No one played bigger than Dion Lewis
Little running back retires from football after starring for Pitt, NFL
Tony Dorsett is the greatest running back in college football history. Marshall Goldberg is in the College Football Hall of Fame. Curtis Martin is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Craig Heyward is a legend, remembered simply and fondly as “Ironhead.” LeSean McCoy ran for 148 yards on a 13-9 kind of night in Morgantown. James Conner was the ACC player of the year.
Can we agree Pitt is Tailback U.?
I offer this for your consideration today:
Dion Lewis might have been more amazing than all of the great ones at Pitt.
Lewis announced his retirement from football Friday. He didn’t just overcome a badly broken left leg and two ACL surgeries to last 10 seasons in the NFL. He did it all at 5 feet 8.
“Actually, 5-foot-7,” Lewis said Sunday morning, a chuckle in his voice. “I was 5-foot-6 and 5/8s at the scouting combine …
“I heard from the time I was 8 years old that I wasn’t big enough or fast enough to make it, that I would never play DI football let alone make it to the NFL. But I was big enough in my heart. I had the biggest heart ever, in my opinion.”
Lewis didn’t just make it at Pitt, where Dave Wannstedt respectfully called him, “Little Dion.” He was the Big East Conference offensive player and rookie of the year in 2009. He rushed for 1,799 yards that season, second-most in
Pitt history behind Dorsett’s 2,150 yards in the national championship season of 1976. He had 10 100-yard games — including the final eight in a row — and 17 rushing touchdowns. Pitt went 10-3, its only 10-win season since 1981.
Lewis didn’t just make it in the NFL. He won a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots after the 2016 season and played in another Super Bowl after the 2017 season. He was a valuable member of those Patriots teams, scoring a touchdown three ways — rushing, receiving and kickoff return — in a playoff win against Houston in 2016 and putting up 141 combined scrimmage yards in a playoff win against Tennessee in 2017. He signed a four-year, $19.8 million deal with the Titans after the 2017 season.
Lewis said playing with Tom Brady and for Bill Belichick were career highlights.
“Brady is a special guy. He works really hard and is a great leader. Players gravitate to him. He’s not like you might think. He’s not the least bit cocky. He knows everyone’s name. He makes everyone feel comfortable …
“Belichick is easily the best coach I ever played for. There’s no debating that. I became a better player because of him. He had me ready for anything. Our team always was prepared for everything.”
As much fun as the Patriots were for Lewis, he said the two seasons he played at Pitt were the best two years of his life. A shoulder injury early in the 2010 season limited him to 1,061 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. He left Pitt early and was a fifth-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2011 draft.
“I always wanted to play DI and Wannstedt gave me that opportunity,” Lewis said. “Plus, I loved my teammates. We had such a special family atmosphere on that team.
“Leaving early was a tough decision for me. Real tough. Wannstedt getting fired sealed the deal for me.”
Lewis had plenty of highs at Pitt. A 152-yard rushing day in a win against Notre Dame in 2009. A 159-yard rushing day and MVP of the Meineke Car Care Bowl in a win against North Carolina that season. A 261-yard rushing day in a win against Cincinnati in 2010.
But Lewis and his Pitt teammates had one brutal low. Their 45-44 loss to Cincinnati late in the 2009 season cost them the Big East championship and a major bowl bid. Lewis did all he could to win that game, rushing for 194 yards and three touchdowns. He touched the ball on all 12 plays of Pitt’s opening touchdown drive. He called it his best game.
“I don’t even have the words to describe that loss,” Lewis said. “It was a nightmare.”
Lewis said he decided to retire despite interest from a few NFL teams, including one that called him Thursday night. He said his only goal at the moment is to be a better dad for his daughter, Kamilah, 4, and a better husband for his fiancée, Glennys. The family is living in upstate New York, outside of Albany, where he grew up.
Lewis said he considers himself lucky despite that horrible broken leg and the serious knee injuries. He described his left leg as “fake” and said he has at least 10 screws in it.
“I can’t complain,” Lewis said. “I can still walk the dog. I can still run after my daughter. I can still play basketball with my nephew.”
What a football legacy Lewis leaves.
“On the field, I always played with an attitude,” he said. “I hope the kids who look up to me realize that anything is possible if you work hard.”
Even if you are 5-foot-6 and 5/8ths.