For my part, I spent much of the week pimping the Ravens and just, basically, trying to enjoy myself. There was plenty of media stuff to do in Tampa, but I was resigned to making it a week to remember, win or lose.
It might never happen again, I thought.
On Tuesday, I had dinner with defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis at the Hyatt Westshore, watching film of the Giants-Eagles playoff game until almost midnight. I was convinced it would be my last chance to have fun with Lewis, who was the first coach I had met in 1996 when the team came to Baltimore.
Over the five years, we had grabbed lunch together frequently, talking about football, life, our kids, our goals, etc. – just great conversation.
He remains one of my favorite people in the world.
Seeing Marvin smile is to see the world light up. His passion and energy are contagious.
Many of those traits – along with a pretty good defense – led me and everyone else to believe he was spending his last days as a defensive coordinator with the Ravens. He surely would be hired the following week as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills or Cleveland Browns, most thought.
We had talked for years about just sitting and watching film together, so I could learn more about football and game planning, and this would probably be my last chance, I thought. He extended the invitation for dinner and film study on the Saturday before the team left telling me to stop by the hotel during the week.
“I’ll probably be sitting on the floor of my hotel room, bored, watching tape,” Lewis told me. “And the family doesn’t come in until Thursday.”
Several things became clear to me that Tuesday night with Lewis.
First, as cocky and arrogant as the players seemed, Lewis had an unbelievable calm and confidence about him. He absolutely knew his team was going to win and he knew the game wasn’t going to be close.
Second, he wasn’t certain he was taking a job as a head coach anywhere else, and he wasn’t too concerned about it. “If it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen. But don’t be too sure,” he said with his trademark smile, “because I’m not too sure.”
Third, he made breaking down the offense of the New York Giants a fun and educational experience.
Part of that fun is what makes Marvin special to his players as well.
On several Saturday nights during the season, especially on road trips, he gathered his defense and showed fun, homemade videos of their on-field work, set to the music of their favorite artists. He had the team’s film department put them together.
Many weeks, it featured rap artists and hip-hop music. Lewis was meticulous and very personal about these films. He went so far one week as to spend several nights at local malls trying to find a “clean” version of DMX’s rap song “Party Up,” a version that had lyrics that wouldn’t offend the deeply religious Peter Boulware, O.J. Brigance and James Trapp.
Turns out, it wasn’t Boulware or Brigance or Trapp who complained.
It was Siragusa.
“What’s with all of this rap shit?” Goose yelled at Lewis.
So, that week, Lewis ran together clips of Siragusa’s greatest hits on the field – and mixed in a montage of audio featuring the sounds of Frank Sinatra. “It was like poetry in motion,” Lewis laughed. “Goose just ate it up!”
The theme in that defensive meeting room all season – hell all five seasons – was fun.
“If you keep telling them that this is fun and you make it fun then you get everyone to participate,” Lewis said. “The guys want to sit in the front of the classroom. And that’s contagious.”
There were many universal themes and ideologies about relationships and people in the organization that I discovered long after the Lombardi Trophy was presented.
Chris McAlister is the team’s best talent.
Trent Dilfer is an amazing leader.
Ray Lewis was innocent in everyone’s mind the minute they heard the accusations about Atlanta. They just knew he wasn’t capable of murder, no matter what the television told them.
Rob Burnett is the most respected player in the room.
But, perhaps one thing I didn’t know, and one guy that I didn’t realize was so well respected and essential during a run to the championship, was cornerback James Trapp.
Nearly everyone in the interviewing process for this book had a “Joe” Trapp story they wanted to share.
“Joe?” Who was “Joe” Trapp?
