As the long, hot summer drags on, we here at the Triangle figured we’d provide a steady stream of NFL goodness as a reminder of the light at the end of the baseball-lined tunnel.

This is the speech Ray Lewis made in the locker room after the Ravens lost to the Patriots in last year’s playoffs. I don’t really know what else to say.

It has everything you could want from a locker room speech. Ray says things like, “Joe, you played your ass off!” and “Don’t even drop your head after a loss. Because there’s too much pain outside of this that people are really going through.” Ray Lewis is probably the most popular athlete among his peers in any sport, and two-minute stretches like this (aside from the Ruths Chris ad) make it easy to see why. How could you ever bring yourself to let this guy down?

Ray Lewis is 37 years old. There likely won’t be many more of these. And that makes me a little sad.