Ravens Respect the Patriots, Despite Any Trash Talk

The Baltimore Ravens, or at least some of their players, are known for their trash talk, and some of it has been directed at the Patriots – specifically Tom Brady. Whether they’ll proceed to trash talk throughout the week leading up to the teams’ AFC championship clash in Foxborough remains to be seen, but you know you won’t hear anything but praise from New England. Yesterday, Brady talked about how the Ravens are the Pats’ “biggest challenge of the year,” and specifically praised players like Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed. Bill Belichick thinks the world of Ed Reed, saying the safety is “second to none.”

If the Ravens do start the trash talk, think nothing of it. In moments where the players have been asked to be candid, players like Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs have expressed their true feelings of respect towards the Patriots, and more specifically Tom Brady.

In a piece on NFL Network back in December, Terrell Suggs was who his ideal quarterback would be. He smiled, was a little slow in his answer, but left no doubt when he said, “The ideal quarterback is…Tom Brady.” (see the video HERE)

Ray Lewis not only spoke well of Tom Brady, but presented Tom when he was voted as the NFL’s top player of 2011 (video HERE). Here’s Ray Lewis’s intro to Brady’s video:

“He’s [Tom Brady] not the biggest; he was never the strongest; he was never the fastest; he was always overlooked; he went in the sixth round. So with that being said, all of the intangibles that a QB is supposed to have, they overlooked with him because it was burning from the inside of him.”

He continued to praise Tom throughout the video, and he also maybe gave us a glimpse on how the Ravens will play the Patriots’ offense.

“You gotta get to Tom,” Lewis said. “If you don’t get to Tom, the Patriots roll.

“It’s a chess match because he understand every coverage. He understands every defense and if you give it away too early, then the game is like a checkers game for him. He plays it how he wants to play it.”

Through any smoke, these teams clearly respect each other. It should be a great “chess match” (as Ray Lewis says) when Tom Brady and Ray Lewis are on the field. Whoever successfully out-moves the other will likely be on their way to Super Bowl XLVI.

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