Albert Ray Lewis (born October 6, 1960) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and the

Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then aga ...

Early life and career

Lewis was a third-round draft pick (61st overall) by the Chiefs in the

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York She ...

. His career spanned 16 seasons in which he recorded 42 interceptions, 12.5 sacks, 13 forced fumbles, 13 fumbles recoveries and 2 touchdowns. In addition to his play on defense, Lewis blocked 11 kicks in 11 seasons with the Chiefs. Lewis was named the Chiefs MVP for the 1986 season after he recorded 69 tackles (61 solo), four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, one sack and one blocked punt. During his time in Kansas City, the Chiefs made the playoffs five times. This included an appearance in the 1993 AFC Championship game. Lewis finished with 38 interceptions in 11 seasons with the Chiefs, the fifth-highest total in franchise history. Twenty of those came in his first four seasons before opposing teams decided not to throw to his side of the field as much. He played in 150 games for the Chiefs and was a starter in 128 of them. Lewis spent the final five seasons of his career with the Raiders. While with the team, he became the oldest player to score a defensive touchdown (38 years, 26 days) on November 1, 1998, when he returned an interception 74 yards for a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks, his first and only interception return for a touchdown in his career. Lewis retired from the NFL after the 1998 season. Lewis was known for his excellent acceleration and speed, at one point running a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash. At 6' 2", he was one of the tallest cornerbacks in the NFL at the time. He also had 35-inch long arms and a 38-inch vertical leap. Lewis credited his strong determination and work-ethic to his father, Brad.

Legacy

Lewis was named to the Chiefs 25-Year All-Time Team in 1987 and was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame on March 4, 2007. In 1999, Lewis bought ''Greystone'', a horse ranch north in

Centreville, Mississippi Centreville is a town in Amite County, Mississippi, Amite and Wilkinson County, Mississippi, Wilkinson counties, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi McComb micropolitan area, micropolitan statistical area. Its populati ...

. In July 2008, Lewis, along with former Chiefs teammate Kevin Ross, was named to the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...

's "Top 10 Cornerback Tandems" list. He was named as a finalist for the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

for the first time in 2023.

Personal life

Lewis has three children. His son Julian is a former defensive back for the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

References

External links

Albert Lewis at the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Albert 1960 births Living people People from Centreville, Mississippi American football cornerbacks American football safeties American Conference Pro Bowl players Kansas City Chiefs players Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players Grambling State Tigers football players Ed Block Courage Award recipients