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The Baltimore Ravens went all out when they opted to sing Joe Flacco, their starting quarterback and a vital piece of the puzzle that allowed them to win another Super Bowl last season. Not only did he walked out of the Super Dome with the Vince Lombardi Trophy but he also earned Super Bowl MVP honors. Now, he was going to be a free agent this season unless the Baltimore Ravens opted to resign him. And quite frankly, the Ravens just were not going to take that risk. That’s why they offered him a $120.6 million deal, where he will make an average of $168,908 each day of the regular season for the next six years. Yes’ he’s pretty much set for life. Now, on the other hand, it seems that after making such a generous offer to Flacco, the organization is going to have to cut back on the rest of the rooster. And that’s where the wide-receiver Anquan Boldin fits in.

The Ravens have given him an ultimatum, either he accepts a pay cut, or he will be cut and he might have to go out there and try his luck in the free market. Considering what a phenomenal season he has had, and what a vital role he played in the Ravens championship-winning season, he might as well just give the free-agent market a try. Let’s check this out for a moment. Last season, he was a crucial part of the Ravens Wild Card Round win against the Indianapolis Colts. Boldin caught a 46 yard pass and an 18 yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco in a 24–9 win over the Colts. He also set a franchise record of 145 receiving yards in a postseason game. He would go on to win his first Super Bowl ring when his team defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII were he had six receptions for a total of 104 yard.

Now, Joe Flacco went on to say publicly that Bouldin under no circumstance should accept a pay cut from the Ravens. “At no point, no matter how well I played, would I come back to the table and say, ‘I need more money.’ The contract that I signed was the contract that I intended to play out,” he said in an interview with a mayor new paper in the United Sates.”Without him, we don’t win the Super Bowl. He’s a huge part of this team and someone I want to see back,” Flacco, insisted. It seems a bid rude not to stand up for his teammate particularly when considering that he just got the most lucrative contract ever in the NFL “Obviously, when you’re a player of his caliber, you believe you’re worth a number and that’s what you should get. He’s going to stick to his guns, and that’s the way it should be.” And truth be said, he’s got a good point.

Boldin had said previously that if the Ravens decided to cut him, he might opt to retire. But now he is reconsidering playing for another season. He is listed under the salary cap for 7.25 million dollars but reports say that he might have to settle for 6 if he wants to continue with the Ravens. Let’s hope that both sides can work something out as Boldin is Flacco’s offensive weapon of choice, and you wouldn’t want to change that.

On what would only be his 10^th star as a professional quarterback in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick was coming out to what was the biggest scenario of his 2-year professional career. And before the game even started, all eyes were upon the 25-year-old quarterback, who had managed to become the biggest sensation of the season. Kaepernick and the 49ers were a 3.5-point favorite on the spread before Super Bowl XLVII in the Superdome in New Orleans.

Then again, before him there was Joe Flacco and the relentless Baltimore Ravens, who wanted to finish off a 17-year career for their most charismatic player, Ray Lewis, on a very high note. The ingredients for a phenomenal matchup were all there. Two great quarterback trying to make their name, two squads that needed to prove their fans they were for real, two brothers battling to become the first in the family to hold on to the Vince Lombardi trophy as the head coaches. Yes, it was going to be epic, it was supposed to be a hard fought battle. Somehow, however, the Baltimore Ravens however made sure that no mistake by the San Francisco 49ers went unpunished and by halftime, when the beautiful and sexy ass shaking Beyonce came up to the stage for the NFL Super Bowl halftime show, the Ravens were up 21-6.

And it seemed like the 49ers were going to need of a miracle, of some sort of out of this world pep talk to get them motivated and on the right edge. Just to really make things even harder for the 49ers, as soon as the second half began, Jocobey Jones had an NFL Super Bowl record matching 108-yard kickoff return for a score to make it 28-6 for the Raven and just put the game out of reach. It was clear to everyone then and there that this was going to be a complete massacre. That the talented but extremely inexperienced Kaepernick just wasn’t ready for the biggest stage in North America Sports. Then the lights of the Superdome went off. A power failure would slow stop the game for 35 minutes. Players from both teams stayed on the field as technicians tried to reestablish the power to the stadium lightning system. When the lights came back on, there seemed to be a change in the rhythm, in the spirit of the 49ers. San Francisco, on the other hand, dominated the third quarter, and when there were still 7 minutes in the fourth quarter, Kaepernick managed to bring back the team to a 31-29 battle.

Ray Lewis, who was playing his last game in his very lengthy professional career, was thrilled to see the game end with a 34-31 win for the Baltimore Ravens. “It’s no greater way, as a champ, to go out on your last ride with the men that I went out with, with my teammates,” Lewis said in a short interview as the Ravens were getting ready to receive the Vince Lombardi Trohpy. “And you looked around this stadium and Baltimore! Baltimore! We coming home, baby! We did it!” Yes they did!

It’s been a long, very long, career for Ray Anthony Lewis, the 37-year-old linebacker who has guided his team to the NFL Super Bowl to be played this Sunday. Lewis is quite a legend in the Baltimore Ravens area. He has been with that team since he was drafted in 1996 and is the only player left from the Ravens original 1996 inaugural season. He’s affiliation with the ravens is such, that he named his first born son Raven Lewis. He was the Super Bowl MVP for the Super Bowl XXV where the Ravens crushed the New York Giants 34-7 in 2001. And now, on the year when he announced that he was retiring, the Ravens have given him the ride of his life. The always emotional and extremely talented quarterback could retire from the game by winning his second NFL Championship.

But it’s not all that sweet of a ride for Lewis. Sure he was sidelined for most of the 2012 regular season with a triceps tear, but he managed to make a prompt recovery to return to the staring lineup in the postseason. Now, the rumor is that Mitch Ross, the co-owner of Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (SWATS) talked with Ray Lewis shortly after the linebacker tore his triceps on October 14 and it seems as if Lewis requested some medicinal products that could speed up his recovery. According to this source, Lewis started using a Deer-Antler Spray, among other remedies to speed up his recovery. This spray contains a substance called IGF-1. For what we could make out of the chemistry of this report IGF-1 is a substance that is produced by the liver after it has processed human growth hormones. IGF-1 is an insulin-like natural, anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle growth.

As you might have already imagined, IGF-1 is a banned substance by the NFL. Now, what is interesting here is that it seems that the substance can only be detected via a blood test. And the NFL doesn’t practice this sort of screenings. Still, if you take a look at the timing of the whole thing, and considering that Lewis is about to play with the Ravens in the Super Bowl, this could quite easily be nothing more than a publicity stun by SWATS. At the end of the day, we have just one clear fact. Ray Lewis has been tested numerous times for the use of performance enhancing drugs and he has never tested positive. Everything else is speculation. Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he has not talked to Lewis about the report. “Ray has worked incredibly hard to get back. I would hate to see anything diminish that,” he said to a reporter earlier this week. “My understanding is that he’s passed every random substance test that he’s taken throughout his career.”

The Baltimore Ravens are standing behind their player. It’s not the first time this issue has come up. “Two years ago, it was the same report. I wouldn’t give that report or him any of my press. He’s not worthy of that. Next question,” Lewis said in New Orleans in the Super Bowl press day.

The Baltimore Ravens wanted to take Ray Lewis for a significant and long last run on his 17-year-old professional career. Well, they’ve delivered as the Ravens put on a powerful second half to defeat the New England Patriots and reach the Super Bowl for the first time in the last 12 years. Joe Flacco was brilliant in his quarterback duties, finishing off the night with 21 of 36 passing for 240 yards with 3 touchdown passes and no interceptions as he guided the Ravens to a 28-13 come-from-behind win over the Patriots for the AFC Championship Game. But it was not all about the offensive prowess of the Ravens, what actually made a difference down the stretch was a powerful, strong and versatile defense led by the veteran linebacker, Lewis, that quite simply kept on making Tom Brady look like any a regular Joe playing on the field.

Now, the Ravens head coach, John Harbaugh is quite thrilled to have made it this far with his team, but he is also extremely happy that he’ll be facing his younger brother, Jim Harbough, in the Super Bowl in two weeks down in New Orleans. Jim and the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons earlier this Sunday 28-24 to clinch the National Football Conference Championship Game. “I don’t know if we had a dream this big,” John Harbaugh said in the postgame press conference. “We had a few dreams, we had a few fights, we had a few arguments — just like all brothers.” As of press time, the 49ers are a 5-point favorite on the spread, but that could be fluctuating throughout the week.

Lewis, the emotional and charismatic player, who had 14 tackles against the Patriots, and has now 44 tackles in three postseason games after missing 10 weeks with a torn right triceps, is quite excited about finishing his career on a high not like this. These guys really made a huge effort in the second half. Defensively they held Brady down to nothing. It was as if Tom Brady and the Patriots didn’t even exist. And this is quite a feat. Let’s not forget that when playing at home and leading the scoreboard in the second half, Brady was 67-0. Well, not good enough to make it into the Super Bowl. This is actually the first time in six tries that the Patriots have lost an AFC Championship at home. The Ravens wanted Revenge from last year’s loss. Now they’ve got it. Let’s see if the underdog can prove it’s worth in two weeks when they face the multitasking Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers for the Championship game.

Joe Flacco’s contract expires after the Super Bowl. If he manages to win the game, he’ll be in a position to name his own price. “It was pretty awesome,” said Flacco in the postgame conference. “We were here last year and thought we had it, but came up a little short. Guys came out in the second half and made plays (…) We put pressure on them like that, and it worked pretty well.” Let’s not forget that so far this postseason Flacco has had 8 touchdown passes and has not been intercepted once.