Born February 4, 1933
Class of 1973 – Career Highlights:
CFL West Division All-Star – 1955, 1958, 1960-1962
CFL All-Star – 1962
Winnipeg Football Hall of Fame -1984
5-time winner of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Outstanding Player Honours
During his US College career, Lewis showed off his outstanding rushing ability as he established school records for touchdowns in a season (22), touchdowns in a career (64), rushing yards in a season (1,239) and career rushing yards (4,457). In the process, he earned the nickname of the Lincoln Locomotive. He was enshrined in the US College Hall of Fame in 2005.
Though he was drafted in the 6th round of the 1955 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts, he opted to try to make a bigger splash with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
In 11 years with the Bombers, he enjoyed team success, playing on 4 Grey Cup Winners as well as considerable personal success.
The larger open field certainly played into his outstanding running ability as he carried the ball 1351 times for 8861 yards and an improbable 6.6 per rushing attempt. He was adept at pass receiving as well, hauling in 234 passes for 4251 yards. He proved to be an additional threat on the Bombers kickoff return team, where he averaged over 29 yards per return. All of these numbers are remarkable on their own, but are made more impressive when we note that he missed the 1956 season with a serious ankle injury-a critical, and possibly career event, for a running back.
At the time of his retirement, he ranked third on the CFL’s All-Time rushing list and was fourth in kickoff return yardage. He also scored 75 touchdowns during his career.
With those numbers, it was no surprise when he earned the vote to place 29th in the poll of All-Time CFL players.
Perhaps the most impressive accolade that he earned during his outstanding career was the assessment of longtime CFL and NFL Coach Bud Grant, who called him the best player he ever coached.