Fining Ray Lewis: Blowing The Whistle On A Bad Call By The NFL

The Baltimore Ravens linebacker, Ray Lewis, is one of the greatest to ever play the game at his position.

At the age of 34, Lewis still ranks among the best linebackers in the game. Just this season he has three double-digit tackling performances, and is ranked eighth in the league with 45 total tackles.

There have been so many memorable performances by No. 52 throughout his career it's hard for his fans to single out just one. Will "Ray Ray" as he's known to the Baltimore faithful be remembered for his many Pro-Bowl appearances? His Super Bowl Ring? Perhaps his leadership on one of the greatest defensive teams (2000) in NFL history?

What aspect of his career will those in attendance most remember him for when he inevitably someday takes the podium to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame?

For me, it will be his game-changing big hits.

Ray has continually given those big hits to the NFL Nation, every Sunday for 14 seasons. Even at his age, Lewis is still lighting it up on the field. You might remember the hit he made on Darren Sproles that saved a victory for the Ravens.

An equally big hit he made on an opponent is the hit this past weekend he put on Chad Ochocinco in the 17-10 loss to the Bengals.

Being present at the game on Sunday, I can say without a doubt that the 71,161 fans at the game loved the hit. Even though it did elicit a penalty for an unfortunate, but obvious late-hit, the intensity rose in the final seconds of the AFC North battle.

Five days have passed since that defeat to Cincinnati, and over that five days the NFL decided to fine Ray Lewis $25,000 for the "helmet-to-helmet" hit on Ochocinco. This decision has drawn mixed reactions from fans all around the nation.

Even Chad Ochocinco himself, who is respected by his peers around the league, has come out and said that Lewis doesn't deserve a monetary fine for the hit.

While he's drawn criticism at times, there's one thing I can say about Ochocinco, he not only respects Ray Lewis, he respects the game of football in general. He understands that in the game of football you should expect hard hits from the defense. That's the nature of football.

Nothing against those running the NFL, but what happened to the game they remember from the 50's and 60's? While the sport has changed over the years, there's no reason to fully do away with the idea that planting big hits on opponents and having violent collisions with opponents is just part of the game.

I can understand calling the penalty on Lewis during the game. It was a call the refs had to make, even if that meant the Ravens losing the game (that's another story). What I can't understand is penalizing him further. Lewis, and the Ravens, paid the price of the late hit on the field, and that should have been the end of it.

I've stayed rather neutral in the debate surrounding the controversy of whether quarterbacks are too protected even though I have some issues with it. Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press wrote a fine piece about it you can read here. However, that's quarterbacks. They're the ones who need to be protected the most, and if you have to make rules to keep them protected, so be it.

Changing the game in such a fundamental way by handing out huge fines for basic hits on other players is another matter altogether.

The fine on Lewis, and others like it, will end up changing the game in a very negative way. It will force those playing to re-evaluate the way they play. Less big hits will occur, taking away the excitement of the action, lessening the thrill of the game rather than improving it.

The fines the NFL gives out make a difference, and are necessary for certain actions by players and coaches. However, in this case I believe it was completely unnecessary. I'm betting Lewis didn't intend to injure Chad, and Ochocinco bounded to his feet uninjured five seconds after the hit.

All the fine does is give pause to other players and inhibit their play on the field, and to me that's not a good thing.

Some in the media, and even some fans, say the fine is deserved because of Lewis' history. They make the claim that the fine is justified because they believe he got away with murder nearly a decade ago.

Simply put, this is ridiculous. Lewis made a mistake in the past and can't rectify more than he has. All he can do is stay out of trouble with the law going forward, and he's done just that.

There's not a single person who can say they've heard his name mentioned in any police reports. There's not a single person who can claim they've heard his name mentioned in the news in a negative way regarding the law whatsoever.

So, to me, that line of thinking isn't justified. It's an argument that should be dismissed out of hand by any who hear it.

Lewis has appealed the fine, and even if they rule against him and make him pay it, there's no doubt he can pay it with ease. Yet, he must wonder, along with many others, why he was fined in the first place.

Also, and almost certainly most importantly, this fine will not change the way "Ray Ray" plays the game. Whenever he finishes his illustrious career, you can be assured that till that last day he'll be playing the game the way he's always played it, hitting his opponents as hard as he can.

If someone tries to tell me he'll change the way he plays because of this fine, I'd say they were crazy, and that I'd have to see it to believe it.

I say the NFL made a bad call here, but that's me.

So, I ask all fans of the NFL this question. Did the fine fit the crime, or was the NFL too overprotective once again?

This is the only exception you will see of a Baltimore Ravens article on BR. I now write a weekly column on the Baltimore Ravens @ fanhuddle.com . If you have a twitter account, be sure to follow me: www.twitter.com/MattMiselis . Finally, you have any questions/comments, drop me a line to my email: [e-mail]