Jamal Lewis Renounces Browns, Considers Himself a Raven After Retirement
by theW0LF on Nov 14, 2009 12:27 PM EST
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Written by Daniel Wolf
Cleveland Browns and former Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis has announced that he is retiring at the end of this season, but that's not all he had to say.
Lewis has been with the Browns for three years now, and even though the Browns gave him a second chance to be a starter in the NFL after the Ravens gave up on his ability and cut him, he has denounced the team that has given him a second chance.
According to cleveland.com, "He said he'll look back at himself as a Raven as opposed to a Raven and a Brown."
Really?
He would rather consider himself a Raven and not even mention the fact that they cast him aside?
The reason this even came up is due to the fact that this Monday Lewis will play his former team for the last time in his career, but honestly, it sounds like he would rather suit up in the purple and black rather than in the orange and brown.
To support his statement regarding him always being a Raven, Lewis also said, "...that's who gave me my shot."
"That's who brought me in. That's where I pretty much did all my work. I have a lot of memories there, a lot of memories there—a lot of older players that helped me out and brought me in, led me and showed me the way. That's where I got it from."
Lewis has been silent about his reasons to retire, but he finally caved in and said, "...I'm tired of it....So, time to move on."
But he also said, "[he] made that decision before the season even started."
Sounds a little contradictory.
So Lewis decided before the season started that he wanted to retire but kept it quiet until two weeks ago after the Browns were blown out by the Bears, and then told everyone that he was also tired of it and it was time to move on.
Sounds like Lewis hates being on the Browns, but who can really blame him?
Regarding the Browns' current 1-7 record, he said, "I don't think that the locker room has turned. I don't think that anybody has turned their back on the situation or anything. Everybody's just out here working hard, because we know that we can go out and compete. We just have to put it all together."
Bottom line, with Lewis retiring, he should see less playing time in the last half of the season so that the Browns can give more reps to Jerome Harrison and Chris Jennings to see what their future is at running back.
Sorry Lewis, but in this journalist's opinion, your comments should only get you short yardage formations and goal-line plays for the rest of the year.
(Article also posted on Dawg Scooper)
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Of course he’s going to consider himself a Raven — he spent the majority of his career there and won a Super Bowl with that team. I don’t think it’s fair to say he “denounced” the Browns. I’m sure Joe Montana considers himself a 49er and not a Chief, and I’m sure that Emmit Smith considers himself a Cowboy and not a Cardinal, and I’m sure that Jerry Rice also considers himself a 49er and not a Bronco or Raider. What’s the big deal?
But the difference between all those guys you listed and Lewis is that they are all stand-up All-Pros, and they didn’t talk trash about the team that they were currently playing for.
Lewis is disrespectful and should have kept his mouth shut until after he retired. Very unprofessional.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
i agree he should consider himself a raven, but to say they are the ones that gave him a shot is a little misleading. he was the 5th overall pick, its not like he was some undrafted rookie that they took a chance on, its not like nobody else would have given him a shot. the browns are the ones that gave him a shot at being a starting RB in the nfl after he was unceremoniously cut from the ravens. i think jamal is getting a little too nostalgic here.
by notthatnoise on Nov 14, 2009 2:09 PM EST up reply actions
Too nostalgic toward a team that threw him aside and did not want him anymore.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
that was my point, his nostalgia for the glory days of his career is making him forget the reality of what happened
by notthatnoise on Nov 14, 2009 2:11 PM EST up reply actions
hell, can you blame him? do you realize what it must be like to train that hard and play for this mess? I’m taking a wild guess you didn’t play football.
actually...
The ravens drafted him high at #5, him coming off a knee injury.
The ravens then gave him the starting job over priest holmes.
The ravens remained loyal and gave him another shot following his stay in the pokey.
Sad to say but true. DA did have more luck running it in than Lewis and that’s just sad for Lewis.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
If Lewis doesn’t want to play for us, don’t let him see the field, Harrison and Jennings are better anyway.
by TheRealSlimShady on Nov 14, 2009 1:24 PM EST reply actions
Jennings is not better. A few good runs in a preseason game don’t mean anything.
by Buckeye Brad on Nov 14, 2009 1:58 PM EST up reply actions
How do you know this?
Jennings hasn’t even gotten but maybe one or two touches in the regular season so far.
Don’t judge the guy until he has a chance to get some reps first.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
Because if he was any good then he wouldn’t have been a free agent waiting for a team to sign him. As I said before, running backs like him are a dime a dozen. There are probably at least 20 guys in college who could step in next year and be just as good or better than him.
If the Browns want to give him a chance this year to see what he can do then I have no problem with that, but let’s not start declaring that he’s better than Lewis right now. He’s done nothing to show that he is.
by Buckeye Brad on Nov 14, 2009 2:21 PM EST up reply actions
No one said he’s better than Lewis.
I just said he needs to get some reps to see what he’s got.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
This is the comment that I responded to:
If Lewis doesn’t want to play for us, don’t let him see the field, Harrison and Jennings are better anyway.
That’s pretty clear to me.
by Buckeye Brad on Nov 14, 2009 2:57 PM EST up reply actions
Yea I misworded what I meant. I should have said I would rather see Jennings get carries
by TheRealSlimShady on Nov 14, 2009 5:22 PM EST up reply actions
This is similar to the debating we were doing in the other thread. Sometimes coaches don’t need to see a guy in live game situation to know that he is bad.
And sometimes those players leave the team and go on to be a star for another team because that’s what always happens with players from Cleveland.
Give the kid a chance and maybe, just maybe, he will surprise a coach or too.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
Who are some of these players that have gone on to be stars once leaving the Browns (doesn’t count players that we already knew were good like Braylon or Winslow?)
I am referring to Cleveland teams in general. (It was a joke.)
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
they mean more than jamal’s 0 good runs in the preseason and regular season.
by notthatnoise on Nov 14, 2009 2:10 PM EST up reply actions
Now that’s just not true. Jamal has had some good runs this season.
by Buckeye Brad on Nov 14, 2009 2:17 PM EST up reply actions
ok yeah that was a pretty big exaggeration, jamal has actually had a few good plays, not to mention a decent game or two. i just think he doesn’t have the physical ability left to be a starting running back in this league, so why not give someone who showed a glimmer of hope a shot?
by notthatnoise on Nov 14, 2009 4:55 PM EST up reply actions
I agree that Lewis isn’t as good as he once was, but I disagree with the statement that he doesn’t have enough ability left to be a starting running back in the NFL. I think he suffers more from a dearth of talent around him, specifically in the passing game. The fact that he has been able to maintain a 3.6 YPC average against defenses that never seemed to have to worry much about the secondary to me its rather impressive.
That aside, I think that if he had a gripe about the practices then he should have talked to Mangini before he talked to the media. That was just bad form.
I agree…more reps should go to Harrison and Jennings to see if they are the answer at RB next year or if they aren’t then the Browns need to figure that out so they can get someone in the draft.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
CJ Spiller
From Clemson.
R.I.P. Tony Fein
May God watch over you wherever you are now and may you be in a better place. We will never forget you!
by Zachary Beard on Nov 14, 2009 6:08 PM EST up reply actions
R U Serious?
It takes some artifice to employ the only slow scat-back in the NFL (Harrison).
Jennings? Provide some evidence.
Again, you just make up things about players and act like they are facts. Harrison isn’t slow.
by TheRealSlimShady on Nov 15, 2009 10:28 AM EST up reply actions
Let the jury decide that.
The jury is all the fine people in the stands, in front of TV-sets and holding their ground in Sports Bars.
Even a thousand people admiring how round a cube is, can´t turn the cube into ball.
by mooncamping on Nov 15, 2009 10:38 AM EST up reply actions
You do know that your anolgies make absolutely no sense at all.
BTW, Do you still think you’re the GM?
by TheRealSlimShady on Nov 15, 2009 1:33 PM EST up reply actions
You know what? I´ll take a raise considering I´m the only one working for positive change.
I am now GM and the owner´s consultant.
Erie Dawgs TM
Dark Brown…owned
Hey Moon, watch it. I can safely say I’m doing just as much as you to improve our team.
by RelapsingDawgCatcher on Nov 16, 2009 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
You obviously didn’t watch Harrison bust out his 70+ yard TD run against the Bills in 2008.
No one could catch him, so there’s your evidence.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
If he’s going to retire, why should we play him at all? This season’s a total loss, I wouldn’t let him see the field.
Make Jerome your main man, give goal line situations and change of pace carries to Jennings.
Lewis is supposed to be a “veteran leader”, all he does is bitch and moan. Tell him to grab some pine if he’s tired of being an NFL player, hell put him on the IR. He is not helping this team in any way.
"There's nothing that cleanses the soul like getting the hell kicked out of you." Woody Hayes.
He was a “vet leader,” but not anymore.
He’s more like K2 or Braylon now.
Did they tell Lewis to pick up the slack for them after they left?
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
Sadly agreed. Lewis was on the way out anyway, but this should vastly accelerate the process.
by RelapsingDawgCatcher on Nov 14, 2009 2:37 PM EST up reply actions
This is pathetic, A guy who hasn't played for the Ravens for what 3-4 years
doesn’t even want to be Brown, but than again, who does?
R.I.P. Tony Fein
May God watch over you wherever you are now and may you be in a better place. We will never forget you!
If I remember correctly, when we were assessing talents in training camp and preseason, and you were acting like you were this sites only eyes and ears on the field, you were always in line with the status quo, to include quality assessments regarding the runningbacks.
I don’t know if this is a compliment or a dig at me……confused.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
I think it was clear coming into the season that Jamal Lewis was done and until any effort is made to pick up a real running back, this team will struggle offensively. The current direction of the team building with stronger, heaver lineman tells me that we will work to finding a powerful running back.
You read the headline on this post and you think that Lewis really dissed the Browns. But I think he was well short of that. The fact that he’d consider himself a Raven after retirement doesn’t surprise me—he spent most of his career and his best years there. I’m sort of glad he is saying he is retiring though I wish he’d have waited until the end of the season to say so. We definitely need to close the book on the Lewis years with the Browns and use the rest of the season to figure out what we do about a primary running back.
Brownsyup
He dissed the Browns because he shouldn’t have said anything until after he retired.
Very unprofessional to say that while still playing for the team.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
And renouncing is not dissing, it is when one formally declares their abandonment.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
Lewis has every right to think what he does.
However, I believe the consensus is that he should respect the team that ‘pays and plays’ him enough to save it for after retirement. Then…fire away. This does nothing to help the situation the Browns put themselves in, and indeed is only divisive. I certainly understand his frustration, but at this point in his career he is probably more of a detriment, or maybe more of a non-factor, to the Browns then an asset. That’s not his fault, it’s just age has caught up with him…however it seems like he blames the Browns for his decline, rather than a combination of the two factors.
http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/come_on_cavs.mp3
He does, but like some people have said, the avenue for saying what he said is the coach’s office – which Mangini has said is open to players.
He should blame his diminishing abilities and not the Browns.
Disrespectful.
http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns Source
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