Glenn’s not big on sports stories — so when you see something like “NFL” in the headline, it’s a safe bet that there is something bigger in the story. That was the case on radio today when Glenn played audio Ray Lewis, a former linebacker who played his whole career for the Baltimore Ravens. In the wake of riots that brought the city to the edge, Lewis delivered an emotional message to the citizens that needs to be heard.
"The legendary linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. Lived and served his whole career in Baltimore. He's pretty married to the community," Pat said.
Here's what he had to say (followed by a transcript):
No way. No way. No way this can happen in our city. No.
Young kids, you've got to understand something: get off the streets. Violence is not the answer. Violence has never been the answer.
Freddie Gray -- we don't do nothing for him doing this. We know there's a deeper issue. We know what the jungle looks like. But this isn't it. It's enough of us in the streets trying to change what's going on. Baltimore: get off the streets. Kids: go home. Stay home. You don't have no right to do what you're doing to this city.
Too many hardworking people build this city. We put this city together. We put this city on our back. We're with you. We know what's going on. We know the problems. We know there was wrong done. We know we're not getting the right justice. We know all these answers. But rioting in our streets is wrong. It's dead wrong.
We've got to go back to the beginning. It takes a village. It takes a whole village to raise one child. We've got to redefine what this looks like. We've got to redefine what building Baltimore looks like, because there's too many people putting real sweat, real tears to make our city a better place.
I can't come back home and this is it. Kids can't walk the street. This is our future. Out future's in Baltimore. What we're trying to build is in Baltimore. Too many babies paying attention to this craziness.
And the sad part is, we've got young kids trying to tell us how they're gonna dictate our city. That won't happen. We must change this right now.
Stop the violence, man. Go home. I'm telling you: go home. Whatever I've got to do. It will not happen on our clock. It will not happen on our clock.
"Great, great message from Ray Lewis," Glenn said.