Some say this is Ray Lewis' team. Others know better.

[cravnravn]

NEW ORLEANS -- What would you say if I told you the most important player on the Baltimore Ravens this year, the man whose leadership stitched his team back together in a moment of crisis, wasn't the guy you see gyrating and thumping his chest in front of all the cameras?

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Paul SpinelliEd Reed, left, and Ray Lewis -- teammates with dramatically different leadership styles.

 

 

What if I questioned the narrative that's been drilled into your brain for so many years, the notion that this is Ray Lewis' team and it's his leadership that inspires and focuses the Ravens above all else? What if Lewis' alpha-male personality, his ceaseless energy and his booming, sermonizing pregame speeches were only part of the equation? Could I convince you there's another player on the Ravens who's been just as important, just as influential, in this year's Super Bowl run, if not more so?

You'd probably scoff at first. Roll your eyes, maybe. Especially if I told you he was moody, mercurial, occasionally aloof and uncomfortable with fame. That he purposefully grooms and dresses himself like a train-hopping hobo -- to keep the world outside the locker room at arm's length -- and that he'd be thrilled if he never had to do another interview for the rest of his career.

You'd be skeptical, wouldn't you?

 

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8892504/super-bowl-xlvii-ed-reed-hiding-plain-sight

[vmax]

This is a very good article with one flaw; Kevin comes off as if he's going to give some astounding revelation.

 

This Ravens team is loaded with leaders as were the past Ravens teams. All are important and play a role.

 

Now this might be a big revelation for fans who causally follow football and have a limited understanding of the game.

Blame the media who covers this sport and all sports for this. They only give you one or two names of players on a team. Patriots? = Brady.

Denver? = Manning. Vikings? = Peterson. Go down the line and only if your are a passionate follower of this sport will you be able to names other key players

The media only talks about the star players. Take PTI for example. They constantly focus on the few big names in their respective sports and talk about them ad nauseum. Tiger, LeBron, Kobe, ...you can't find out about the other important players in those sports. I don't follow the NBA so I can only tell you a few of the big names from what I hear on ESPN and the radio. It's like everybody else is irrelevent.

 

Mainstrean sports journalism waters down the truth that this is a team sport and you can only win as a team. It leaves fans like us to the task to search dilligently to find information on the whole team....which we do. It is out there...you just have to look harder and be selective in who you read.