Fox Sports is adding another lightning-rod former member from ESPN.
Ray Lewis, the two-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Fame linebacker, is joining Fox as an NFL analyst after a failed three-year stint at ESPN, the network announced Tuesday. The Sporting News was the first to report the news.
Lewis never made the splash ESPN intended, and he was let go last May. His penchant for theatrics on the field never translated to compelling takes off of it or incisive Xs-and-Os breakdowns.
He follows a small cast of big-name former ESPNers who have migrated to Fox, including Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd, Jason Whitlock, Cris Carter and sideline reporter Erin Andrews.
Lewis will work for Fox Sports and FS1, according to the report, appearing on a variety of platforms such as the Los Angeles-based studio shows: “Undisputed,” Bayless’ show with Shannon Sharpe; “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”; and “Speak for Yourself,” with Cowherd, Whitlock and Jason McIntyre.
Lewis also is expected to be a part of FS1’s new morning show, “First Things First,” with Carter and Nick Wright.
There remains, as always, a sinister element to the story of the former Baltimore Ravens star: Lewis pleaded down to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice after facing murder charges in connection to the stabbing deaths of two men outside a Super Bowl party in Atlanta in 2000.