5 players we wish spent time with the Steelers
By Brendan Howe
Ray Lewis
Okay, look. I dislike the Ravens as much as the next guy and I know it’s borderline sacrilegious to even think of it. However, you must admit, Ray Lewis would have looked great in a black and gold No. 52.
The guy was the heart and soul of Baltimore’s franchise from the moment he arrived. But he wasn’t even the highest linebacker on the fledgling team’s board on draft day of 1996. That would have been Texas A&M’s Reggie Brown, who Detroit chose 17th overall.
Could you imagine if, by some chance, Brown was still there for Ozzie Newsome to scoop up with the 26th pick? And the undersized Lewis was skipped over by Green Bay, also said to have been interested in him?
There Lewis would have been to stick in the middle beside Levon Kirkland, who was just getting to his best stretch in a Steeler uniform. Factor in Chad Brown, an All-Pro in the season that followed, and that linebacking corps would have been the best in the league, and not by a small margin.
I know Lewis was a seven-time All-Pro with a bitter rival, but with Rod Woodson, too, that would’ve been a daunting unit.