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Long Beach Poly alum Marcedes Lewis made history a few weeks ago when he played in his 272nd NFL game. WHen Lewis took the field with the Chicago Bears for his 272nd game three weeks ago, he became the longest-tenured NFL tight end in league history.
“It means everything,” Lewis said in a postgame interview. “Obviously, being available and durable is your best ability in this league. And I’m just grateful that I have been able to be consistent throughout.”
Lewis broke a tie with Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who has previously held the record with 271 games played. Lewis already made history when the season started by becoming the first tight end to play in his 19th season. The 40 year-old Lewis was honored with Marcedes Lewis Day in his hometown during the offseason.
Lewis continues to make history every time he steps on the field. He’s now at 275 career games played, four more than any other tight end and 25th most of any NFL player ever at any position. He has 21 more games played than the next longest-tenured active player, kicker Matt Prater.
Only 11 non-specialists (meaning kickers and punters) have played more games in NFL history than Lewis. He has the opportunity to get on the field 10 more times this season with the Bears. If he plays in every game, he could move up to 19th most of any NFL player in history, with only seven non-specialists ahead of him.
A captain with the Bears this year, Lewis has always been known as a leader on and off the field.
“He was a leader on the field, in the classroom, around campus, you couldn’t miss him,” said Poly AD Rob Shock at the city’s event honoring Lewis. “He was a dual sport star athlete, everybody around campus loved him. He associated with every group and he could make anyone feel comfortable. He crossed barriers–Poly is a diverse campus and that was him. He could walk around and everyone was proud to know him.”
He also did free football camps at his alma mater for a decade, with tons of future high school, college, and even NFL players attending those camps.
“I still had kids on my team at St. Anthony last year who said they went to that camp,” said Raul Lara, who coached Lewis at Poly. “As coaches, we don’t value championships–we value players growing up to be great men and great citizens. All your coaches are very proud of you and I know I am.”
At the event honoring him, Lewis knocked on wood and said that being injury free has been one of the biggest reasons he’s been able to have such a historic NFL career. The other reason? The example his mom, Yvonne, set for him growing up.
“Mom, I want to thank you,” he said. “For always pushing me. You sacrificed a lot that you didn’t have to. I understood that as a kid and I do now, too. You made me feel like I was special. You having me at 15 years old and watching everything you went through–when I have those dog days in practice where I feel like ‘why am I here?’ All I have to do is think about what you went through.”
