Ray Lewis questions Joe Flacco's passion for football

Few players in NFL history were as openly passionate on the football field as Ray Lewis, and the former Baltimore Ravens linebacker doesn't see that same fire in the quarterback he spent five seasons with.

During an appearance on Fox Sports 1's "Speak For Yourself" on Thursday, Lewis questioned how much quarterback Joe Flacco - who he won a Super Bowl with in 2012 - really loves the game.

"I'll tell you what I do know. There's something called talent, right? You see it a dime a dozen," said Lewis, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun. "And then there's something called being passionate about what you do, about really what you do. Me being around it. Gifted? Absolutely. Passionate about what he do? I've never seen that. I don't know what that looks like."

The leadership styles of the two players never seemed to mesh. Lewis was always about dramatic speeches and endless energy, while Flacco is less vocal, using a cool demeanor to lead by example.

The 41-year-old accused Flacco of "always isolating himself to go sit on the bench. Never talking to anybody after a big play, a bad play, whatever it is."

"I don't know how many times you will hear somebody just really go out on a limb to defend, 'He's the greatest teammate I've ever had.' I don't know how many times you'd hear that, right?" Lewis said of Flacco. "Maybe it's because his personality just isn't that personality. He's not a rah-rah guy. He won't say much, but in the game of football, there has to be some burning fire behind you. There has to be something that's bigger than (you)."

It's unlikely Flacco will take Lewis' words to heart, as he previously said he didn't understand 90 percent of the ex-linebacker's famous pregame speeches.