Ex-NFL linebacker Ray Lewis: Ravens passed on Colin Kaepernick because of girlfriend

Former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis said a "racist" Tweet posted by Colin Kaepernick after the quarterback's girlfriend forced the Baltimore Ravens to pass on the ex-San Francisco 49er, espn.com reported Wednesday.

Lewis, who played his entire 17-year career with the Ravens, spoke about the Tweet during his appearance on this week's episode of Showtime's "Inside the NFL."

The Aug. 2 tweet by Nessa Diab compared a picture of Lewis hugging Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to a scene from "Django Unchained," in which Samuel L. Jackson as a loyal house slave held Leonardo DiCaprio's cruel plantation owner character.

"His girl (Diab) goes out and put out this racist gesture and doesn't know we are in the back office about to try to get this guy signed," Lewis said on the cable TV show.

Diab is the star of MTV's "Girl Code" and host of a nationally syndicated radio show.

On Wednesday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh didn't directly address Lewis' assertion, telling news media he has moved past the team's consideration of bringing in Kaepernick. "I haven't even thought about that for weeks. Our focus is Cincinnati," he said about the Ravens week 1 opponent.

Kaepernick drew national attention last season when he knelt during the national anthem before games as a protest of social injustice, which he said he will no longer do in 2017.

The free agent quarterback remains unsigned with the start of the NFL season a few days away. The reasons why Kaepernick is still unemployed continues to be a hotly debated issue.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Ex-NFL linebacker Ray Lewis: Ravens passed on Colin Kaepernick because of girlfriend."