Now that Ray Lewis is no longer an employee of the National Football League, he is free to join the rest of us.
As an NFL conspiracy theorist.
Lewis, the future Hall of Fame linebacker who spent 17 years in the NFL, wrapped up his career with the memorable 34-31 win over the 49ers in Super BowL XLVII in February. Memorable because 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh inexplicably failed to call a running play with the 49ers five yards away from a lead and the chance to win their sixth title -- and memorable for the 34-minute long power outage that preceded the 49ers' rally from a 22-point deficit in the second half.
For Lewis -- who saw his team's 28-6 lead evaporate after the lights in the Superdome in New Orleans come back on -- the whole episode is just too fishy.
"You're a zillion-dollar company, and your lights go out? No way," Lewis says on an interview slated to air Monday night on the NFL Network, according to reports.
"You cannot tell me somebody wasn't sitting there and when they say, 'The Ravens (are) about to blow them out. Man, we better do something,'" he continued.
The blackout wasn't the first to affect the 49ers -- in front of a national audience, a transformer blew at Candlestick Park in San Francisco during Monday Night Football in 2011.
On Sunday, 49ers owner Jed York responded to Lewis on Twitter -- with a "confession."
@ProFootballTalk there is no conspiracy. I pulled the plug
— Jed York (@JedYork) September 1, 2013
Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS