Lewis, the middle linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, led the team in tackles in each of his four pro seasons. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times, and had planned to start for the first time in Sunday's game in Hawaii.

Violence and the NFL

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, speaking Friday at his Super Bowl news conference, addressed the question of off-the-field violence: "You know, it is partly a product of society, but that is not where we let it rest ... I think we have to start with one thing which is that we don't tolerate and we don't condone misconduct. We do strike a balance between that and giving people a second chance. Recognizing that some of the misconduct by NFL players has occurred before they were NFL players, but when they were teenagers in high school. "But we need to recognize first of all, that our track record, the track record of our players is far better than society at-large. We have fewer incidents involving NFL players than society at-large has. Any number of studies have shown that very clearly. "Second thing I would say is that we have in place a very comprehensive, very active set of programs and they focus on prevention and they are all tied together... we have strong policies deterring and penalizing alcohol abuse, deterring and penalizing other substance abuse which eliminates some of the underlying causes for violence. Everyone knows that. If you get to the underlying causes, you can eliminate some violence. "We have counseling on a league-wide basis. We have treatment. We have prevention and we have discipline. So I think that we have made clear to the players and I think the players respond in a very positive way. When you look at the totality of 2,500 players a year in the league the overwhelming number of them are solid citizens, and a very large number of them are extraordinary citizens, Cris (Vikings receiver Carter, the NFL's Man of the Year) being just one example. "Can we separate ourselves from society? Of course not. Can we prepare when a player such as a Rae Carruth is going to have a problem? Of course not. We can't prepare that anymore than others in society can prepare that students are going to shoot other students, or that workers are going to shoot other workers in the work place. "We have to be part of society but I think we set ourselves apart from society by having very high expectations and a very large number of programs to address these issues."

But he recently admitted that, at times, he played without enough self-control.

"I still mess up a lot because I'm overaggressive at times," he said in December after being chosen to the AFC Pro Bowl squad. "Coach (Jack) Del Rio has made me focus on calming down and letting plays come to me."

Lewis, 24, was charged by Atlanta police with murder late Monday in the slayings of two people outside a nightclub hours after the Super Bowl. The charge came after a day of investigation into the slaying near the Cobalt lounge in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood about 4 a.m. Monday.

His hands shackled in front of him, Lewis appeared in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing on the charges. The hearing was postponed until Feb. 24 at the request of the prosecutor, and Lewis was held without bail.

His lawyer, Max Richardson Jr., said Lewis is innocent, saying his client "was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Lewis became an instant star with the Ravens after being selected out of Miami in the first round of the 1996 draft. He led the team with 142 tackles as a 21-year-old rookie and had an NFL-best 210 tackles in 1997.

His future seemed limitless. Led by Lewis, Baltimore finished with the second-ranked defense in the NFL this season and won a franchise-record eight games -- including a 41-14 rout of the AFC champion Tennessee Titans in which Lewis had a team-high 13 tackles.

But Lewis' season was marred by a brush with the law that occurred only days before the Dec. 5 game against the Titans.

According to Baltimore police, Lewis was accused of punching a woman in a bar and then leaving the scene. He was served a criminal summons in response to a complaint by Katrice Sherree Parker.

According to the police report, Lewis and Parker, both 24, became involved in a dispute shortly before 1 a.m. on Nov. 30 at the Windsor Mill Inn. Parker called police and ultimately filed a complaint.

Lewis was charged with second-degree assault. His trial had been set for Feb. 9, but Baltimore County Deputy State's Attorney Howard Merker had already asked for a continuance and said Tuesday he expects to get one.

Lewis said he was innocent, and Ravens coach Brian Billick spoke strongly on his behalf.

"It's not my position here to make excuses for Ray. If due process plays itself out, as it rightfully should, what happened will become fairly clear and we will be able to move through it quickly," Billick said.

Lewis now has a much more serious issue on his hands, one that could spell the end to a promising career that was built around his unbounded aggression on the playing field.

He is not unfamiliar to the violence off the field. He often wears a shirt with a picture of his former best friend and Miami teammate, Marlin Barnes, who was slain in 1996.

Labrant "Anthony" Dennis was convicted in the beating deaths of Barnes and Timwanika Lumpkins, the mother of Dennis' 3-year-old daughter.

Lewis, who is not married, has one son, 4-year-old Ray Anthony Lewis Jr.