Thaddeus Cowan Lewis (born November 19, 1987) 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 wi ...

coach and former

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 ...

who is currently the assistant wide receivers coach for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

of 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). He was signed by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2010. He played college football at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

. Lewis was also a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans,

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 ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, and

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 ...

Early years

Lewis played at

Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School , motto_translation = ''Work Conquers All'' , streetaddress = 7977 West 12th Avenue , city = Hialeah , state = Florida , zipcode = 33014 , country = United States , coordinates = , type = P ...

. As a senior, he was evaluated as the nation's 10th-best

dual-threat quarterback In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback, also known as a running quarterback, is a quarterback (QB) who possesses the skills and physique to run with the ball if necessary. With the rise of several blitz heavy defensive schemes and increa ...

and 65th-best quarterback overall. He led his team to the state playoffs that year, passing for 12 touchdowns and only three interceptions.Thaddeus Lewis Bio
Duke Sports Information, accessed September 2, 2013

College career

2007 Thaddeus Lewis passing vs UConn cropped

Lewis played college football for the Duke Blue Devils. While at Duke he set school records for career passing touchdowns and career passing yards. He also set Duke's school record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception with 206. During his four years as a starting quarterback, he threw for 10,065 yards, 67 touchdowns and 40 interceptions, and ran for 9 touchdowns. During his senior season, Lewis was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, presented to the nation's top quarterback.

College statistics

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

Lewis signed with the Rams as an

soon after the 2010 NFL Draft.

Cleveland Browns

The

claimed him off of waivers on September 4, 2011. Lewis was later waived by the Browns on October 11, 2012. He was signed to the practice squad on October 13, 2012. He was again added to the

active roster December 24, 2012 after injuries to

Brandon Weeden Brandon Kyle Weeden (born October 14, 1983) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. After pursuing a baseball career from 2002 to 2006, Weeden enrolled at Oklahoma State to pla ...

and

Colt McCoy Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas, where he won several awards and honors as a senior in 2009. McC ...

. He made his first career start when the Browns took on the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 30, 2012 and completed 22 of 32 passes for 204 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Notwithstanding Lewis' performance, the Browns lost 24–10. This performance was particularly noteworthy due to his strong performance against the first-ranked defense of the NFL during the 2012 season. Lewis was waived by the Browns on May 22, 2013.

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions claimed him off waivers on May 28, 2013. He looked to compete with 2012 undrafted free agent and former Heisman Trophy finalist

Kellen Moore Kellen Christopher Moore (born July 5, 1988) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played six seasons in the NFL for the ...

for the third quarterback position.

Buffalo Bills

On August 25, 2013, the Buffalo Bills traded linebacker Chris White for Lewis, due to the mounting quarterback injuries for the Bills. He was released on August 31, 2013 and signed to the practice squad September 1. On October 7, 2013, coach Doug Marrone announced on WGR Sports Radio 550 that Lewis was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad after an injury to E. J. Manuel and started week 6 against the Cincinnati Bengals, over undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel, where he went 19/32 for 216 yards with 2 passing touchdowns and 0 interceptions and added 7 carries for 17 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. The Bills lost the game in overtime by a score of 27–24. On October 20, 2013, Lewis went 21/32 for 202 yards with no touchdown passes and 1 interception. He also had 5 carries for 13 yards as he earned his first career victory against 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 p ...

by a score of 23–21. In a week 8 loss to 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 ...

, Lewis completed 22 of 39 passes for 234 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception along with 2 rushes for 5 yards. This game is arguably his worst as he fumbled the ball 3 times. On November 3, 2013 against 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 ...

in week 9, Tuel was named the starting quarterback, only to be replaced the following week by the original week 1 starter Manuel. Manuel started the next 5 games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons,

, and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

. Lewis received his second win as a member of the Bills during Week 16 in a shutout victory over their division rival Dolphins with a score of 19–0. He went 15/25 for 193 yards with zero touchdowns and 1 interception while adding 8 carries for 13 yards. This loss would be a major factor for the Dolphins not making the playoffs since they needed to win just one of their final two games for a wildcard spot; which they lost both. In his final game as a Bill, Lewis played at

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Foot ...

against

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

and the New England Patriots. Although Lewis outshone Brady on that day, by throwing for more yards than him and not throwing an interception like Brady did, his team lost to the Patriots by a score of 34–20. Lewis went 16/29 for 247 yards with 1 touchdown and no interceptions. He also added 2 carries for 4 yards. Thad Lewis finished his 2013 Bills season with a 2–3 record as Buffalo's starting quarterback. On August 26, 2014, Lewis was released from the Bills.

Houston Texans

Lewis signed with the Houston Texans on November 24, 2014, after starting quarterback

Ryan Mallett Ryan Mallett (born June 5, 1988) is a former American football quarterback who is currently the head football coach at White Hall High School in White Hall, Arkansas. He played college football at Arkansas, and was drafted by the New England P ...

suffered a season-ending injury.

Cleveland Browns (second stint)

The Browns signed Lewis on March 12, 2015. He was released from the team on September 5, 2015.

Philadelphia Eagles

Lewis signed with the

on September 21, 2015.

San Francisco 49ers

Lewis signed with the

on March 10, 2016, reuniting him with former Eagles coach

Chip Kelly Charles Edward Kelly (born November 25, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the UCLA Bruins. He came to prominence as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks from 2009 to 2012, whom he led to four consecutive BCS bowl ga ...

. On August 16, 2016, the 49ers placed Lewis on injured reserve.

Baltimore Ravens

On August 14, 2017, Lewis signed with the

. On September 1, 2017, he was released by the Ravens during final roster cuts.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

In January 2018, Lewis was hired by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

as an offensive analyst. On July 22, 2020, Lewis was hired as an intern by the

. Following the 2020 NFL season, Lewis was hired as an offensive assistant. He was promoted to assistant wide receivers coach on May 5, 2021.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bio

Duke Blue Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Thaddeus 1987 births Living people People from Hialeah, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football quarterbacks Duke Blue Devils football players St. Louis Rams players Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players Buffalo Bills players Houston Texans players Philadelphia Eagles players San Francisco 49ers players Baltimore Ravens players UCLA Bruins football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches