Roger Lamonte Lewis Jr. (born November 27, 1993) 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 wi ...

wide receiver. He played college football at

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

. In 2016, Lewis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Giants.

Early life

Lewis attended

Pickerington High School Central Pickerington High School Central is a public high school in Pickerington, Ohio, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Pickerington Local School District. In the city of Pickerington, it is referred to simply as Central and their mas ...

in Pickerington, Ohio. He became a star football player at the school and he earned scholarship offers from 17 Division I schools. During his senior year in 2012, Lewis was charged with two counts of rape. It was alleged that he raped a classmate in the basement of another classmate's house on December 2, 2011. The second charge alleged that Lewis raped the same classmate again in the back seat of her car on January 6, 2012. A jury acquitted Lewis of the first charge and deadlocked on the second charge, resulting in the judge declaring a mistrial. Lewis avoided a retrial by pleading guilty to making false statements to Pickerington police. The guilty plea to falsification resulted in the rape charge being dismissed. Lewis was sentenced to three years on probation. Afterwards, he opted to attend Jireh Preparatory Academy, a post-high-school college-prep school in

Matthews, North Carolina Matthews is a town in southeastern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte. The population was 27,198 according to the 2010 Census. History In the early 19th century, the new settlement that would become Ma ...

College career

After spending one season at Jireh Preparatory Academy, Lewis committed to play college football at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

on January 6, 2014. In two seasons at Bowling Green, Lewis caught 23 touchdown passes and collected 2,637 receiving yards. He was named first team All-MAC in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, he was a semifinalist for the

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

and was the winner of the Paul Warfield Award. On January 11, 2016, Lewis announced his decision to enter the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015 NFL Draft, 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park (Chicago), ...

College statistics

Professional career

New York Giants

After going undrafted in the

, Lewis was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent. The signing of Lewis was officially announced on May 6, 2016. Lewis was able to work his way up the depth chart after beginning his rookie season as the 7th receiver, and was able to split time with Victor Cruz throughout the season. On October 16, 2016, he made his first career catch for a 24-yard touchdown reception against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

. On November 6, 2016, he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to help his team to a 28-23 victory over the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

. He earned his first career start in place of an injured Victor Cruz against the Cincinnati Bengals on November 14, 2016, and finished the game with two catches for 2 yards. Lewis started the 2017 season as the Giants' No. 4 receiver behind

Odell Beckham Jr. Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beckham played college football at LSU and was drafted by the ...

Brandon Marshall Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was drafted by ...

and

Sterling Shepard Sterling Clay Shepard (born February 10, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma. Shepard was drafted by the Giants in the second round of ...

. In Week 6, Lewis was forced into the starting role after Beckham and Marshall suffered season-ending injuries the previous week and Shepard was sidelined with an injury from the same game. On September 1, 2018, Lewis was waived by the Giants.

Tennessee Titans

On October 10, 2018, Lewis was signed to the Tennessee Titans practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans on December 31, 2018. On May 7, 2019, Lewis was released.

Indianapolis Colts

On July 30, 2019, Lewis was signed by the Indianapolis Colts. He was released on August 31, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Roger 1993 births Living people People from Pickerington, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football wide receivers Bowling Green Falcons football players New York Giants players Tennessee Titans players Indianapolis Colts players