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The NFL’s feel-good story of the season recently was found to have a page missing.
Actually, several pages were missing. Like the second half of the book, gone, vanished
into thin air. It eventually will be found, but exactly when and what it will unearth
about the life and career of the NFL’s blue-collar return man remains to be seen.
No question there are many people rooting for the Saints’ Michael Lewis. There are
the guys he worked with last year, driving a beer delivery truck in and around New
Orleans. There are the adoring fans, rooting for his return to the active roster because,
unlike most of his high-priced teammates, he’s considered one of them. There is the
cousin who talked him into stepping onto that semi-pro football field back in 1993 to make
the most of his talent and 4.2 speed. Even the people who didn’t think he could make
it are pulling for him.
In the past, Lewis has made believers out of everyone. He did it juggling two and three
jobs while raising his daughter. He did it that first day on the practice field of the
Kenner Chiefs, the hometown semi-pro team. He did it with the Bayou Beast after taking a
three-year hiatus. He did it with the New Jersey Red Dogs of Arena2 in 2000. He did it
when he was designated to NFL Europe in the spring, and especially when he made the
Saints’ opening-day roster in August.
Now he’s got to make them believers all over again. After busting out with an
impressive, league-leading 32.3-yard kick-return average through the first four weeks,
Lewis struggled for a stretch, fumbling six times (though losing just one) and making some
poor decisions with his kick- and punt-return duties.
A stretch doesn’t have to last long for something bad to happen in professional
football. Lewis lost his starting job before Week Six, and when the Saints were hit with
the injury bug last week, his roster spot suddenly was needed. He was released, cleared
waivers and was re-signed to the practice squad a day later.
The 29-year-old rookie who played just one year of football in high school, never
attended college, made an honest living as a janitor and beer distributor and is just 5-8
and 165 pounds, all of a sudden has to get back in the saddle and try to prove the
naysayers wrong. Again.
"I don’t let it get to me," Lewis said of the doubters he’s faced.
"Everybody’s always got something negative to say, so you’ve got to go with
how you feel and what’s deep in your heart.
"You take all of what you’ve heard people say, and you just build your own
stepping stool. Then when you get up there, you look back and say, ‘Remember when you
said this, and remember when you said that?’ "
Fans can get dreamy in the preseason and envision their team in the Super Bowl, and
players and coaches surely try to picture a big upset or a playoff berth in their minds
several days or weeks beforehand. But when looking at life in the league from a personal
perspective, it’s dangerous for players to look too far down the road. After all, the
NFL is often thought to stand for "Not For Long" because of the lack of job
security. That’s what made it almost eerie to look back at something Lewis told me
just days before he was released by the Saints.
"I don’t look into the future," Lewis said. "I go day by day. Every
day, I try to get better. You can’t sit back and say, ‘This is my future,’
because you don’t know what your future holds. I’d love to make it my future,
but I still look at it as a day-to-day thing."
Once the owner of a contract that was worth more than $200,000, Lewis has taken
approximately a $9,000 weekly pay cut for his move to the practice squad, according to his
agent, Harry Henderson.
But his demotion hasn’t done much in regard to the amount of support he has in New
Orleans. There are still plenty of people inflicted with the regular-guy syndrome.
"Everybody talks about Michael Lewis every day," Henderson said.
"Everybody wants to know how he’s doing."
Henderson recently went to buy a computer a couple of weeks ago and was talking to
Lewis on the phone when a store worker overheard his conversation and was ecstatic. Before
long, word had spread around the store, and a handful of employees that had gathered were
asking questions about his client.
"He identifies with everybody, every guy in the world," Henderson said.
"Everybody who’s ever been an underdog in a situation against all odds,
that’s Michael Lewis."
One local car dealership in New Orleans believes in odds. It filmed a commercial with
Lewis prior to him losing his job but isn’t concerned about him moving to the
practice squad. The commercial continues to stay on the air because the owners believe
he’ll be back in the mix soon.
Henderson’s New Orleans-based agency, Pro Sports, Inc., recently got a call from a
guy with a TV station who thinks he has what it takes for the NFL.
"It’s tough enough, but now everybody thinks they can make it,"
Henderson said with a chuckle. "Everybody thinks they can be a Michael Lewis."
They may, but do they have the patience or work ethic to do it the hard way? Can they
take turns driving their semi-pro team to San Antonio in rented minivans? Can they survive
semi-pro games in obscure places against 60 players with only 18 teammates? Can they have
the drive to bounce back from all the previous disappointments or stay humble enough to
continue to devote large amounts of time to charity and the church?
"He’s been a success no matter what happens," Henderson said. "Once
he made the team, he became a success at that moment, no matter what happens from here on
out."
That much is true. But I have a feeling the former semi-pro guy, the former beer-truck
delivery guy, the regular guy, isn’t done writing his success story. Here’s
hoping he has enough ink to make the second half better than the first. |
