Travis Lewis (born January 15, 1988) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and was selected by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the seventh round, 223rd overall of the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. He also spent time with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

during the 2016 offseason.

Early life

A native of

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, Lewis attended Robert E. Lee High School, where he played football as a

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for coach Jimmy Ramos. After switching to tailback as a senior, Lewis rushed for 1,436 yards on 222 carries (6.4 ypc) with nine touchdowns, and also caught 10 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown; for his senior season efforts, Lewis was named all-area and all-metro and was also selected to play at the 2007 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Following his senior season, he attended the Army combine and Nike camp, where he ran an electronically timed 4.34 in the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

, completed the

20-yard shuttle The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

in 4.25 seconds, had 23 reps in the 225-pound

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

and leaped in the

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

. In addition to football, Lewis also competed in

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

in high school as a

shot putter The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival (1896), and women's competition beg ...

(personal-best of . He also benched ) and squatted in his senior year. Described as a raw linebacker with great speed and tremendous potential, Lewis received offers from every major program in the entire

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

, and committed to

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

as a junior. However, in the final days and hours before National Letter of Intent Signing Day, Lewis decommitted from Nebraska, and ultimately signed with

on February 7, 2007. Rivals.com graded Lewis out as a 4-star (5.8) outside linebacker prospect, ranked 20th at his position, while Scout.com also gave Lewis 4 stars, and rated him the 10th-best middle linebacker. Lewis also had scholarship offers from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, and

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

, among others.

College career

Lewis broke a couple of Oklahoma freshman records, once established by

Brian Bosworth Brian Keith Bosworth (born March 9, 1965), nicknamed "the Boz", is an American actor and former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A two-time Dick But ...

. He eclipsed the mark for most freshman season tackles (144) and most tackles by a freshman in a game (19) against

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Six games into the 2010 season, Lewis led the Sooners with 59 tackles, also registered one interception. He was named a semifinalist for

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

, given annually to the top linebacker in college football.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

After his career at Oklahoma, Lewis was selected with the 223rd overall pick in the seventh round of the

by the

. Lewis finished his tenure with the Lions with 32 total tackles, 26 of them solo and a sack. Lewis saw time in his rookie season as a

special teamer In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, contributed primarily on special teams in 13 of the Lions' 16 games. He finished with three special teams tackles on the year, and also saw limited time at linebacker and recorded one solo tackle. After being inactive for three weeks, he returned to action in Week 6 at Philadelphia on special teams. He was credited with two special teams tackles in Week 11 against division rival

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

. Lewis saw action exclusively on special teams in 2013, finishing the season with six special teams tackles. On December 3, 2013, Lewis was suspended for four games by the NFL for violating the league's performance-enhancing substance policy, and therefore was placed on Reserve/Suspended list. Battling through injuries in his third season in 2014, Lewis served as a core member of the Lions' Special Teams Unit. He had one special teams tackle in Week 2 in the game at Carolina. The following week, he was inactive in Week 3 through Week 7 before being placed on Reserve/Injured list on October 18 with a quad injury. In 2015, Lewis started 4 games at outside linebacker for the Lions before losing his job to Tahir Whitehead, contributing with a career-high 21 tackles and a sack. He was also among the team's best coverage specialists, playing nearly 72% of the Lions' special teams plays.

Minnesota Vikings

Lewis signed with the

on March 9, 2016, but was waived on June 16, 2016.

Retirement

On January 12, 2017, Lewis announced his retirement from the NFL.Retirement Announcement on Instagram
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Career statistics

College

NFL

References

External links

NFL Combine bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Travis 1988 births Living people Players of American football from San Antonio American football linebackers Oklahoma Sooners football players Detroit Lions players Minnesota Vikings players