Tommylee Lewis
Tommylee Lewis (born October 24, 1992) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He played college football at Northern Illinois and signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2016.[1] An undersized wide receiver, Northern Illinois was the only school to offer Lewis an athletic scholarship.[2] After not being selected in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Saints signed Lewis on a recommendation from Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, who was a friend of Lewis' high school coach.[3]
| Free agent | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | October 24, 1992 Palm Beach, Florida | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 168 lb (76 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | William T. Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) | ||||||||
| College: | Northern Illinois | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2016 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Early yearsEdit
Lewis attended and played high school football at William T. Dwyer High School.[4]
College careerEdit
Lewis played college football for the Northern Illinois Huskies.[5]
Professional careerEdit
New Orleans SaintsEdit
Lewis signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2016.[6] After impressing during training camp and the preseason as both a receiver and returner, Lewis made the Saints 53-man roster. He played in 12 games with one start, recording seven catches for 76 yards along with 312 total return yards.[7] He recorded his first touchdown on December 7, 2017 against the Atlanta Falcons.[8] In the 2017 season, he had 10 receptions for 116 yards and one receiving touchdown.[9]
On September 19, 2018, Lewis was placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury on a punt return in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns.[10] He was activated off injured reserve on November 21, 2018, and scored his second career touchdown, also against the Atlanta Falcons.[11]
On January 20, 2019, in the final minutes of the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, Lewis was involved in a controversial play by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman. Robey-Coleman committed a clear and blatant pass interference with an early hit on Lewis, which, if correctly called, would have set the Saints up with a short field goal opportunity and a chance to run out the clock. However, the referees missed the call. The Saints would go on to lose the game in overtime, 26–23, after Drew Brees threw an interception. Later on, the league admitted they blew the call and Coleman confessed to pass interference.[12]
Detroit LionsEdit
On March 19, 2019, Lewis signed with the Detroit Lions.[13] He was released during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019.[14]
In October 2019, Lewis was selected by the Dallas Renegades in the second round of the 2020 XFL Draft.[15]
New Orleans Saints (second stint)Edit
On January 27, 2020, Lewis signed a reserve/future contract with the New Orleans Saints.[16] He was waived on August 2, 2020.[17]
Carolina PanthersEdit
On August 16, 2020, Lewis signed with the Carolina Panthers.[18] He was waived/injured on September 2, 2020,[19] and subsequently reverted to the team's injured reserve list the next day. He was waived with an injury settlement on September 4.[20]
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Small frame, big potential: Saints undrafted rookie Tommylee Lewis is trying to prove his worth
- ^ Boudwin, Julie (June 16, 2016). "Saints rookie Tommylee Lewis' quickness could lead to opportunity on special teams". Times-Picayune. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ Katzenstein, Josh (August 8, 2016). "WR Tommylee Lewis impressing Saints after recommendation from Bill Parcells". Times-Picayune. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Tommylee Lewis, Dwyer , Wide Receiver". 247Sports. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ "Tommylee Lewis - Football". NIU Athletics. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ "Saints Add 19 Undrafted Free Agents". NewOrleansSaints.com. May 2, 2016. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
- ^ "Tommylee Lewis 2016 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ "New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons - December 7th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ "Tommylee Lewis 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Charean (September 19, 2018). "Saints place Tommylee Lewis on IR". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- ^ Williams, Charean (November 21, 2018). "Saints activate Tommylee Lewis, waive Chaz Green". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- ^ Freeman, Mike (January 20, 2019). "Horrible Officiating Tarnishes NFL's Credibility on Championship Sunday". Bleacher Report. bleacherreport.com.
- ^ "Lions sign WR Tommylee Lewis". DetroitLions.com. March 19, 2019.
- ^ Mullenax, Steven. "Detroit Lions 2019 roster cuts tracker (updated)". SideLionReport.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^ Bender, Bill (October 21, 2019). "XFL Draft picks 2019: Complete results, rosters, players for new football league". Sporting News. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Charean (January 27, 2020). "Saints sign Tommylee Lewis to futures contract". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- ^ "New Orleans Saints reduce roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. August 2, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ Simmons, Myles (August 16, 2020). "Panthers sign Tommylee Lewis, Marken Michel, Andrew Vollert". Panthers.com.
- ^ "Tommylee Lewis: Let go by Panthers". CBSSports.com. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
- ^ "Tommylee Lewis: Reaches injury settlement". CBSSports.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2020.