Willie L. Lewis (born January 16, 1958) is 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 ...

executive and former professional player. He is currently the Director of Player Personnel for the

San Antonio Brahmas The San Antonio Brahmas are a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. History The XFL ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

and was most recently the Assistant Director of Pro Personnel for the

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

of the XFL. He was the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for the

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stad ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

(AAF). He previously served as an executive 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 ...

(NFL) for 20 years, including tenures with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and

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 ...

. Most notably, he was the Seahawks vice president of football operations from 2010 to 2012.

Playing career

Lewis was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent in 1980 out of Millersville State College — now

Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher E ...

. He played in 26 NFL games, returning 45 kickoffs for a 21.4-yard average and 56 punts for an 8.0-yard average, including a 75-yard touchdown as a rookie versus 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 ...

. Following his NFL career, Lewis played three seasons in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) with the

Denver Gold The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mi ...

(1983) and

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

(1984–85). After the USFL's collapse, Lewis continued his playing career in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). There he was a member of the Ottawa Roughriders (1986, 1987–88),

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

(1986),

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

(1989) and

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

(1989).

Executive career

Lewis was hired by the

of the

on May 16, 2013. In 2018, Lewis became the general manager of the

of the

. The following year, he was hired by the

as assistant director of pro personnel under fellow ex-AAF GM

Randy Mueller Randy Mueller (born June 3, 1961) is an American football executive who currently serves as the director of pro personnel for the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He previously served as the general manager for the National Football League's Mia ...

Personal life

Lewis is the father of

Ryan Lewis Ryan Scott Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American record producer, DJ, videographer, photographer, graphic designer, music video director, rapper, and songwriter. Along with producing his own album, ''Instrumentals'', Lewis produced the alb ...

, an NFL cornerback with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

and a cousin of

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

analyst

Louis Riddick Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

and

Robb Riddick Robbert Lee Riddick (born April 26, 1957) is a former American football running back in the NFL who played for the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Millersville University, as a running back and defensive back. He set numerous of th ...

, who is a former running back for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. Will has been married to his wife, Kimmberly, since 1993 and they have 3 grown children, Ryan, Drew and Troy. Will also has a daughter, Krysta.

References

External links

Millersville Athletic Hall of Fame profile
1958 births Living people American football cornerbacks Atlanta Falcons coaches Canadian football defensive backs Denver Gold players Green Bay Packers executives Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Houston Gamblers players Kansas City Chiefs executives Maine Black Bears football coaches Millersville Marauders football coaches Millersville Marauders football players Montreal Alouettes players Ottawa Rough Riders players Seattle Seahawks executives Seattle Seahawks players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players NFL Europe (WLAF) coaches People from Quakertown, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania {{defensiveback-1950s-stub