I was on a plane the other day and started reading Next Man Up by John Feinstein. Its the story of a journalist who follows the Ravens for one year with full access to the team. In it I found this gem about Ray Lewis on page 127 about the 1996 NFL draft, which caused me to press the button for the stewardess and order several drinks.
"Knowing about the doubts scouts had about his size, Lewis went into draft day simply hoping to get taken in the first round. Even so, as he watched one linebacker after another being taken before him, Lewis was dismayed. Kevin Hardy went to Jacksonville with the second pick, John Mobley went to Denver with the fifteenth; Reggie Brown went to Detroit with the seventeenth. "I knew I was better than were," he said. He heard ESPN's draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. saying that he had great speed and talent but was simply too small to be a star in the NFL. Finally, late in the first round, the phone rang. It was the Packers. They had the twenty-seventh pick and, as soon as Baltimore got through making its pick at twenty-six, they were planning to take him. Lewis was fine with that. He wondered if Maxie Baughn would be disappointed that the Ravens had decided not to take him. Another phone rang. It was Newsome. He would not, as it turned out, be going to Green Bay.
Now if Ray Lewis would have joined the 1996 Packers it would have been just that much better of a team. In addition I cant believe that Davis would have run on us the following SB like he did. Thats two, even after that we had a couple of great shots at the SB we squandered, would that have happened if Wolf would have got his man would the 90s Packers be the team of the decade? Would we have had a dynasty? I believe so, what do you think?
"Knowing about the doubts scouts had about his size, Lewis went into draft day simply hoping to get taken in the first round. Even so, as he watched one linebacker after another being taken before him, Lewis was dismayed. Kevin Hardy went to Jacksonville with the second pick, John Mobley went to Denver with the fifteenth; Reggie Brown went to Detroit with the seventeenth. "I knew I was better than were," he said. He heard ESPN's draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. saying that he had great speed and talent but was simply too small to be a star in the NFL. Finally, late in the first round, the phone rang. It was the Packers. They had the twenty-seventh pick and, as soon as Baltimore got through making its pick at twenty-six, they were planning to take him. Lewis was fine with that. He wondered if Maxie Baughn would be disappointed that the Ravens had decided not to take him. Another phone rang. It was Newsome. He would not, as it turned out, be going to Green Bay.
Now if Ray Lewis would have joined the 1996 Packers it would have been just that much better of a team. In addition I cant believe that Davis would have run on us the following SB like he did. Thats two, even after that we had a couple of great shots at the SB we squandered, would that have happened if Wolf would have got his man would the 90s Packers be the team of the decade? Would we have had a dynasty? I believe so, what do you think?
