Mark Lewis (born March 25, 1979) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

who played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) for the

Detroit Fury The Detroit Fury were an arena football team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were a member of the original Arena Football League from 2001 to 2004 and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills, also the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. The ...

, Las Vegas Gladiators,

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fo ...

Austin Wranglers The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in af2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances ...

Dallas Vigilantes The Dallas Vigilantes were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Dallas, Texas. Like its AFL predecessor, the Dallas Desperados, the Vigilantes played at the American Airlines Center. The Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks began pla ...

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

Baltimore Brigade The Baltimore Brigade was a professional arena football team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Royal Farms Arena. The franchise was owned by Ted Leonsi ...

, and

Atlantic City Blackjacks The Atlantic City Blackjacks were a professional arena football team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2019. History Home games were played at Boardwalk Hall. The team was operated by Trifecta ...

. He also played for the

Tennessee Valley Vipers Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

Early life

Lewis attended Lyman High School in

Longwood, Florida Longwood is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,087 at the 2020 census. History With the advent of World War II, grow ...

, where he was a two sport athlete, participating

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and football. Lewis was one of the top prep players in the state of Florida for soccer. He joined the football team after his friend, Joe Gioia, had dared Lewis that he couldn't kick a football as far as a soccer ball.

College career

Lewis continued his soccer career when he earned a scholarship to play at

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

. After one season at FIU, Lewis transferred to

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...

, where he played a single season for the 49ers before quitting soccer.

Professional career

Lewis began playing professional football in 2003, when he signed with the

. Playing for the

in 2007, Lewis enjoyed the best year of his career, earning First Team

All-Arena An All-Arena Team, an all-star team consisting of the best players of their position was selected every season in the Arena Football League (AFL). Teams * 1987 All-Arena Team, 1987 * 1988 All-Arena Team, 1988 * 1989 All-Arena Team, 1989 * 1990 Al ...

honors and was named the AFL Kicker of the Year. On March 21, 2018, Lewis was assigned to the

. With the Brigade, Lewis won his second Kicker of the Year award in 2018. His no. 19 worn during his time with the Brigade is a tribute to the late

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

great

Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Nicknamed "J ...

, who wore that number. On March 6, 2019, Lewis was assigned to the expansion

References

External links

ArenaFan page
* 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Altamonte Springs, Florida American football placekickers FIU Panthers men's soccer players Charlotte 49ers men's soccer players Tennessee Valley Vipers players Detroit Fury players Las Vegas Gladiators players Columbus Destroyers players Austin Wranglers players Dallas Vigilantes players Orlando Predators players Players of American football from Seminole County, Florida Tampa Bay Storm players Baltimore Brigade players Men's association football players not categorized by position Atlantic City Blackjacks players American men's soccer players {{ArenaFootballLeague-stub