"Sporting a black bucket hat pulled down over his eyes, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis stepped up to the podium Wednesday and responded to a column in The Baltimore Sun that questioned if the 36-year-old should play on third downs and other passing situations for opposing offenses

Lewis insisted he is happy with the level he is performing at -- "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked -- and the 2011 Pro Bowl linebacker said the criticism is a credit to his hard work over the years.

"Think about all of the people who had that one dream to be here and never made it," he said. "For God to carry me here through 16 years and [to] still [be] playing at the level I'm playing, you know what, man speaks what man speaks, but God controls a whole 'nother thought process.""