Can Ray Lewis claim some credit for Michael Phelps' gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley?
Lewis laughs at the thought.
"That's freaking awesome," the former Ravens linebacker told The Baltimore Sun of the notion that he had anything to do with Phelps' last individual gold medal.
Lewis had reached out to Phelps in a message before the swimmer won his fourth gold medal of the Rio Games.
Phelps said, according to the Miami Herald: "I thought about it the last 50 and that's what got me home. I read it right before I walked out. Ray is like a big brother to me."
Lewis had sought to counsel Phelps when the swimmer was considering his Olympic comeback. He told Phelps not to relent to outside pressure.
"I said, 'Just listen to me, you've got to tell me why you're trying to come back. If you're doing it for you, I'm 100 percent with you,' " Lewis said.
Lewis said he told Phelps that the Olympian could add to his legacy.
"When you think of the history of Baltimore, you're going to think about Ray Lewis and Michael Phelps and Johnny Unitas and Cal Ripken," Lewis said.
