Ray and Ed definitely were, and that's that. I think Lamar has a ways to go for that myself. He's gotta get himself out of this slump and win some playoff games (and preferably a Super Bowl) before he is on their level in terms of megastar legacy goes.
different things - we're not talking about level of play here - no one's suggesting that ray and ed aren't 2 of the greatest to ever play the game and ed's probably the undisputed best safety of all time and ray's in the conversation for best linebacker
but there was never an aura of excitement about them in that they became must watch tv even for non-nfl audiences
no one who doesnt watch the nfl was turning on the tv because of ed reed or ray lewis as much as i love them
but people already do that with lamar - he's a mercurial talent that's "must-see" - we're not even talking about legacy or quality of play - we're talking about transcendental impact