NFL: Ray Lewis: The Most Hated Player in the NFL

By Seth Doria Sports Central Columnist

So, Ray Lewis is the Super Bowl MVP.

A year removed from being the whipping boy of all who want to point out the worst in sports, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year looms large as the cornerstone of arguably the best defense in league history.

The MVP of the biggest game of the year.

But it wasn't Ray Lewis saying he was going to Disneyland.

And it isn't Ray Lewis scheduled to go on the Wheaties box.

Nope. And why should he?

After all, how could you connect Disney and a guy accused of killing two men in the streets of Atlanta?

Wheaties and an accused murderer? No way.

But wait, there's something wrong with the picture painted by corporate elitists in their universal cold shoulder toward the best linebacker in the game; something everybody in the media forgets to put high in their stories: the murder charges against Ray Lewis were dropped.

He pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for not telling the whole truth to police when the investigation first reached his door. But Ray Lewis was not convicted of murder. He did not kill those men. Neither did his two friends, according to the law of the land. They were acquitted, even after prosecutors talked Lewis into taking the stand against them.

What started with O.J. has turned into a full-blown epidemic. The media found out how much fun it was to follow the demise of a sports superstar.

Ray Carruth made headlines from Carolina to Missouri to California. Mark Chmura the same. Bam Morris sold marijuana. Lawrence Phillips hits women. Same with Cecil Collins.

Some charges prove true, like Carruth, now set to spend the next eighteen years in prison for his role in the death of the mother of his child. Other charges are proven false by a court of law.

Problem is, when the courts decide a high-profile case in favor of the accused, the media doesn't want to buy it. They've been slamming the accused for months, holding them up as poster children for the demise of American culture personified in overpaid athletes. Who wants to give that up?

It's great ratings. It's a great story. It gives the pundits a soapbox to stand on.

But it's a farce. And everybody who referred to Ray Lewis as an accused killer during the Super Bowl hype should never call themselves journalists again - because they're not.

They've abandoned objectivity in the search for the drama and they should be ashamed of themselves. As a journalist myself, I denounce them.

That's not to say that Ray Lewis wasn't a great story that shouldn't have been told. And that's not to say that Ray Lewis didn't deserve criticism for that stupid dance he did during player introductions.

But turning the story from "Lewis overcomes false accusations to reclaim football glory" to "accused murderer beats rap to win MVP" is a travesty and it's bad for everybody who makes their living in the only non-religious profession protected by the First Amendment.

Ray Lewis deserves the admiration of football fans. He deserves the accolades and endorsement deals that go along with the Super Bowl MVP. He deserves all of it.

But he's not going to get it because the media so damaged his reputation during his trial and subsequent hype that companies can't afford to be linked with his name.

And that's an embarrassment.

Article courtesy of Sports Central