Travis Lewis is coming to Lions rookie minicamp in two weeks with a sizable chip on his shoulder. Lewis started at the University of Oklahoma as a freshman and led the team in tackles every year. But there he was Saturday, watching 222 names scroll across the television before his went rolling by in the seventh round to the Lions.
"Absolutely there's a chip,” Lewis said. “All I can think about is I have two weeks to get into the best shape of my life and show up at mini-camp ready to roll."
So how does a player with that kind of production on defense from a major college program fall to the seventh round?
"It's not about stats sometimes, it's all about how fast you run how high you can jump,” said Lewis, who had a disappointing showing at the NFL Scouting Combine in February when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.88 seconds.
“I'm just happy (the Lions) saw something in me and that I'm going to prove them right and I'm going to prove a lot of teams wrong. I'm going to carry that mentality with me to Detroit."
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz sees a four-year starter with a lot of production and a player who looked much faster on tape than he showed at the combine.
“He played this last year hurt – he broke his toe early in the season and it affected him,” Schwartz said.
“But if you look back, he has a history of production at a Big 12 school. He was Big 12 Freshman of the Year, has been on the All-Big 12 team a bunch of times. He didn’t run real well, but if you watch him on the field, he plays fast.
“As much as anything, a guy that steps right on the field in college at a major level of competition and starts for four years, I’ve got a lot of respect for that. He showed a lot of toughness this year and he’s been productive.”
Like Temple linebacker Tahir Whitehead, who the Lions selected in the fifth round, Lewis can come in right away and help on special teams and compete for the Lions' fourth linebacker spot, which doesn’t have anyone’s name etched in stone on it right now.
