Those of us that were lucky enough to go to the game this past weekend at M&T Bank Stadium may have witnessed the end of an era. In the pregame introductions I was extremely disappointed to find out that they were introducing the offense and I thought I would not get to see Ray do his dance one last time. Fortunately the staff threw us all off a bit and they introduced all of the Ravens pro-bowlers. Ray Lewis came out last and did his dance for perhaps the last time ever.
Ray has not said either way if he will play another season or retire but it was quite apparent that he did not heal as quickly as we all would have liked from his mid-season toe injury. With the Ravens knocking on the door of the Super Bowl it stands to reason that Mr. Lewis would want to go out on a high note if this team does make it all the way. That would make this past week's game his last in Baltimore.
The same could be said for Ed Reed. Reed has been hampered by a nagging neck injury for the last few years and if they were to go to or win the Super Bowl he may chose to call it a career as well. Reed could be one hit away from being forced to retire anyway.
Reed did however prove that he still has a lot of quality football left in him. Reed had one interception but came very close to two more. Something tells me his heroics in the post-season are not over and he may be a deciding factor in New England next week with the way the Patriots like to throw the ball around.
Both of these players are sure to be Hall of Fame worthy when they do decide to end their careers. I hope that everyone realizes how important this post-season is for us because it may be the last we see of these two legends on the field. We are all lucky to have witnessed Ray Lewis and Ed Reed during our lifetime. They are two of the best players at their position of all-time and they had the luxury of playing at the same time for the same team. That doesn't happen too often.
I hope that we can keep at least one of them for a while longer but if one or both decide to call it quits we will all understand. Hopefully they will stick around and continue to mentor our young players for years to come.