Canceling the NFL season will lead to a crime wave, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis predicts. "Do this research: If we don't have a season, watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game," Lewis said in an extensive interview with
ESPN's Sal Paolantonio.
If the NFL team owners’ lockout of players — now stretching into its third month — continues, it will affect more than just the owners and players.
"There's too many people that live through us, people live through us. Yeah, walk in the streets, the way I walk the streets, and I'm not talking about the people you see all the time," ESPN quotes Lewis as saying.
When asked why he thought there would be an uptick in crime, Lewis said: "There's nothing else to do, Sal."
Story continues below video.
The dispute, which has sparked the longest lockout in NFL history, pivots on ego, he said.
"It's simple, we really got to remove pride. Seriously," he said in the ESPN interview.
"There's no other reason the issue is going on," he said. "That's why I don't get into words and all that other stuff, because it takes away from life . . . itself. There's people who are really struggling for real. There's real struggles out there."
Last week, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the lockout could continue pending a full appeal. A hearing is scheduled for June 3 in St. Louis.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.