Yesterday, we learned that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis plans to retire after the 2012-13 postseason. He made that announcement to his teammates at the Ravens’ practice facility. It was widely speculated upon news of this announcement that Lewis’ next move was to television. David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun talked to several sports media observers on where Lewis could land.
Well, one day after that announcement, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated reports that Lewis will join ESPN next season and contribute mostly to Monday Night Countdown. Under Lewis’ stipulation to join ESPN was allowing him to watch his son play at the University of Miami next season which would prevent him from being on the Sunday NFL pregame shows on CBS, Fox, NBC or NFL Network.
Deitsch says Lewis would join ESPN in time for its draft coverage in April.
Lewis has been on the radar of the NFL TV partners for quite some time. However, it seems ESPN has won out over the other networks as it can be flexible on Lewis’ needs. There’s no official ESPN announcement on this. In fact, the ESPN PR department won’t comment on the story, however, SportsCenter has already quoted from Deitsch’s story complete with the “no comment” comment.
When Lewis has played his last down, I’m sure we’ll get the ESPN announcement and a conference call with Lewis.
