jimster Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Former George Mason hoops star ends NFL dream By Len Pasquarelli ESPN.com http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2520392&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines Former George Mason University basketball forward Jai Lewis, who had signed a free agent contract with the New York Giants earlier this spring, has decided to end his pursuit of an NFL career. Agent Jeff Jankovich told The Washington Post that his client had decided not to report to Giants' training camp later this month, and a family member confirmed that decision. Lewis had signed a one-year contract with a minimum base salary of $275,000, and a $5,000 signing bonus, after the draft. A week before the draft, Lewis auditioned for scouts from a dozen clubs and, while his football skills were raw, he demonstrated enough potential to merit interest from a few teams. Lewis worked out as a tight end, an offensive tackle and a defensive end. The Giants projected the 6-foot-5, 292-pound Lewis as an offensive tackle, and he practiced at that position and also as a long-snapper during spring workouts. Having not played football since his senior season at Aberdeen (Md.) High School, Lewis was a long shot to earn a spot on the New York roster, but might have had a chance at rest of article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMetal Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Sad day for Giants fans who thought this lummox was the second coming of Antonio Gates... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebreaker Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I wonder why? Maybe he wanted to really play tight end. That's weird, because in college basketball I was always thought he was pretty swift footed for a guy his size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coooleeey Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 What I don't get is that he dropped from the Giants with a lot of money and potential career earning at stake. Do you think he will end up in the NBA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom [Giants fan] Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Sad day for Giants fans who thought this lummox was the second coming of Antonio Gates...[/Quote]When did Antonio Gates start playing Offensive Tackle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingwolf Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 ']When did Antonio Gates start playing Offensive Tackle? When he was first signed all anyone would talk about is comparing him to Gates, so I dont think its much of a stretch for someone to say that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrockster21 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 When he was first signed all anyone would talk about is comparing him to Gates, so I dont think its much of a stretch for someone to say that. I think there were several stories about how a) teams were looking at him to play either TE or tackle and how the Giants were specifically looking at him as a tackle. The only comparison to Gates was that they were both college hoops stars who hadn't played college football. The comparison was made because of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom [Giants fan] Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 He was too big to play TE, it was never an option as far as the Giants were concerned. The rest was said well by jrockster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingwolf Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 ']He was too big to play TE' date=' it was never an option as far as the Giants were concerned. [/quote']Oh I dont doubt that at all, but that didnt stop the mediots durring the ncaa championship and arround the draft to mention Gates every time they talked about Lewis joining the NFL. Thats all I was saying that I could see how someone could make that comparission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMetal Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I think there were several stories about how a) teams were looking at him to play either TE or tackle and how the Giants were specifically looking at him as a tackle.The only comparison to Gates was that they were both college hoops stars who hadn't played college football. The comparison was made because of that. Exactly right, and thanks for making that clear. It wasn't a comparison based strictly on position, but the overall circumstances. Here in VA, that signing generated a fair amount of media buzz, but it always smacked of hype to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratbert_rizzo Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Well Jai has about a 0.00001% chance of ever playing an NBA game so I hope he doesn't regret this decision in 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrockster21 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Well Jai has about a 0.00001% chance of ever playing an NBA game so I hope he doesn't regret this decision in 10 years. He'll probably have a decent CBA or European career, and maybe if he loses some weight who knows? An NBA team might pick him up. :whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachingWinsChampionships Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 I know someone who played football for the same high school that Jai Lewis went to and was in the same graduating class as him. He said that he was big and fast, but pretty weak for his size and extremely lazy and somewhat soft. That's why he declined offers to play D-1 football and instead chose basketball: the conditioning is much easier in basketball, especially for the big guys. And btw the guy who told this to me has every right to talk that way b/c he played D-1A football all four years of college (at UMD in fact). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattGeorge85 Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 I hate to say this to Mason fans...but I went to Mason and watched him play. Quite honestly he was fairly out of shape, at least compared to an NFL level. Too bad Mason got stopped by Florida, I really enjoyed thier run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 cross over players occassionally become NFL starters as Gates did. But that is the exception, not the rule. of the thousands of athletes out there that have considered an NFL career after playing another sport, few have made an impact or managed to stay in the league. and if we subtract out the special teams players, punters like Darren Bennett, return men like Ron Brown and the many European kickers that have been imported, the overall number is drastically reduced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom [Giants fan] Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 McMetal, You actually said it was Giants fans that were making him to be the next coming of Gates. That is what I was arguing. Giant fans knew he was not going to be a TE and was a long shot to make the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portis&taylor Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 damn that sucks lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMetal Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 ']McMetal' date='You actually said it was Giants fans that were making him to be the next coming of Gates. That is what I was arguing. Giant fans knew he was not going to be a TE and was a long shot to make the team.[/quote'] Educated Giants fans maybe, but you should have heard some of the dopes down here spout off about him. I wasn't including you en masse. I agree, it's not much of a loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimster Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 I remember people talking about Brock Lesnar a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.