To some Ravens fans, the most unforgivable accusation that has been leveled against Ray Lewis is that he’s unpatriotic. The statue Baltimore erected of…
To some Ravens fans, the most unforgivable accusation that has been leveled against Ray Lewis is that he’s unpatriotic.
The statue Baltimore erected of Lewis, who was charged with two counts of murder after a 2000 double homicide in Atlanta, has been given extra security following the Ravens legend falling to both knees during the national anthem Sunday in London, according to the Baltimore Sun .
The effigy of Lewis has stood outside M&T Bank Stadium since 2014, a monument to the emotional-leader linebacker who won two Super Bowls with Baltimore. But after he did not stand for the anthem, more than 50,000 people have signed a change.org petition insisting the Ravens remove his statue.
“To kneel during [the anthem] is disrespectful, regardless of what you are protesting,” the petition reads. “I will not stand for that kind of disrespect towards our country, especially from a legend such as Ray Lewis. You stand for the National Anthem as a salute to those who can’t stand because they fought for this land.”
Lewis, whose charges were dropped in that post-Super Bowl party double murder when he testified against two others, absorbing just a charge of obstruction of justice, has since insisted that he was not joining the national anthem protest that Colin Kaepernick started and that took off following President Trump’s condemnation. Instead, the 42-year-old Lewis, who’s with Fox Sports 1, has said he dropped to both knees to pray, not protest.
