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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff Writer
It was Oct. 6, 2001, and the top two high school teams in the country were facing off at a packed Veterans Stadium in Long Beach, California, as Marcedes Lewis and No. 1-ranked Long Beach Poly were hosting Maurice Drew and second-ranked De La Salle, of Concord, California.
It was the first time the two UCLA-bound stars would face each other (Drew, who later became Jones-Drew, rushed for four touchdowns in the win), but it was the beginning of a 14-year journey together. Both were first-team All-Americans for the Bruins and both were drafted in 2006 by the Jacksonville Jaguars, for whom they earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors.
It would be understandable to imagine the two swapping glory-day stories about their playing days while nursing the typical aches and pains ex-players encounter in retirement. But there’s one problem.
“Some of the coaches that I played with or were coached by, we were just talking about him the other day — like, man, Marcedes is still playing?” Jones-Drew told ESPN. “I was like, yeah, why wouldn’t he?
“I wish I could still play. He’s living the dream.”
Jones-Drew retired in 2015 at the age of 29 and is now a television analyst and an assistant coach for De La Salle. Lewis, now with the Chicago Bears, is entering his 19th season after turning 40 in May. He is the third-oldest player in the NFL, five months younger than New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and two years younger than Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Jason Peters.
Teammates and coaches, past and present, credit Lewis’ leadership ability, willingness to block during a time when many tight ends are becoming quasi-wide receivers and a knack for staying healthy as reasons for his longevity.
Lewis became the longest-tenured tight end in NFL history last season when he played in all 17 games with the Bears, surpassing a 17-year tie set by Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten. If he appears in a game for Chicago this season, Lewis will be the first tight end, wide receiver or running back to play a game at age 40 or older since Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice did so with the Raiders and Seahawks from 2002 to 2004.
“It is remarkable when you think about that,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “There’s normal human beings, and there’s other people that play 17, 18, 19 years in the NFL.
“Not sure how to explain that.”
When Blake Bortles arrived in Jacksonville in 2014, the quarterback said he was surrounded by a smattering of early 20-somethings — “a glorified college all-star team with a handful of guys that had been around … and Marcedes Lewis.”
Lewis relished the competition, but there was a line the veteran was not willing to cross, and it was “if anybody touched him, or hit him in practice, and he deemed it unacceptable — and 10 times out of 10 times he was usually right,” Bortles said. “There was no need or place for it.”
Bortles said it was rare to see Lewis angry, but there were moments when the tight end had no issue letting his defensive teammates know they should save their full effort for their next opponent — not him.
“I remember [former Jaguars quarterback] Chad Henne and I having a conversation just like, ‘Dude, I hope this happens, because I would love to watch 6-foot-7, 270-pound judo-trained Marcedes Lewis fight somebody on the football field,” Bortles said.
Setting boundaries for his teammates in practice may have been one element in surviving so long, so too is spending nearly nine hours a day training and recovering his mind and body during the height of the offseason.
Whatever Lewis’ secret is, it’s worked despite the role he’s played.
In an era when tight ends have developed into top receiving threats (Kansas City‘s Travis Kelce, Minnesota‘s T.J. Hockenson and Jacksonville’s Evan Engram all logged more than 93 catches in 2023, which ranks inside the top 16 of all receivers), Lewis remains a relatively rare performer.
“We ran some power football back then, and Marcedes was able to be that kind of player for us,” said former Jaguars coach Jake Del Rio, who drafted Lewis. “There are not a lot of tight ends that are playing nowadays that could function at the point of attack like that.
“So I think it was a different era that he came through, and the fact that he’s been able to last through that period almost 20 years later, how the game has changed with a lot of speed and space now, and he’s still got a role in the league, that’s just tremendous.”
The moments when Lewis shows off the receiving skills that made him the 28th overall pick in 2006 are few and far between, although he did have a Pro Bowl season in 2010 when he posted career bests in receptions (58), receiving yards (700) and receiving touchdowns (10) in 2010.
Lewis sent his teammates into a frenzy on Christmas Eve 2023 when he hauled in a one-yard score for his 40th career touchdown in the Bears’ win over the Arizona Cardinals. A moment 16 weeks in the making made the player they affectionately call “Big Dog” the oldest tight end in NFL history to record a receiving touchdown.
“Everyone was juiced about that,” Bears tight end Cole Kmet said. “When the dog gets let out of the pound, you’ve got to feed the dog.”
Sitting next to a stack of cardboard boxes with his belongings ready to be transported from the Bears’ locker room one day after the 2023 season culminated with a loss in Green Bay, Lewis didn’t come across as someone mulling the end of his career.
Instead of talking about retirement or even where he would vacation to give his body and mind a break after logging an 18th season, Lewis was thinking ahead to the offseason.
“I’m rolling,” Lewis said in January. “It’s always been mentally for me. And my mental fortitude is something that I lean on and I can hang my hat on.
“The stuff that I put on film this year is stuff that I can be proud of, and it’s crazy, because I’ll be 40 in May, but when you watch the film it doesn’t look like it. I’ll be ready to go when my number is called.”
At this point of his career, Lewis’ statistical contributions don’t show up as overly impressive. The last time he saw double-digit targets took place during Rodgers’ third MVP season in Green Bay in 2021. Lewis finished that season with 23 catches for 214 yards, a stat line that failed to express what his full value had become to the Packers.
“What are the old commercials, the, ‘This costs this much and this costs this much and then this is priceless?'” Rodgers said during the 2021 season. “That’s how I feel about Big Dog. His salary is ‘X.’ He’s been on the team this many years. But his true value is priceless. Because it’s so much more than just his on-the-field production. It’s his presence, his personality, his leadership, his countenance, his energy [and] everything he brings to the squad.”
The dirty work Lewis is willing to do as a blocker, especially in the run game, supported the Bears No. 2 rushing attack last season. That’s a role he’ll be expected to fill again as a third tight end whose intangibles as a football player give the Bears a player they would be hard pressed to find elsewhere.
He’ll also be expected to help with the development of rookie QB Caleb Williams, who was born six weeks after Lewis and Jones-Drew first faced off.
“He helps everyone in the building, not just the players,” Eberflus said. “He helps me in terms of the feel for the team and where everybody is in terms of the players.
“He has been a tremendous leader since I’ve known him, and we’re certainly excited to have him back.”
ESPN reporters Rob Demovsky, Mike DiRocco and Jeremy Fowler contributed.