Jeffrey Scott Lewis (April 17, 1973 – January 5, 2013) was an

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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

Early years

Lewis attended Horizon High School where he was an All-conference and All-city selection in football, baseball and basketball. He gained over 1,000 rushing yards in his last 2 seasons in football. As a senior in baseball, he batted for a .492 average and tallied a 3-1 record as a pitcher. He accepted a scholarship from

, where he became a four-year starter at

(41 straight starts) and a three-time team captain. After being redshirted in 1991, he finished his college career with 785 completions of 1,315 passes for 9,655 yards and 67 touchdowns. At the time he was second on the school's all-time list in passing yards (9,655), completions (785), attempts (1,316), pass completion percentage (59.7) and touchdowns (67). He also set the

NCAA Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

career record for interception avoidance (1.82). In 2003, he was inducted into the Northern Arizona Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Lewis was selected by the

in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 1996 draft. As a rookie, he was the third-string quarterback. The next year, he was named the backup behind

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Elway played college f ...

and was seen as the heir apparent to the future hall of famer. In 1998, he was lost for the season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament while playing a pickup basketball game and made matters worse by hiding how he suffered the injury. He fell out of favor with head coach

Mike Shanahan Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led ...

and was traded to the

, in exchange for a 1999 third round (#67-

Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia, in office from 27 April to 18 August 1904. He served as the inaugural federal lead ...

) and a 2000 fourth round draft choice (#112-

Cooper Carlisle Cooper Morrison Carlisle (born August 11, 1977) is an American former college and professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. Carlisle played college football for the University of ...

) on March 1, 1999.

Carolina Panthers

The

acquired Lewis in 1999, because new head coach

George Seifert George Gerald Seifert (born January 22, 1940) is an American former football coach and player. He served as the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Seifert owned the second-grea ...

saw potential in Lewis' athletic ability and wanted to eventually replace starter

Steve Beuerlein Stephen Taylor Beuerlein (born March 7, 1965) is a former American football quarterback, and is currently an NFL and college football analyst for CBS. High school career In his senior year, Beuerlein led Anaheim's Servite High School to the ...

. In 2001, Lewis was named the starter after Beuerlein was released. He had a bad preseason, including a game where he threw three interceptions in four attempts, which eventually led to him be released on August 31. Rookie

Chris Weinke Christopher Jon Weinke (born July 31, 1972) is an American football coach, former professional football player, and former professional baseball player. After spending six years in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league baseball system, he enrolle ...

was given the starter job and proceeded to go 1-15 during the regular season.

New Orleans Saints

On February 19, 2002, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He was released on August 19.

Colorado Crush

On January 30, 2003, he was signed by the

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspend ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He was promoted to the active roster on April 4.

Personal life

Lewis died on January 5, 2013, at his home in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. An autopsy revealed the cause of death was an accidental drug overdose caused by a mix of

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

and

zolpidem Zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien, among others, is a medication primarily used for the short-term treatment of sleeping problems. Guidelines recommend that it be used only after cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and behaviora ...

(Ambien). At the time of his death, he was the wide receivers coach at Northern Arizona, after serving at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

as an offensive administrative assistant from 2007 to 2008 and wide receivers coach in 2009. He had one son, Elijah Jaymes.

References

External links

Northern Arizona Hall of Fame bio.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Jeff 1973 births 2013 deaths Players of American football from Columbus, Ohio American football quarterbacks Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football players Denver Broncos players Carolina Panthers players New Orleans Saints players Colorado Crush players Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football coaches Louisville Cardinals football coaches Drug-related deaths in Arizona