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Lewis' odd journey led him to Buff State
By A.J. Speier
On August 16, 2012
When Caesarae Lewis was 18 years old, his mother left the small town of Newbern, Alabama and came
to Buffalo thinking that a marriage was on the horizon.
When things didn't go as planned and the wedding fell apart, Dianne Lewis turned to a local shelter to
call her home.
During her time in the shelter, Caesarae graduated from Sunshine High School and landed at Concordia
College in Selma, Alabama to play Division II football.
He soon realized, though, that high school failed to prepare him for what to expect from football at the
college level.
"It didn't work out because I wasn't prepared mentally," Lewis said. "I had come from a small school
that really didn't push us to a collegiate level. When I went there, I saw guys that were way bigger than
me and had more knowledge of the game. I was just disappointed and down because I went to a school
that didn't prepare me for this level."
Lewis' time at Concordia was short-lived. He decided to join his mother in Buffalo to help get her life
back on track and lend a hand in raising his 12-year-old sister - a move that's proven beneficial for all
involved.
Eventually, Dianne Lewis decided to go back to school. She ended up taking classes at Niagara County
Community College before transferring to Buffalo State.
"It was a big help because a lot of my classes were at night," said Dianne Lewis, who eventually earned
a masters degree in social works from the University at Buffalo. "We don't have any family up here, so it
would've been difficult to get through life without Caesarae. He's helped me out a lot with my daughter.
It's been a big contribution from him to help me with her and being from where we're from makes you a
family man."
Meanwhile, Lewis sought an opportunity to play football at Erie Community College. He wanted to
relearn how to play the game and get his body back to the level collegiate ball demands.
"My focus wasn't to try to go in there and start," said Lewis. "I was really just going there to try to learn
the game more. I knew that I was going to find a way on the field. The thing was that I needed to learn
it all over again and get my body used to repetition. They saw that I was an athlete and I'm pretty sure
that most of the other players were fresh out of high school."
Lewis originally intended to play two seasons at ECC, but a verbal altercation with a residential house
manager ended up getting him kicked off the team. He played just one season and saw little playing
time. His impact on offense was minimal, as he finished with just two carries for 17 yards and a
touchdown. However, he did have 15 kick returns for 250 yards.
With few options left to play football, Lewis turned to ECC wide receiver coach Cody Pokigo for advice
and he suggested he take a look at Buffalo State since Pokigo had been former teammates with Bengals'
offensive line coach Gene Zinni. Lewis contacted Bengals' wide receivers coach Matt Hanhold, but he
missed the first five days of training camp due to an overcapacity on the roster.
"Caesarae would be sitting up in the stands in practice sometimes and we'd see him in the cafeteria,"
Hanhold said. "He kept coming everyday saying, 'Hey coach, is there an opportunity?' I told him if we
get under 100 players, we'll talk and it eventually got to the point where we got under 100. We took a
chance on him and, thankfully, it was the right fit for him."
In his first season as a Bengal last year, Lewis finished with 31 receptions for 387 yards and three
touchdowns. He also earned the Special Teams Co-MVP award after averaging 25.3 yards on kick returns
and 11.6 yards on punt returns. He ended up scoring twice on special teams with a kick and punt return
touchdown.
Lewis will be competing for a starting job at wide receiver during training camp and figures to start once
again as a returner.
"Scoring on special teams is like hitting a home run in baseball," Lewis said. "It's a big emotional boost
for the team and yourself. When you have the ball in your hand, you don't hear anything. It's just silent
and when you know you're about to score, it's just a great feeling."
A.J. Speier can be reached by email at speier.record@live.com.
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