexander, who has only played in two games and dressed for a third, piped up from the front row: “12-5,” he said, implying Baltimore could win the remainder of its regular-season games. Four teams since 1970 have reached the postseason after a 1-5 start. To be the fifth, tight end Isaiah Likely said, their new mantra is “new season, new us.”

Thomas came prepared with a slideshow of past teams who have overcome similar setbacks. He showed three teams on the projector.

Two of them were the New York Giants. In 2007, they won 10 games and upset the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl as a wild-card team. In 2012, the Giants finished the regular season 9-7 and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy again with the fewest wins of any NFL championship team. Even the 2000 Ravens, considered one of the greatest defenses in league history and a benchmark for the current team, won the organization’s first title as a wild-card team.

“The 1-5 ain’t the problem,” Thomas said. “The mindset is the problem.”

Around the eight-minute mark of his speech, which is posted on YouTube, Thomas paused on his lecture differentiating between talent and focus. “Listen to me very closely,” he said, prefacing that it would be OK if he was never invited back, he had to get this next part off his chest. “Somebody pay you to do something, [you do it],” he said, “I’m just being real.”

Thomas told the Ravens about how his grandfather never made anyone sign a contract to complete a job. “That’s old school,” he said, smugly. Thomas asked Kyle Hamilton to stand up. Hamilton recently became the NFL’s highest-paid safety and now sat in the second row of this auditorium. Thomas shook his hand. That’s what a promise looked like to his grandfather. And it’s how he challenged the Ravens to meet expectations. When Thomas preached about playing for their reputation, it felt like Ray Lewis was up there delivering the sermon.

“It’s time to show up,” Thomas shouted. “Not just in the first [quarter], not just in the second, not in the third, not in the fourth. Man to man, you give me some money, I’m gonna do exactly what I told you I was gon’ do.”

That is perhaps a direct reference to Baltimore’s Week 1 collapse versus the Bills, when the Ravens let a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead slip from their grasp. Or in Week 3, when the Ravens and Lions were tied after three quarters and Detroit bullied them in the final frame. The Rams did the bulk of their work in the third quarter, scoring 14 points that separated the final tally. All but two teams this season have scored on their first offensive possession against the Ravens.

“From this day forward, you start strong and you finish strong,” Thomas said. “Or don’t come at all.”

That inspired energy manifested in a convincing win over the Bears. The Ravens have 10 more regular-season games to prove this season won’t be for naught, torn down because they got ahead of themselves in the first six weeks, assuming, as Thomas said, “this was going to be a phenomenal year.”

Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com. 

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