Jamal Lewis (born August 29, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Tennessee and was selected fifth overall by the Ravens in the 2000 NFL Draft. After spending his first seven seasons with the Ravens, Lewis signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns before the 2007 season and retired after the 2009 season.
Lewis is best known for his career as a Raven, where he contributed to the team winning Super Bowl XXXV as a rookie. Lewis is also known for his outstanding 2003 season, where he rushed for 2,066 yards (third-most all-time, behind Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson) and was named AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year. That same year, Lewis also rushed for 295 yards in one game, which was the single-game record until Adrian Peterson rushed for 296 yards in 2007 against the San Diego Chargers. Lewis was inducted into the Ravens' Ring of Honor in 2012.
Early years
Lewis attended Douglass High School in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was a letterman in football and track. Lewis was rated as the top running back prospect in the nation by Super Prep. Prep Star rated him as the No. 2 southern RB. Lewis rushed for 25 touchdowns as a senior and earned AAAA All-State and All-City honors. He was named MVP of the Georgia-Florida All-Star Game, with 137 yards on 11 carries, for a 12.4 average, and two touchdowns. Lewis gained 1,923 yards and scored 28 touchdowns as a junior and 1,240 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore. In his three years as a starter, he rushed for a school-record 4,879 yards and 68 touchdowns, plus had a 9.7-yard average per carry. While at Douglass, Lewis converted from a fullback to the starting running back.
In track & field, Lewis was a standout sprinter. He got personal-best times of 10.84 seconds in the 100 meters and 22.04 seconds in the 200 meters. He was also a member of the 4 × 100 m (42.14s) relay squad.
College career
As a freshman at Tennessee in 1997, Lewis rushed for 1,364 yards and seven touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named first-team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News and second-team All-SEC by the Associated Press. In the 1997 season, quarterback Peyton Manning caught a 10-yard pass from Lewis against Arkansas. In 1998, Lewis suffered a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and missed the rest of the season. He returned in 1999 and had 816 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. In his three-year career at the University of Tennessee, Lewis rushed for 2,677 yards and accounted for 3,161 all-purpose. Lewis ranks fifth on the university's list of all-time rushers.
College statistics
Professional career
Baltimore Ravens
2000 season
Regarded as the best available tailback alongside Thomas Jones, Lewis was drafted in the first round with the fifth overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens.
Lewis made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had five carries for 16 yards in the 16–0 victory. He made his first in Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins. He had 25 carries for 116 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals in a 37–0 victory. On November 19, in Week 12, against the Dallas Cowboys, Lewis became the youngest player since 1960 to record 200 yards from scrimmage (21 years, 82 days); since broken by Kenny Britt in 2009, and JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2017. In the following game, against the Cleveland Browns, he had 30 carries for 170 rushing yards in the 44–7 victory. In his rookie season, he rushed for 1,364 yards and six touchdowns, supplanting Priest Holmes as the team's starting running back. He was named the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
In the Wild Card Round against the Denver Broncos, Lewis had 30 carries for 110 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 21–3 victory. In the Divisional Round against the Tennessee Titans, he had a rushing touchdown in the 24–10 victory. In the AFC Championship against the Oakland Raiders, he had 100 scrimmage yards in the 16–3 victory. The Ravens' running game and punishing defense earned them their first Super Bowl when they defeated the New York Giants 34–7 in Super Bowl XXXV. Lewis rushed for 103 yards and scored a touchdown in the game, becoming only the second rookie ever to rush for over 100 yards in a Super Bowl and the youngest player to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl (21).
2001 season
Lewis missed the 2001 NFL season due to a ACL tear and MCL sprain that he sustained in training camp.