The former murder suspect has undergone a "Madonna turns British" like transformation and has convinced himself that he is now an expert on socioeconomic trends and if he speaks in a loud raspy whisper, it makes him intelligent and motivational. A few quotes from a recent interview with ESPNs Sal Paolantonio...

"Do this research if we don't have a season -- watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game"

While I definitely support the fact that crime will rise, I have some misgivings about his reasoning. When asked what he meant by the above comment, he gave the following reason:

"There's nothing else to do Sal."

We have nothing else to do? Seriously? If college football goes on strike, THEN I'll have nothing else to do. Until then, I know the Big Ten starts at noon Ray. I just have to fill those first 2 hours of the day twiddling my thumbs, then I'm good until the Pac 10, sorry, Pac 12 finishes at midnight.

The people with nothing to do will be you and all of the OGs (original gangsters, not offensive guards) in the NFL. And, I could definitely see them accounting for an increase in the rate of crime. See Rae Carruth, Brandon Marshall, Aqib Taleb and the hundreds of others that will have nothing to do this fall.

Have we given Ray Lewis this false impression that he is somehow a voice of reason in our society? How has he gained the confidence to feel like he can be a leader off of the field? On the field.... sure, a hell of a linebacker. But, speaking in whispers, acting like a pastor and making stupid predictions should be laughed at and made fun of.

I realize he wasn't convicted of any charges relating to the murder back in 2000, but, according to Wikipedia:

On April 29, 2004, Lewis reached a settlement with four-year-old India Lollar, born months after the death of her father Richard, preempting a scheduled civil proceeding. Lewis also reached an undisclosed settlement with Baker's family.

Ray, you're better than everyone at one thing in life. Playing MLB. The other million things, you're middling if not mediocre. Stop acting holier than thou.