The end of the world has not passed us by yet, and Ray Lewis just became Mike Florio's favorite NFL player. Speaking to Sal Paolantonio, the Baltimore Ravens great foretold of terrible wailing and gnashing of teeth if the NFL lockout ends up ruining the 2011 season, predicting mass suffering to be poured out from the seventh bowl upon the streets of America:
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.
The hobbyist legal scholars among us will cite crimes of which Mr. Lewis has himself been accused, though of course he was never been convicted.
He's got a great point, as the NFL is so massive that the full economic impact of a skipped season really can't be calculated. He just speaks so biblically about it that scares you into laughter. Could Lewis' terrifying presence at a bargaining table be the Doomsday Device the players are just waiting to deploy on Roger Goodell?
He seems to think so:
"Oh ... the time coming," Lewis said and then smiled for emphasis.
For more NFL lockout, visit SB Nation's NFL hub.