Bart Scott blasts Ray Lewis for his criticism of former teammate Joe Flacco

Joe Flacco (left), Ray Lewis (middle) and Terrell Suggs show off their Super Bowl rings in 2013 (AP)

From 2002-08, Bart Scott and Ray Lewis were teammates on the Baltimore Ravens. One of the Ravens’ assistants was Rex Ryan. Terrell Suggs came aboard in 2003. Imagine those defensive meeting rooms. No chance anyone else got a word in edgewise.

Anyway, there aren’t many recent NFL players more outspoken than Lewis, but Scott is probably on the short list. So when Scott heard that Lewis had questioned Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco’s dedication to football, he let loose on Lewis during an interview with CBS Sports Radio’s “Gio and Jones” show. Among the highlights was Scott, who played with Flacco in 2008, reminding Lewis that his second Super Bowl was in large part due to Flacco.

“How many times are they going to keep letting Ray Lewis off the hook?” Scott said on the “Gio and Jones” show. “He already dissed Ray Rice when Ray Rice went through his situation. Now he’s dissing Flacco? Come on, man. You got that ring on your finger because of Flacco. See, that’s what I don’t like. You’re either with me or you’re not. If you’re a teammate, you’ve never heard me say nothing bad about Ray Rice, nothing bad of Flacco. Come on, man. That’s brother-on-brother crime right there. He’s supposed to be better than that. He’s supposed to be from the old school. You never come out publicly against one of your boys. Come on, man. You’re killing me.”

Whew that’s pretty cra … wait, Bart wasn’t done?

“Joe Flacco was a great teammate,” Scott told “Gio and Jones.” “He was a great rookie. Come on, Ray. You’re supposed to be better than that. You’re supposed to be from the old school. You’re supposed to be the people that set the rules about how to be a great teammate. This is what happens: You get on the other side, and you got to say something, right? You got to say something because you got to make a splash. People put pressure on you to make a splash. When the Ray Rice situation came out, (media) tried to get me to go against my brother – and I wouldn’t, and it shocked them. But that’s what teammates do – because that’s family. You don’t come out against your brother. You got an issue with his leadership skills and all that stuff, you go talk to him. That’s what real men do. You don’t do that. That’s whack right there, Ray.”

Can we get audio of the next time Scott and Lewis have a chat? That might be entertaining.

The funny thing is that Scott seemed way more fired up about the criticism of Flacco than Flacco did. Flacco probably was surprised to be answering about comments from a teammate he hasn’t played with in four years.

“It’s a little surprising coming from Ray, but it’s been something I’ve dealt with probably back before high school,” Flacco said, according to the Baltimore Sun. “It’s just part of my personality. When things are going good, it’s questioned as if it’s a good thing. When things aren’t going as well as you might like them to be, it’s always a question as to whether my personality … fits what an NFL quarterback should be. It’s not anything I’m not used to. But it is a little bit different coming from Ray.”

While it’s hard to rip Lewis for giving an honest opinion, considering there’s almost none of that in the robotic NFL, there’s probably way too much said about a quarterback’s leadership style. Aaron Rodgers is also dealing with that this week. The Ravens are 80-51 in Flacco’s starts. They won a Super Bowl, with Flacco posting an unconscious 11-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the 2012 playoffs. Who cares if Flacco has an even-keeled personality if he’s doing his job well?

Flacco’s personality was certainly good enough when the Ravens were beating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. As Scott said, maybe Lewis hasn’t thought that through.