OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Wednesday that there is no question that linebacker Ray Lewis is a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.
"If anybody votes against him, then there's an agenda," Harbaugh said.
Lewis headlines the 11 first-year-eligible players for the Hall of Fame. There are 48 voters who will determine the Class of 2018 a day before the Super Bowl.
Lewis' credentials could make him the eighth linebacker to get voted in on the first ballot: 13-time Pro Bowl player, seven-time All-Pro, two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl MVP.
Lewis' legacy, however, does include a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice after facing murder charges in connection with the stabbing deaths of two men outside a Super Bowl party in Atlanta in 2000.
"Ray Lewis is a definitely first-ballot, unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame, without question," Harbaugh said. "There's no doubt about that."
Lewis said he received numerous texts from players and coaches Tuesday, when the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the list of the 108 modern era nominees.
"I don't know the emotion I'm going to feel the day my name is ever called to walk into Canton," Lewis said on the Pro Football Hall of Fame website Tuesday. "I don't know how I'm going to feel when they're discussing what my bust will look like. That's a childhood dream."