JUST ABOUT EVERY morning, Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis runs the hill at Oregon Ridge, carrying logs or 45-pound weight plates. Then he stretches, does some kick boxing or lifts weights. It's a two-hour routine.
Then there is the evening session.
More stretching. More weightlifting. He runs sprints or distance. Another two-hour session. Right now, Lewis weighs about 245 pounds, five below his playing weight. His body fat is about 5 percent.
He has tried to avoid commenting about the team's negotiations in restructuring his contract, but the five-time Pro Bowl player has heard quite a few rumors about his not being in shape, not showing up for two mandatory training camps (next week and the last week of July) and not being focused if he doesn't sign a new contract.
Here are the facts, according to Lewis: He will not hold out of veterans camp, which begins next week, or training camp, which begins in late July. He plans to stay in Baltimore for his entire career and has two goals, one of which is to bring the city another Super Bowl trophy.
The other is personal. Lewis no longer wants to be known as the best middle linebacker, but the best player ever in the NFL. The fire still burns.
"Check the record. I haven't been to many of those passing camps since I came to Baltimore," Lewis said. "You know why? They are voluntary. Now check the record on this: I have never missed a mandatory camp unless I was injured or there were some extenuating circumstances. I will definitely be there. Until I miss a mandatory camp, then there is no reason to doubt me.
"They [team officials] ought to stop worrying about the little things, and focus on getting our young team back to the playoffs," said Lewis, 27. "That's what I've been doing. I know the path ahead of me. I will show the young guys how it's done, and I will lead by example. I'm not here just to lead them back to the playoffs, I'm out to win another Super Bowl."
Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens' senior vice president of football operations, knows Lewis is a special player. So does coach Brian Billick, even though Billick hasn't helped to bring the sides together with his recent interfering babble.
The major snag appears to be the signing bonus. Lewis' agents, Roosevelt Barnes and Eugene Parker, are pointing to the deal given to Pro Bowl offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden in 2000, which included a $16 million signing bonus. As far as Lewis' agents are concerned, the bonus was essentially $12 million with Ogden's $4 million base salary rolled in the total. Lewis would like for his base salary the next two years ($9.5 million) to be added to a $12 million signing bonus, giving Lewis more than $20 million up front.
It makes sense. Certainly, Lewis is worth more to the Ravens than Ogden. He has been the team's leading tackler and emotional leader since Day One. The problem is that neither side has much to lose. Lewis won't complain about his salary the next two seasons.
As for the Ravens, who low-balled Lewis initially with a total $12 million signing bonus in mid-April, almost everyone expects them to be under .500 this season with or without Lewis. They have too many holes, but time is on their side.
Lewis would not go into specifics about contract negotiations yesterday. But the club has publicly repeated several times it would sign Lewis to a new contract before this season started.
"Nothing they [the Ravens] say really matters a lot to me," Lewis said. "It doesn't stop me from getting up in the morning to train or getting on my knees to pray. Money doesn't make me; I make money. The business side and the football side are separate. I have a mother, a family, just like everyone else, that have to be taken care of.
"What we're going through now is about business, not about football."
But Lewis apparently became irritated recently by comments from Billick about Barnes and by a local radio talk show host who suggested Lewis was unloyal by not showing up at the passing camps to teach his younger teammates.
"There have been comments about my agent from Coach Billick, but I hired the agent to get advice, and I will heed that advice," Lewis said. "Doesn't Coach Billick have an agent [Ray Anderson]? Doesn't he listen to him? Yes, he does, thank you.
"If you know me -- really, really know me -- you know that I don't slack off," said Lewis, who has restructured his deal at least three times to make salary cap room.
Lewis said he welcomes his new role as tutor. It's all part of his mission to put the Ravens back on top and add to his resume as one of the game's best.
Despite the stalled contract talks, Ravens linebackers coach Mike Smith has been routinely visiting Lewis to go over defensive coordinator Mike Nolan's newly implemented 3-4 defense.
"I'm probably as strong as I've ever been," Lewis said. "I want to step on the field so badly now that it's scary. There are two things you can count on when I hit the field. One, that I'm going to give 100 percent all the time, and two, I will play like no other player.
"When I walk into camp, there is no doubt about what I can do, because I will do it again," Lewis added. "I will always get better, and when that doesn't happen, I won't play the game anymore."