10 best individual player rivalries in NFL history
By Kinnu Singh
7. Ray Lewis vs. Eddie George
Ray Lewis had his moments with Tom Brady, but their rivalry was nothing compared to what he had against Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George.
The linebacker and running back were both drafted in the 1996 NFL Draft and as AFC North rivals at the time, saw each other frequently. George was a Heisman winner and the 1996 Offensive Rookie of the Year; Ray was a second-team All-Pro Pro Bowler who led the NFL in tackles in his 1997 season.
Lewis admitted that the Ravens weren’t strong until 2000, but that didn’t faze him in his matchups against the Titans. Instead, his eyes were locked with George, and he was hoping to make him flinch.
“Ray and I didn’t like each other,” George told NFL Films. “It was more than just a game. It was personal.”
“One person. Not the team — there was one person on my mind the entire offseason, and that was Eddie George,” Lewis said.
“The rest of the league did not matter, because we knew the brand of football we both played,” George said.
Calling it “an intense rivalry”, Lewis described how he and George would line up against one another and stare directly into each other’s eyes, challenging each other before each play. “If you blink and you wink and you shut them, I got you,” Lewis explained. With George, “Nobody was gonna blink.”
“That joker ain’t never shut ’em,” Lewis said.
The two “lions”, as Lewis described them, endured their most decorated battles in the playoffs. In 2000, Lewis got the edge as he defeated George’s Titans in the AFC Divisional round. Getting a powerful hit on George that knocked him off his game, Lewis remembered thinking that “there’s a new sheriff in town.”
That was until 2003 when George dislocated his left shoulder in the AFC Wild Card round. George not only managed to pop his shoulder back into place, but he managed to stiff-arm Lewis as he barreled toward a win for the Titans.
“I was willing to die on that football field that day,” George said, insisting that he still feels that way about that contentious matchup.
Lewis maintains that “there’s never been a rivalry between two warriors” like the one he and George share, but these days, the fierce former rivals have put their swords down. The two friends frequently conduct interviews together discussing their battles on the field and their friendship off of it.
Lewis explained to Rich Eisen that after regular season games and at the Pro Bowl, the two would hang out and go to bars together. But once they were on the green, there was a “switch.”
“We had this ultimate respect for each other, but there was this ultimate competitive spirit,” Lewis said.
Laughing with former Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe, George admitted that the Ravens had the “baddest defense” in NFL history. Both George and Lewis have always been able to recognize the talent in one another, and paired with their ferocity, resulted in one of the most intense and direct rivalries ever witnessed on the gridiron.