Lewis Sanders (born June 22, 1978) is a former

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

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He was selected by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

in the fourth round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. He played college football at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Sanders has also played for the Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.

College career

He is only the fourth player in

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

history to return 2 kickoff returns for touchdowns in a career, and he ranks sixth on the Terps’ career-record list with 956 yards on kickoff returns and seventh with 10 interceptions. In 1999, he was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

Third-team choice by ''SportsPage.com'' and ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', as well as an All- Atlantic Coast Conference First-team selection and a semi-finalist for the

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Payco ...

, given to the nation's top defensive back.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Sanders was selected in the

by the

and played with the team through the 2004 season.

Houston Texans

He signed with the Houston Texans as a free agent in 2005 and played two years there.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 7, 2007, the Atlanta Falcons signed Sanders. He was released by the team following the season on February 15, 2008.

New England Patriots

On March 6, 2008, he signed with the New England Patriots.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

New England Patriots bio (archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Lewis 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Staten Island Players of American football from New York City American football cornerbacks Maryland Terrapins football players Cleveland Browns players Houston Texans players Atlanta Falcons players New England Patriots players St. Peter's Boys High School alumni