Roger Lamonte Lewis Jr. (born November 27, 1993) 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 ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

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 ...

for the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

, earning third-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 2015. In 2016, Lewis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Giants.

Early life

Lewis attended Pickerington High School Central in

Pickerington, Ohio Pickerington is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, Fairfield and Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin counties in the central region of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 23,094 at the United States Ce ...

. He became a star football player at the school and he earned scholarship offers from 17 Division I schools. During his senior year in 2012, Lewis was charged with two counts of rape. It was alleged that he raped a classmate in the basement of another classmate's house on December 2, 2011. The second charge alleged that Lewis raped the same classmate again in the back seat of her car on January 6, 2012. A jury acquitted Lewis of the first charge and deadlocked on the second charge, resulting in the judge declaring a mistrial. Lewis avoided a retrial by pleading guilty to making false statements to Pickerington police. The guilty plea to falsification resulted in the rape charge being dismissed. Lewis was sentenced to three years on probation. Afterwards, he opted to attend Jireh Preparatory Academy, a post-high-school college-prep school in

Matthews, North Carolina Matthews is a town in southeastern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte. The population was 29,435 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

College career

After spending one season at Jireh Preparatory Academy, Lewis committed to play college football at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

on January 6, 2014. In two seasons at Bowling Green, Lewis caught 23

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

passes and collected 2,637 receiving yards. He was named first team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, he was a semifinalist for the

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

and was the winner of the Paul Warfield Award. On January 11, 2016, Lewis announced his decision to enter the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

College statistics

Professional career

New York Giants

After going undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft, Lewis was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent. The signing of Lewis was officially announced on May 6, 2016. Lewis was able to work his way up the depth chart after beginning his rookie season as the 7th receiver, and was able to split time with Victor Cruz throughout the season. On October 16, 2016, he made his first career catch for a 24-yard touchdown reception against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. On November 6, 2016, he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest ...

to help his team to a 28–23 victory over the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He earned his first career start in place of an injured Victor Cruz against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

on November 14, 2016, and finished the game with two catches for 2 yards. Lewis started the 2017 season as the Giants' No. 4 receiver behind

Odell Beckham Jr. Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American professional American football, football wide receiver. He played college football for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers and was selected ...

Brandon Marshall Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was selected by ...

and Sterling Shepard. In Week 6, Lewis was forced into the starting role after Beckham and Marshall suffered season-ending injuries the previous week and Shepard was sidelined with an injury from the same game. On September 1, 2018, Lewis was waived by the Giants.

Tennessee Titans

On October 10, 2018, Lewis was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans on December 31, 2018. On May 7, 2019, Lewis was released.

Indianapolis Colts

On July 30, 2019, Lewis was signed by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. He was released on August 31, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Roger 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Pickerington, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football wide receivers Bowling Green Falcons football players New York Giants players Tennessee Titans players Indianapolis Colts players