Former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis appeared on The Rich Eisen Show earlier this week and the two-time Super Bowl champion shared a story involving Peyton Manning’s wife that changed his career.
Lewis says that during a Pro Bowl event one year, Manning’s wife Ashley told him that her husband studies film on him all the time in order to stay prepared since the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens would play one another often. After that, Lewis was inspired to build a film room in his house in order to make sure he was studying Manning just as hard.
What did Peyton Manning's wife say to @raylewis at the Pro Bowl one year to make him build an entirely new room onto his house just for film study?
This was AWESOME today from the @ravens legend:#NFL #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/PnLaGzQhrH
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) March 16, 2022
“His wife was so cool. She’s amazing. She was like, ‘He studies you – all day, every day.’ I was like, ‘Wow, I need to change my game.’ So I started studying him more…So I built an entire room in my house – just so I could watch film.” Lewis said. “So I became a guy who wanted to know everything.”
Lewis says that the way he prepared for games and studied quarterbacks was the difference-maker for himself when it came to succeeding against quarterbacks like Manning and Tom Brady.
“When you get to play those chess matches against Brady and Peyton, it’s the smallest things ever that’ll decide the wins and losses,” Lewis said.
The Hall-0f-Famer also said that he thinks that’s strong study habits that lead to an understanding of what quarterbacks are doing are what’s missing from NFL defenses today.
“That’s what you see missing from the defensive side of the game,” said Lewis. The defensive side of the game now is, look (pause), react.”
“Mine was: look, destroy, or intercept it. Or knock it down. Not catch it and then you make the tackle.”