No Ravens fans seemed to be overly upset with murder allegations and/or a guilty plea to obstructing justice in a murder investigation involving linebacker Ray Lewis; indeed, his career culminated in the placement of a statue outside the stadium where the team plays. However, the decision of Lewis to kneel during Sunday’s national anthem prior to the team’s game in London is sparking unprecedented outrage toward him.
Via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, the Maryland Stadium Authority added security around the statue after Lewis was seen on both knees, along with other kneeling members of the team.
Lewis, whose clumsy remarks regarding Colin Kaepernick made his decision to kneel seem ironic to say the least, has offered up some equally clumsy remarks in the aftermath of Sunday’s game regarding the notion that he was praying not kneeling. Which apparently makes it not a protest and in turn in no way disrespectful of the anthem, the flag, or the country.
And so Lewis continues to be the one person who believes that he can avoid offending anyone by wedging his way into a patch of ground in the middle that simply doesn’t exist. He has instead managed to offend enough someones to prompt real concerns that his statue needs to be protected against those anyone who would deface or dismantle it.