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 Shannon Sharpe defends his friend and teammate, Ray Lewis.
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Members of the Giants defense react to Ray Lewis' guarantee of a Ravens victory.
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 Shannon Sharpe knows Trent Dilfer is important, but the game will be won on defense.
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Shannon Sharpe is prepared for whoever and whatever the Giants secondary has in store.
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Business as Usual
The Ravens' Rod Woodson, left, and Ray Lewis chat Wednesday. |
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Cup o' Joe: Practice squad
The only way to find out how the Ravens' offense is running this week is to step behind center and run some plays yourself. That's what ESPN's Joe Theismann did on Wednesday during the team's first practice in pads during Super Bowl week.
 • The Browns are down to five candidates now that Marty Mornhinweg
took the Detroit job and the Browns officially informed Mike Tice he's no
longer a candidate. The Browns handled the Tice interview poorly. They
called and asked the Vikings permission to talk to Tice, who was in the
process of being promoted to assistant head coach. Tice geared up for the
interview and didn't hear for days when that would happen. On Wednesday,
they called and told him that they weren't sure he had enough experience yet
to be a head coach. Then, why did they call in the first place?
So the Browns are done to four defensive coordinators -- John Fox of
the Giants, Marvin Lewis of the Ravens, Gregg Williams of the Titans and
Romeo Crennel of the Browns. That leaves Mike McCarthy of the Saints as the
only offensive coordinator candidate. It appears the Browns are awaiting the
chance after the Super Bowl to make a pitch to Lewis and Fox.
• Matt Millen's hiring of Mornhinweg had a
little cloak and dagger. Millen knew for a week Mornhinweg was his main
candidate. He had him in for a Tuesday interview and then realized that it
would be inadvisable to let him visit the Browns, where he was scheduled for
the next day. Millen, Mornhinweg and the coach's agent, Bob LaMonte, worked
until past 2 a.m. to discuss whether to make the move now about making
Mornhigweg head coach. Once, they moved Mornhinweg to a different hotel just
to make sure the Browns didn't find him.
A five-year deal worth around $5 million was
finalized Wednesday morning. Gary Moeller was fired as head coach. Millen
considered him more a candidate than a coach but he had to keep saying
Moeller was the coach because he knew owner William Clay Ford liked the
former University of Michigan head coach. The players liked him, too. Millen
felt he couldn't dismiss him knowing there was positive vibe about him in
the Lions headquarters. Larry Lee, a team vice president, resigned. Expect
more major shakeups in the Lions personnel office over the
next few months.
 • Shannon Sharpe, perhaps my all-time favorite quote machine, launched a diatribe against the media surrounding Ray Lewis, on Wednesday, pleading with the reporters to keep the focus on football. What Sharpe obviously didn't realize is that he interrupted Lewis from answering a question about knocking out quarterbacks -- a football-related inquiry.
• Ravens coach Brian Billick, who deserves more credit than he's been allotted for the team's march to the Super Bowl, badly misstepped Monday when he used the bully pulpit to lecture the media about Lewis. He gave new meaning to being an "offensive coach." Billick actually has a few legitimate complaints; the media has distorted some facts regarding last year's murder case.
But Billick has also misrepresented some facts. I was privy to the behind-the-scene negotiations between Lewis' lawyers and the Atlanta prosecution team. Yes, prosecutor Paul Howard knew the trial was disintegrating and approached Lewis' attorney, Ed Garland, about a deal. Lewis' plea of obstruction of justice was connected to his willingness to testify. Those are the facts. Anybody (including my friends) who thinks Billick took the focus off Lewis and put it on himself is full of wind. He magnified the
focus on Lewis. More
"Ted Bundy killed something like 30 people and it took them a long time to charge him. Ray Lewis wasn't even involved with this and he was charged in 24 hours. Whether or not they felt he did it, they had Ray Lewis. They thought to themselves, if we don't have anybody else, we have Ray Lewis"
— Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe
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Who is most responsible for escalating the Ray Lewis situation?
 TOM JACKSON
Brian Billick came to Tampa with a clear agenda. Monday, he said he was drawing a line in the sand. But no one had asked Billick about Ray Lewis on Monday. No one. Of course, the topic was going to come up. But Billick came out with guns blazing and inside of five minutes during his first media appearance, he was calling the media unprofessional, unqualified and reprehensible. The animosity between the Ravens and the media that now exsits began with head coach Brian Billick.
 JOE THEISMANN
No one is to blame. If Ray Lewis weren't playing in the Super Bowl, there wouldn't be a story. Combine the events surrounding the Super Bowl and the circumstances of his life, and you wind up with the current situation. Answers are needed, and that's what Lewis provided on Tuesday and Wednesday. Brian Billick tried to chastise the media to get the media mad at him. What Shannon Sharpe did was say, "That's my teammate. He went through hell." I'm not defending Lewis; his teammates and coach are. That kind of family feeling has gotten the Ravens to Tampa.
 ANDREA KREMER
All of the following parties have contributed -- Ray Lewis, for being in the situation in the first place; Brian Billick, for fueling the fire; and the media, for being its typical ravenous self. Everything at the Super Bowl is magnified, and it's unrealistic for all parties involved not to take that into account. That doesn't justify rehashing the issue, but the single most prominent player on one team has had a very public problem. Ironically, even if Lewis had chosen to discuss the event, it wouldn't have stopped people from continuing to ask more questions.
 JOHN CLAYTON
Brian Billick and Shannon Sharpe. Ray Lewis hasn't been particularly contricent, but he has been consistent. He said all along he wasn't going to talk about it in Tampa. Challenging the media is never a good thing to do. When Billick did, he kick-started a volatile situation. Wednesday, just as the embers were beginning to fade, Sharpe added fuel to the fire.
 SEAN SALISBURY
Brian Billick, Shannon Sharpe, Ray Lewis and the media. Billick was trying divert attention from his player, but if you draw a line in the sand, you have to be prepared for someone to cross it. Sharpe was trying to defend one of his own, and he's so good with the media, maybe he was trying to get a little attention for himself.
Lewis probably should have taken a day this week to answer questions on the subject. But even if he had, the media wouldn't have dropped it. We in the media won't let it go, because it is a story, and every time someone opens their mouth about it, it becomes a bigger story.
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