January 29, 2020

Lewis: ‘People have to understand we’re more than athletes’

MontrealAlouettes.com

TORONTO — Over his tenure in the Canadian Football League, Montreal Alouettes receiver Eugene Lewis has proven himself to be one of the most valuable players that the team has on the roster.

However, it was far from an easy road to the professional ranks for the 26-year-old.

On the 10-year anniversary of Bell Let’s Talk Day, the talented pass-catcher looks back on his childhood and the man who played a part in shaping him.

In an extra for The Waggle Presented by Sport Clips, Donnovan Bennett spoke to Lewis, who shared the story of his father dealing with depression and how it shaped the receiver as an individual and athlete.


Extra: Eugene Lewis share his story #BellLetsTalk

EPISODE OVERVIEW: For #BellLetsTalk day, Alouettes receiver Eugene Lewis shares his story of watching his father deal with and overcome depression and how it has motivated him to be a better athlete, but also to help others.


“I think it’s a big thing,” Lewis said of the importance of initiatives like Bell Let’s Talk Day. “The reason I say that is because a lot of people don’t know what athletes go through on a daily basis or just throughout the process of a season. There’s a lot that goes on, and for us, it’s more than just football.”

Lewis has spent the last three years of his football career with the Montreal Alouettes. After signing with the team as a free agent in 2017, he’s quickly risen up the ranks and become the Als’ go-to pass-catching option.

The road to get to this point was an interesting one for the 26-year-old.

Lewis grew up in Philadelphia, Pensylvania, living with his mother and siblings.

“My mom worked really hard to put food on the table and to do everything she could for my brothers and sisters,” Lewis said. “I knew it was an important time as a man, and she told me that there was some things she couldn’t teach me as a man; that my father would have a better way of explaining it to me.”

Lewis’ father, Eugene Sr., was a second-round pick of the Utah Jazz in the 1989 NBA Draft. However, after being released by the team early into that training camp, he fell into a spell of depression, eventually turning to alcohol and drugs.

“My dad was really down at one point. (He was) homeless and trying to figure it out and nobody wanted to help him because he had burned a lot of bridges at the time,” Lewis said. “… There were times where my father could have died and probably should have died. He could have been in jail for way longer or it could have really gone a bad way.

“So I’m just grateful and humble that he was able to get over it before it really got to the point where it took his whole life and there was no coming back from it.”

He’d move in with the elder Lewis in grade 7 after Eugene Sr. was able to get back on the right path. He helped him through high school and got him on his way to college.

Following a standout high school football career at Wyoming Valley West, he’d stay in-state, going to Penn-State University. Lewis later redshirted and transferred to Oklahoma where he would finish off his collegiate career.

He went to rookie camps for the Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks in 2017, but after not sticking with either, he made his way north, signing a deal with the Alouettes.

Despite being a professional athlete, every day isn’t easy for Lewis and the rest of the players in the CFL.

“People have to understand that we’re more than athletes,” Lewis said. “We’re human beings too and we go about our day doing the exact same things that other people do. I just think that some things that people say on social media can be hurtful. It depends on how that person grew up and the environment he was brought up in.

“Some people can handle it and some people cannot. For the people who can’t handle it how they’d like to, I think it’s good for those people to be able to talk to somebody, express how they feel and not be judged by it.”

The no questioning Lewis’ leadership on the field. He finished seventh in the league in receiving yards with 1,133 and five touchdowns while making 72 catches in 17 games. In 38 career outings, he’s reeled in 123 balls for 2,080 yards and nine majors.

Montreal Alouettes receiver Eugene Lewis celebrates with fans after scoring a touchdown against the Toronto Argonauts during Touchdown Atlantic. (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

Along with being a standout between the lines, he’s also been a leader in the Als’ locker room, providing an outlet for players to talk about their lives and anything that may be troubling them.

“The locker room is a brotherhood,” Lewis said.  “It’s a sacred place and if you aren’t in the locker room, you’re not going to understand how things work in there. On a daily basis, there’s so many people in that locker room that come from different bases. It’s people with worse lives than I’ve had.

“There’s guys that go through something every single day and they need people to talk to and I’ve always been the guy to sit down and conversate and listen.”

While Lewis has been open over the years when it comes to sharing the story of his upbringing, there are still many who suffer in silence. Bell Let’s Talk has raised over $100 million since beginning in 2011.

Now in its 10th year, the help that comes from the campaign in terms of emotional and community support as well as donations do incredible amounts of good and help foundations and people that need support.