Former Titans Running Back Retires

Dion Lewis played two seasons in Tennessee before he was cut and spent his final year in the NFL with the New York Giants.
Scott R. Galvin/USA Today Sports

It is clear now that Dion Lewis’ final season with the Tennessee Titans was the beginning of the end of his NFL career.

The veteran running back plans to retire despite recent interest from NFL teams, according to an ESPN report Friday. The decision ends a 10-year career in which he played for four different teams and went two full seasons (2013-14) without appearing in a regular season game.

Lewis, 30, spent last season with the New York Giants. He appeared in all 16 games as a backup and rushed for just 115 yards on 29 attempts, his fewest in both areas since his second year in the league.

Tennessee signed Lewis as a free agent in 2018 and for a year he was a productive and versatile alternative to Derrick Henry. In 2018, he was the Titans’ second-leading rusher with 517 yards on 155 attempts and their second-leading receiver with career-highs of 59 catches for 400 yards.

In 2019, his numbers dipped to 209 rushing yards on 54 rushes and 25 receptions for 164 yards. Tennessee released him following that season.

Lewis entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2011 NFL Draft. He played two seasons with the Eagles but made a name for himself during three seasons with the New England Patriots (2015-17). His best year was 2017, when he rushed for 896 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns that year. He also spent time with the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.

For his career, Lewis rushed for 2,425 yards and 13 touchdowns and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. He also caught 191 passes for 1,408 yards and eight touchdowns.


Published
David Boclair
DAVID BOCLAIR

David Boclair has covered the Tennessee Titans for multiple news outlets since 1998. He is award-winning journalist who has covered a wide range of topics in Middle Tennessee as well as Dallas-Fort Worth, where he worked for three different newspapers from 1987-96. As a student journalist at Southern Methodist University he covered the NCAA's decision to impose the so-called death penalty on the school's football program.