Dion John Lewis (born September 27, 1990) is an American football coach and former running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers, earning second-team All-American honors in 2009. Lewis was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He is currently the assistant running backs coach for the University of Albany.
After two seasons with the Eagles, Lewis then had stints with the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts over the next two seasons, but never appeared in a game for either team. He then played three seasons with the New England Patriots and won Super Bowl LI with the team. Lewis then played for the Tennessee Titans for two seasons before playing his final season with the New York Giants.
A native of Albany, New York, Lewis attended Albany High School, from which he transferred to the Albany Academy and later to Blair Academy, where he led his team to a 17–1 record (.944) his final two seasons, including two MAPL championships and a New Jersey Prep state title. Lewis averaged 12.4 yards per carry as a junior, rushing for 979 yards on 79 carries with 14 touchdowns. As a senior at Blair Academy, he averaged an astounding 14.1 yards per carry, rushing for 1,243 yards on 88 carries. Lewis eclipsed the 250-yard rushing mark four times and scored 26 total touchdowns, including 23 rushing, two on punt returns and one receiving. He was also a three-year letterman in track & field at Blair Academy, competing in sprints (11.09 100m and 23.06 200m), long jump (20′2″), and relays (44.29 4×100).
Lewis attended and played college football for the University of Pittsburgh from 2009 to 2010, but was offered a scholarship from just two other schools, Miami of Ohio and Tulane.
During 12 regular season games of the 2009 season at the University of Pittsburgh, Lewis accumulated 1,640 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. He rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns in an October 2009 victory over Big East rival Rutgers, for which he was named Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Week and featured in Sports Illustrated. Following this and later performances, Lewis was mentioned in several news outlets as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate. He had his sixth 100-yard plus rushing game of the season against Syracuse.
Lewis rushed for more than 1,799 yards during the 2009 season and broke Craig Heyward's record at Pittsburgh for rushes in a single game with 47 against University of Cincinnati in the Big East championship game, totaling 194 rushing yards, three touchdowns, as well as five receptions for 34 yards.
Lewis was the only freshman and one of four running backs named among 15 "Players to Watch" for the 2009 Walter Camp Player of the Year award. He was also among 16 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award, and was one of 10 semifinalists, and the only true freshman, for the Doak Walker Award. Lewis was also honored as a "Midseason All-American" by CBSSports.com and SI.com.
Lewis set the Big East freshman rushing record previously held by Tony Dorsett. The lightly-recruited running back was third nationally in rushing (1,799 yards, 5.5 avg), broke LeSean McCoy's record for most points by a Pitt freshman in the Big East championship against Cincinnati , and Dorsett's record for most rushing yards by a Pitt freshman during the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl, after which he was named the game's MVP.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, Lewis was named the National Freshman of the Year by the Sporting News and CBSSports.com, as well as the Offensive Freshman of the Year by College Football News. He was also named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, Sporting News, CBSSports.com, Sports Illustrated, Rivals.com, and Scout.com. Lewis was the only freshman named to the first or second AP All-American team. Lewis was named both the Big East Conference Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year as well as the Eastern College Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year.
Heading into 2010, the Sporting News, in its 2010 College Football Yearbook, called Lewis "the game's most complete runner" and listed him as one of the five leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy. The Sporting News also listed Lewis as a first-team preseason All-American. However, Lewis failed to live up to these lofty expectations. After 75 yards in a disappointing loss to unranked Utah, he struggled with just 27 yards against FCS (formerly Division I-AA) New Hampshire while teammate Ray Graham had 115. Lewis suffered an upper-body injury after compiling 41 yards to Graham's 100 in a loss to Miami (FL), and sat on the bench while Graham compiled the second-most rushing yards in school history against FIU. Though he had more carries than Graham the rest of the season, the two split rushing duties and it was not until the team's seventh game Lewis broke 100 yards rushing against Rutgers. Lewis' best game of the season was the regular season finale, where he had 42 carries for 261 yards and four touchdowns, including a 76-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter against Cincinnati. Lewis also had 105 yards and a touchdown in Pitt's BBVA Compass Bowl victory over Kentucky.
In early January, Lewis declared that he would enter the 2011 NFL draft and forgo his junior and senior seasons.
Lewis was selected in the fifth round (149th overall) of the 2011 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was the 19th running back selected in that year's draft. On July 27, 2011, Lewis was signed to a four-year contract worth $2.2 million.
Lewis spent his rookie year as the Eagles' kick returner. He was third on the running back depth chart behind LeSean McCoy and Ronnie Brown and saw little playing time, not carrying the ball more than twice per game until the season-finale against the Washington Redskins, when he had 12 carries for 58 yards and his first NFL touchdown in the 34–10 victory.
Lewis finished his rookie year with 23 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown to go along with 31 kick returns for 669 yards in 15 games and no starts.
Lewis' role for the Eagles in 2012 was similar to his role in the previous season, as a kick returner primarily. He was once again third on the running back depth chart, behind McCoy and rookie Bryce Brown. Lewis saw no carries prior to Week 12 when the team began giving him some role in the running game, though never touching the ball more than five times in a game. Lewis' lone rushing touchdown came during a Week 16 27–20 loss to the Washington Redskins on a 17-yard rush.
Lewis finished his second professional season with 13 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown to go along with two receptions for 24 yards and a 33-yard kick return in nine games and no starts.
On April 11, 2013, Lewis was traded to the Cleveland Browns for linebacker Emmanuel Acho. However, Lewis missed the entire season due to a fractured fibula.
Lewis was cut by the Browns on August 30, 2014.