reg TAMPA, Fla. – Brian Billick, football coach and would be traveling journalism lecturer, was working the latter angle later Monday afternoon in a tent outside his team’s headquarters hotel. Billick’s Baltimore Ravens had arrived in town for Super Bowl XXXV yesterday, a day behind the New York Giants and sporting no curfew, to boot. Billick made it clear that he would brook no criticism on either count, then launched into an attack on those who see a story in the presence in the starting Ravens’ defensive lineup of a man charged with murder a year ago and since cleared. Ravens’ all-everything middle linebacker Ray Lewis was on the scene of a double murder after last year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta. That much is inarguable. At first, he and two companions were charged in the stabbing deaths. The companions eventually were totally exonerated. Lewis pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for not being forthright with the police. The approach of the anniversary of the troubling night, coinciding with the Ravens playing in the Super Bowl this year, has spawned a veritable flood of newspaper and television stories recalling the crime. Some are matter-of-fact. Others leave the strong impression that Lewis got away with something beyond obstructing justice. ‘It’s reprehensible,’ Billick said of the flood of stories. ‘I don’t like it. I think it’s unprofessional. But that’s my personal opinion.’ Lewis is expected to share his opinion today, when the annual carnival-like mass interview session will be held at Raymond James Stadium. A Ravens’ publicist reportedly has convinced Lewis to address the questions one more time. Lewis, who was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, was conspicuous by his absence from a group of high-profile Ravens players made available yesterday. All players, however, must participate in interview sessions over the next three days. ‘It’s very unfortunate that some of you guys and women are going to ask the question of things that happened last year,’ said the Ravens’ Rod Woodson, who once had been touchy on the subject of heisting a tip jar. ‘If I was in that predicament, no, I wouldn’t answer the question. I would only (answer) football-related questions.’ Why Billick chose to be combative on the subject of the Lewis stories, only he knows. It could be that this offensive genius, whose team went 0-for-October in terms of scoring touchdowns, had a lot of pent-up need to be offensive. Kevin Byrne of the Ravens’ public-relations staff said such a direct, confrontational stance was ‘not untypical’ of Billick. On this not-untypical occasion, Billick accused the offending media members of being the equivalent of ambulance chasers. He chided all present to accept the legal resolution of the matter. ‘As much as some of you want to, we are not going to retry this,’ he said. ‘It is inappropriate, and you’re not qualified.’ If the Ravens end up winning Sunday, and especially if Lewis has a monster game, Billick will be hailed as something of a genius for his pre-emptive strike. If the Ravens lose, he will be second-guessed. What Billick seems to have done is take what was going to be a major one- or two-day story, and add shelf life to it. And Billick’s timing was not the greatest. Earlier in the day, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth had been sentenced to nearly 19 years in prison for conspiring to murder his then-pregnant girlfriend. While the two cases are totally separate, they do have the common thread of an NFL player dealing with murder charges. Billick might have been better served to have allowed Lewis to handle this calmly, as he has in the past, and let the matter drop. The coach chose another a path. Now, we’ll see where it leads. Sam Ross Jr. is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

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