Every word that comes out of Ray Lewis’s sanctimonious, hypocritical mouth is ridiculous and impossible to take seriously. His flamboyant brand of humility and spotlight-seeking religious performance alone is enough to make him completely hatable, even if you take his having pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in a murder case out of the equation.
Keep that plea in mind as you listen to Lewis, who would have you think he’s the most pious man who’s ever lived, provide wisdom and insight into activism and social justice:
Lewis made a Twitter video this afternoon where he directly addressed Colin Kaepernick, whom the Ravens (or any other NFL team) should just fucking sign already. He opens the video by telling his 725,000 Twitter followers that he prays for Kaepernick “more than [he] can ever imagine,” and that Kaepernick’s name is in his Bible.
Lewis, who never says the words “police” or “brutality” in his comments but gestures vaguely at “people talking,” says that if people really want to help Kaepernick, they’ll pray and “stop encouraging you to be caught up in some of this nonsense.”
“It’s totally on you,” Lewis tells Kaepernick early in the video, but then goes on to offer his advice. “If you do nothing else, young man, get back on the football field ... and what you do off the field, don’t let too many people know.”
I’m not going to get too deep in Lewis’s fundamental misunderstanding of what activism is—that’s hard to do when he’s barely speaking coherent sentences—but activism doesn’t work if there is no audience. And even Kaepernick’s less headline-grabbing actions, like giving out free suits or donating to various charities, are far more important than anything he can do on the football field.
“The mistakes I’ve made, I’ve never repeated twice,” said Lewis in the video, who, in all fairness, has only ever once pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in exchange for the dismissal of a murder charge. What Colin Kaepernick’s mistakes are, who knows?