TheDailyBlitz.com

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who has made 10 Pro Bowls in his 13 seasons with the Ravens, tested the free-agent market. But a week after free agency began, he agreed to a contract with the Ravens that will allow him to spend his entire career with only one team.

Lewis held a news conference yesterday and said that the Ravens were his first choice.

"My family is Baltimore," said Lewis. "The bottom line: Was there ever a decision for me to leave Baltimore? I don't think so. I didn't visit anyone else's facility. That would have taken away from what I do for my city. When I put that purple jersey on my back, I give everything that I have for every fan that's in the stands."

There is no doubt that Lewis leaves everything that he has on the field. Nobody could ever question his heart.

Whether or not the Ravens were his first choice, I don't know. Does he love the city of Baltimore, the fans and the franchise? I'm sure he does.

But to say the reason he "didn't visit anyone else's facility" was because it "would have taken away from what I do for my city" is a big stretch. Before the off-season began, he talked about how he wouldn't give Baltimore a "hometown discount" as Terrell Suggs suggested that the Ravens' trio of LBs should.

He "didn't visit anyone else's facility," because the interest wasn't there. Rex Ryan was waiting in Bart Scott's driveway as soon as free agency began and Jerry Jones didn't want (to pay) Lewis.