Ray Lewis has played 16 NFL seasons, all with the Baltimore Ravens. Lewis is 37 but continues to play at a high level as the inspirational leader of the Ravens' defense.

Lewis would never consider playing for another team.

"No way. Never, I would never play nowhere else," said Lewis. "That city… You know, sometimes when God crowns you with a city, it's bigger than any championship. And that city is in love with me as much as I'm in love with it. My purpose was there."

Lewis believes the Ravens are even better this year than last when they were a Billy Cundiff field goal away from reaching the Super Bowl.

"We're stronger," said Lewis. "Every year we've been making a run at the playoffs, and people don't really understand how young we are. [Starting quarterback] Joe Flacco and [running back] Ray Rice are young. [Wide receiver] Torrey Smith was a rookie last year."

Lewis also told the Guardian that he believes being charged with murder early in his career helped shape him.

"If I hadn't gone through that [the murder accusation], I wouldn't be speaking to you today," says Lewis. "It's the only reason that God used me to go through it. Because he knew that I would never turn my back on him. Now he receives all the glory, because he was able to expose who I was as a person, through a tragedy.

"Now everybody who meets me says, 'Oh, you're nothing like I thought you was.' Well you never met me! But when people meet me, they meet what my mother raised, which was a hell of a man, by herself. And that's my honor, that's what my goal is, to always keep my mom's name ringing, because I know what sacrifices she went through for me."