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2012 NASCAR Champ Brad Keselowski credited Baltimore Ravens All Pro linebacker Ray Lewis for inspiring him to be the best race car driver that he could be. After winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship on Sunday, Keselowski was interviewed about how he felt about the victory.
A story at USAToday.com quotes the newly crowned champion as saying,
"Always, throughout my whole life, I've been told I'm not big enough, not fast enough, not strong enough and I don't have what it takes. I've used that as a chip on my shoulder to carry me through my whole career. It took me until this year to realize that that was right, man, they were right. I'm not big enough, fast enough, strong enough. No person is. Only a team can do that.
These guys up here, they make me fast enough. They make me strong enough to do anything we want to do. It's because of these guys. I can't be here without them. I really can't. This isn't a one-man effort. I might get the glory, but it's about these guys, it's about my family."
Keselowski's inspiration came from the introduction by Ray Lewis in the EA Sports video game trailer, Madden NFL-13. Brad has said through his Twitter account that he's "watched it 100 times and think about it every chase race."
Lewis is well-known beyond the football gridiron, having spoken at Harvard University as well as in locker roomsof college football, basketball and even European football teams.