Rhett Lewis Kleinschmidt (born March 23, 1983) is an American

sports reporter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

and previously the host of NFL Network's weekday morning show '' NFL AM''.

Early years

Lewis was born and raised in

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is ...

, the son of Marlene and NFL athletic trainer Dean Kleinschmidt, and attended

St. Martin's Episcopal School St. Martin's Episcopal School is a diocesan private college preparatory school in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb in Greater New Orleans. It is affiliated with St. Martin's Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. The school also op ...

. He then attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, where he played

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 ...

and majored in sports broadcasting. In his middle school years, he was diagnosed with a severe case of

Osgood–Schlatter disease Osgood–Schlatter disease (OSD) is inflammation of the patellar ligament at the tibial tuberosity (apophysitis) usually affecting adolescents during growth spurts. It is characterized by a painful bump just below the knee that is worse with act ...

Accomplishments

In 2017, Lewis founded The Sam Dozier Champions Cup in honor of former St. Martin's Episcopal School Coach Sam "The Bull" Dozier.

Career

In May 2009, Lewis joined WHDH Boston as a sports reporter after serving as a sports director for

KLBK KLBK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Lubbock, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to ABC affiliate KAMC (channel 28) under a local marketing agreement (LMA) wi ...

in Texas for two years. In July 2014, he joined NFL Network as a host of "NFL AM." In May 2022, Lewis was named the new radio analyst for

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, replacing the retiring Buck Suhr.

References

External links

NFL.com Profile
Living people 1983 births Indiana Hoosiers football players People from Metairie, Louisiana NFL Network people {{Amfoot-bio-stub