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  (Photograph: Reuters/ Joe Giza)
  Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens linebacker, announced that he would retire after 17 seasons in the NFL.

Ray Lewis is not holding any ill feelings toward the wife of New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker who criticized his past before his last Super Bowl appearance.

Lewis, 37-year-old Baltimore Ravens linebacker, said he forgave Anna Welker, who posted a Facebook rant against the NFL veteran after his team advanced past her husband's Patriots to win the AFC Championship Game.

"I truly forgive her," Lewis told The New York Post. "I don't have no hard feelings against her at all. But I believe people make mistakes and say foolish things."

According to Lewis, his belief in the Bible has given him cause to overlook Welker's comments that he deemed silly.

"I've always been a firm believer of the good book," Lewis said. "The good book confirms even a fool is counted wise until he opens his or her mouth. Sometimes people just say silly stuff and they say it out of emotion."

Lewis, a Christian linebacker who has made headlines for undergoing a past murder trial and fathering six children by a number of different women, was the subject of Mrs. Welker's scorn after advancing past her husband to the Super Bowl.

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"Proud of my husband and the Pats," Welker wrote on her Facebook page. "By the way, if anyone is bored, please go to Ray Lewis' Wikipedia page. (Six) kids (four) wives. Acquitted for murder. Paid a family off. Yay. What a hall of fame player! A true role model!"

Welker later apologized for her brash personal comments against Lewis.

"I'm deeply sorry for my recent post on Facebook. I let the competitiveness of the game and the comments people were making about a team I dearly love get the best of me," Mrs. Welker said in a Larry Brown Sports report. "My actions were emotional and irrational and I sincerely apologize to Ray Lewis and anyone affected by my comment after yesterday's game."