AFJF Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 My favorite Jet for many years, hope he' s not such a strange for years to come. He always hated the media so he doesn't get his due, but a damn good player. http://www.newyorkjets.com/news/article-randylangefb/Once-More-Down-Memory-Lane-with-Mo-Lewis/939d8ae0-a4b5-49d0-b1dd-4e736563360b This is the stretch of the NFL calendar where annual events bump into each other on the way to the next regular season. For instance, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of '17 was elected and introduced before last Sunday's Super Bowl. And in a few months' time, the 2017 draft will be held, this year in Philadelphia from April 27-29. One former Jet bridged that gap when he showed up and brought his star power to the recent Jets House at SPiN New York. Mo Lewis still has the look of the dapper, dangerous linebacker he was for the Green & White from 1991-2003. Starting with that '91 draft, Lewis recalled in his interview with Eric Allen how it came to be that, even as an accomplished University of Georgia LB, he wasn't thinking about his pro career when then-Jets general manager Dick Steinberg called him to tell him the Jets had picked him. "A lot of people don't know this, but Cleveland was looking at me," Lewis recalled of his predraft experience. "They flew me up and they said their could take me in the first round. But then they found out I had a hollow bone in my thigh and they left me at the airport. So on D-Day, he said, "I was at home with my parents and truthfully, I didn't know the draft was going on. I got a call and Dick Steinberg told me I was selected by the Jets. I thought someone was playing a joke on me, so I hung up the phone. He called right back and said, no, we selected you in the third round. I was happy, and I had to find out more about the Jets. I didn't know much about them. ... They came from out of nowhere." Mo said the NFL vibe back then was that rookies didn't start right away so "just shut up and go play special teams." But then-head coach Bruce Coslet practically threw the pads on him after he arrived at Hofstra University for rookie minicamp and then the full-squad minicamp and told him to "get out there with the first group." "From there," Lewis said in his self-deprecating way, "the rest was history." But not for a while. Although Mo was a starter from the start, it took the input of future Hall of Famer Bill Parcells to bring out his best in the second half of his Jets tenure. "Coach Parcells was the coach I think that saved my career," Lewis said. "He challenged me. He was the right coach for me." Lewis recalled that Parcells, who coached him from 1997-99 and presided over football operations in 2000 before departing, could be combative and wanted his players to be combative as well. "He tried to get up under my skin a lot," Mo said. "He tried to get me to get into fights a lot in practice, get me to do different things. I'm not that type of person. I'm thinking, hey, I'm not going to hurt myself here so I can't perform on the field." But the Parcells tough-love treatment worked. Lewis came back from his season-ending chest injury in '96 to earn his second team MVP award in the Tuna's first season at the helm. Then he went on to be named to three straight Pro Bowls and received All-Pro honors in '98. He was defensive captain from 1997-2003. And the honors came in part because the numbers poured in: 200 games, 199 starts, 52.5 sacks — most ever by a Jets 'backer — 14 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries, 26 forced fumbles, five return TDs and 1,231 tackles — second-most in franchise history until David Harris passed him this past season. "I really appreciate Coach Parcells. Because of him knowing who I was as a player, he really helped me in my career," Mo said. "I'd like to say thank you and he did a great job." Yes, Parcells did. As did Lewis. And at Jets House we got to say thanks once more to No. 57. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flushing Roots Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 And he should have received an honorary SB ring from the Pats when he took out Bledsoe in 2001. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangerous Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 mo was a great jet lb. maybe a little overlooked considering all the bs that swirled around the coslet and kotite years but he did it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurnleyJet Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 2 hours ago, Flushing Roots said: And he should have received an honorary SB ring from the Pats when he took out Bledsoe in 2001. Some think the IK jawbreaker changed things for the Jets. His Hit on Bledsoe changed the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flushing Roots Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 5 hours ago, BurnleyJet said: Some think the IK jawbreaker changed things for the Jets. His Hit on Bledsoe changed the NFL. No doubt on Mo. Although I would have given IK the Jet MVP that year for his stunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joewilly12 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Miss when the Jets had good linebackers with identity Mo was a gamer came to play every damn game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage69 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 55 minutes ago, BurnleyJet said: Some think the IK jawbreaker changed things for the Jets. His Hit on Bledsoe changed the NFL. From camp 2000 it was obvious that Brady had talent plus after going 5-11 in 2000 and starting 2001 losing to the 4-12 Bengals Bledsoe was on the hotseat anyway so all Mo did was speed up Brady as starter by a game or 2.. That's in the same category as Joe made a deal with the devil to win supe 3..LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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