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]

Tommylee Lewis
Free agent
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1992-10-24) 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 highlights and awards
  • First-team All-MAC (2013)
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Receptions:21
Receiving yards:257
Receiving touchdowns:2
Return yards:1,021
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Lewis began high school at Inlet Grove High School before transferring to Palm Beach Lakes Community High School. At Palm Beach Lakes, he ran into trouble off the field and struggled with academic eligibility. He later transferred to William T. Dwyer High School at the insistence of former youth football teammate Curt Maggitt.[3][4] At Dwyer, he was teammates with Nick O'Leary and Jacoby Brissett.[3][5]

College career

Lewis played college football for Northern Illinois, the only Football Bowl Subdivision program to take interest in him.[3] As a junior in 2013, he was named to the All-Mid-American Conference First Team and an honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated. In 2014, he missed all but two games due to lower body injuries and was granted a medical redshirt.[6] As a senior, he missed four games due to injury.[7] In 48 games, he caught eleven touchdown passes, had four kick return touchdowns, ran for three touchdowns and passed for one.[8]

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

After not being selected in the 2016 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints signed Lewis on May 2, 2016 on a recommendation from Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, who was a friend of Lewis' high school coach.[9] 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.[10] He recorded his first touchdown on December 7, 2017 against the Atlanta Falcons.[11] In the 2017 season, he had 10 receptions for 116 yards and one receiving touchdown.[12]

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.[13] He was activated off injured reserve on November 21, 2018, and scored his second career touchdown, also against the Atlanta Falcons.[14]

On January 20, 2019, in the final minutes of the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, Lewis was involved in a controversial moment with Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman. Robey-Coleman made a helmet-to-helmet hit on Lewis which would have been called for pass interference or a personal foul, but neither came about. It 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, 23–26, after Drew Brees threw an interception. Later on, the league admitted that they blew the call and Coleman confessed to committing the penalty either way.[15]

Detroit Lions

On March 19, 2019, Lewis signed with the Detroit Lions.[16] He was released during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019.[17]

In October 2019, Lewis was selected by the Dallas Renegades in the second round of the 2020 XFL Draft.[18]

New Orleans Saints (second stint)

On January 27, 2020, Lewis signed a reserve/future contract with the New Orleans Saints.[19] He was waived on August 2, 2020.[20]

Carolina Panthers

On August 16, 2020, Lewis signed with the Carolina Panthers.[21] He was waived/injured on September 2, 2020,[22] and subsequently reverted to the team's injured reserve list the next day. He was waived with an injury settlement on September 4.[23]

New Orleans Saints (third stint)

On October 8, 2020, Lewis was signed to the New Orleans Saints' practice squad.[24] He was promoted to the active roster on October 31.[25] He was waived on November 2 and re-signed to the practice squad two days later.[26] He was elevated to the active roster on December 5 and December 12 for the team's weeks 13 and 14 games against the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles, and reverted to the practice squad after each game.[27][28] He was signed to the active roster on December 19, 2020,[29] but waived on December 24. On December 30, 2020, Lewis re-signed with the Saints practice squad. On January 2, 2021, Lewis was promoted to the active roster for the season finale against the Carolina Panthers. On January 16, 2021, Lewis was released.[30]

References
  1. Small frame, big potential: Saints undrafted rookie Tommylee Lewis is trying to prove his worth
  2. Boudwin, Julie (June 16, 2016). "Saints rookie Tommylee Lewis' quickness could lead to opportunity on special teams". Times-Picayune. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  3. Greer, Jeff (December 28, 2012). "Underdogs rise up: Ex-Dwyer star Tommylee Lewis lives BCS dream with N. Illinois Huskies". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  4. "Tommylee Lewis, Dwyer , Wide Receiver". 247Sports. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  5. Dusenbury, Wells (April 8, 2016). "Dwyer alum Jacoby Brissett looks to up stock before NFL draft". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  6. McCarthy, Jack (September 3, 2015). "Northern Illinois' Tommylee Lewis gets second take on final college season". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  7. Boudwin, Julie (June 16, 2016). "Saints rookie Tommylee Lewis' quickness could lead to opportunity on special teams". Times-Picayune. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  8. "Tommylee Lewis College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  9. Katzenstein, Josh (August 8, 2016). "WR Tommylee Lewis impressing Saints after recommendation from Bill Parcells". Times-Picayune. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  10. "Tommylee Lewis 2016 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  11. "New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons - December 7th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  12. "Tommylee Lewis 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  13. Williams, Charean (September 19, 2018). "Saints place Tommylee Lewis on IR". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  14. Williams, Charean (November 21, 2018). "Saints activate Tommylee Lewis, waive Chaz Green". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  15. Freeman, Mike (January 20, 2019). "Horrible Officiating Tarnishes NFL's Credibility on Championship Sunday". Bleacher Report. bleacherreport.com.
  16. "Lions sign WR Tommylee Lewis". DetroitLions.com. March 19, 2019.
  17. Mullenax, Steven. "Detroit Lions 2019 roster cuts tracker (updated)". SideLionReport.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  18. Bender, Bill (October 21, 2019). "XFL Draft picks 2019: Complete results, rosters, players for new football league". Sporting News. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  19. Williams, Charean (January 27, 2020). "Saints sign Tommylee Lewis to futures contract". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  20. "New Orleans Saints reduce roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. August 2, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  21. Simmons, Myles (August 16, 2020). "Panthers sign Tommylee Lewis, Marken Michel, Andrew Vollert". Panthers.com.
  22. "Tommylee Lewis: Let go by Panthers". CBSSports.com. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  23. "Tommylee Lewis: Reaches injury settlement". CBSSports.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  24. Just, Amie (October 8, 2020). "Saints re-sign WR Tommylee Lewis to practice squad". NOLA.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  25. Just, Amie (October 31, 2020). "Saints sign WR Tommylee Lewis to 53-man roster, elevate 3 practice squad players for Bears game". NOLA.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  26. Just, Amie (November 2, 2020). "Saints re-sign WR Tommylee Lewis, TE Ethan Wolf to practice squad". NOLA.com. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  27. "New Orleans Saints announce roster moves". NewOrleansSaints.com. December 5, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  28. "New Orleans Saints announce roster moves". NewOrleansSaints.com. December 12, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  29. "New Orleans Saints announce roster moves". NewOrleansSaints.com. December 19, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  30. Johnson, Luke (January 16, 2021). "Saints make flurry of roster moves, activate WR Tre'Quan Smith off injured reserve". NOLA. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
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