Jamal Lewis
Jamal Lafitte Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens fifth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tennessee. After spending his first seven seasons with the Ravens, Lewis signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns prior to the 2007 season and retired after the 2009 season.
Lewis is best known for his career as a Raven, where he helped the team win Super Bowl XXXV as a rookie. Lewis is also known for his outstanding 2003 season, where he rushed for 2,066 yards, which is third-most of all-time, behind Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson.[1] That same year, Lewis also rushed for 295 yards in one game, which was the single-game record until Adrian Peterson rushed for 296 yards in 2007. Lewis was inducted into the Ravens' Ring of Honor on September 27, 2012.
In his three year career at the University of Tennessee, Lewis rushed for 2,677 yards and accounted for 3,161 all-purpose. Lewis stands third on the university's list of all-time rushers and fourth in all-purpose yards. As a freshman in 1997 Lewis rushed for 1,364 yards and seven touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named first team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News and second-team All-SEC by the Associated Press. In 1998, Jamal suffered a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and missed the rest of the season.
Regarded as the best available tailback , Lewis was the fifth pick overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens.[3] In his rookie season, he rushed for over 1,300 yards, supplanting Priest Holmes as the team's starting running back. On November 19, Lewis became the youngest player since 1960 to record 200 yards from scrimmage (21 years, 82 days).[citation needed] The Ravens' running game and punishing defense earned them their first World Championship when they defeated the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. Lewis rushed for 103 yards and scored a touchdown in the game, becoming only the second rookie ever to rush for over 100 yards in a Super Bowl and the youngest player to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl (21).
In the 2003 season, Lewis led the NFL in rushing with 2,066 yards, falling just 39 yards short of the all time single season rushing record, which remains Eric Dickerson's 2,105 yards in 1984. Lewis joined Dickerson, Terrell Davis, Barry Sanders, and O. J. Simpson as the only backs in the 2,000 rushing yards club. In 2009, Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans, would also surpass the 2,000-yard mark by rushing for 2,006 yards. In 2012, Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings finished with 2,097 rushing yards, the second-most ever for a running back in a single season.
On September 14, 2003, Lewis also broke Corey Dillon's single-game rushing record of 278 yards by running for 295 yards against the Cleveland Browns.[4] Lewis was rewarded by being named NFL Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press.
