great article, i told you all about him. Link, its a great piece Posted on Thu, Jan. 15, 2004 Rich Hofmann | King of Heart By Rich Hofmann hofmanr@phillynews.com Everybody knows what quarterback Donovan McNabb went through on the day he was drafted by the Eagles - the booing, the doubts, all nationally televised. Fewer people remember the private torture endured by safety Michael Lewis. McNabb's experience was emotional, and painful, and very, very real. This is not to minimize it. But what Lewis went through was more emotional, and more painful, and much more real - because his health was questioned, not his ability; because his very livelihood was on the line, not just his football reputation. More than $1 million hung in the balance, dangling on the thread of a rumor about the condition of his heart. It seems like a lifetime ago - with Lewis now the Eagles' starting strong safety, an integral piece of a team about to play in its third consecutive NFC Championship Game - but it was only the spring of 2002. Lewis, for his part, remembers exactly what it felt like. "It does seem like a long time ago now, but it was big at the time, very big," Lewis said yesterday, after the Eagles practiced for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. "It was nerve-wracking because you didn't know," he said. "You heard all the stories about how guys drop out of the draft, and how teams pass on guys, but you never think it's going to happen to you. But then the rumors started. I was fortunate that the Eagles still believed in me and took me." It all came out of nowhere. Lewis had been diagnosed at the beginning of his college career at Colorado with lone atrial fibrillation, a rapid heartbeat. As he remembered it: "They found it in a routine physical. The doctor said, 'Oh, your heart is speeding up.' At the time, they called it an 'athletic rhythm.' I asked what it was, and they just said it was beating a little faster. And that was it. "At the time, I said, 'Oh, yeah? Really?' " That was the entire extent of it. Lewis didn't miss a game at Colorado, didn't miss a practice because of his heart. He said he never noticed it, never felt it beating faster - not in the heat of a big game, not ever. He said he could play 120 plays and it wouldn't matter. In the early months of 2002, as he prepared to enter the NFL draft, most thought Lewis would be the second-best safety in the draft (behind Roy Williams, who was drafted by the Cowboys). As a prelude to the draft, doctors from around the league poked and prodded Lewis and questioned the heart issue. Soon after, the rumors began. Published reports, quoting anonymous personnel people around the league, said that many teams had removed Lewis from their draft boards altogether. They talked about a hole in Lewis' heart, and about a need for surgery, and about how he could have a stroke or heart attack at any time. Lewis and his family were dumbfounded. "I can remember when they first diagnosed it at Colorado, my mother was extremely worried about it," said Rodney Williams, Lewis' brother as well as his agent. "You hear 'heart condition,' it is a concern. Michael was a bit scared, too - but when we got more information, it really wasn't a problem. "Then, about 2 weeks before the draft, somebody in the league started bringing it up and making a major issue of it. I know why - with Korey Stringer's death [with the Minnesota Vikings], with Rashidi Wheeler's death [at Northwestern], everybody was afraid. Everybody was worried. "And when the rumors started about Michael, they just rolled and rolled." Williams and Lewis tried to counter the rumors as quickly as possible by arranging appointments with a couple of cardiologists and offering their opinions to whomever would listen. The stakes were enormous. Lewis was projected as a second-round pick. Signing bonuses for second-rounders are well over $1 million. Undrafted free agents get ham sandwiches. "The rumors had become so widespread that I think Michael started to worry a little," Williams said. "You know, 'Do they know something I don't know?' So when we checked again with the doctors, when we went to the specialists and got the same opinions, then I think he felt some relief." Still, as draft day approached, who knew? The rumor was that Lewis had been removed from "20 or 25 teams' draft boards," Williams said. So who knew? Then, the day arrived and the wait was quick. The Eagles took Lewis in the second round, convinced there were no health issues. And there never have been. "I really wasn't worried," he said. "I know my body. If there was a problem with my body, I would not be in this locker room today. I've never felt anything in a game. I'm blessed. "For the sake of the Eagles organization, as well as myself, every year I go and get it checked up, to make sure everything is going fine. Other than that, it's nothing. No problems." It has been the story of his short Eagles career; no problems. In his second season, he has stepped in as the starting strong safety and made a seamless transition. Given the opportunity as a second-rounder, given the chance after so much doubt, he has delivered. With injured bodies falling all around him this season in the secondary, Lewis has been the constant. He was third on the team with 132 tackles, and tied for first with three interceptions. Last season, he was on the bench, a backup, when Tampa Bay rolled into Veterans Stadium for the NFC Championship Game. He could only watch as starting strong safety Blaine Bishop, suffering with a groin injury that he revealed to no one, labored to chase Bucs receiver Joe Jurevicius downfield on one of the game's signature plays. "This year, it's a lot more intense for me," Lewis said. "It's a lot more pressure. A lot more is being asked of me. Last year, I was a special-teams guy. This year, I'm a starter. There's more being asked. More pressure. "At the same time, there are a lot of people who play 10 years in this league, 12 years, and never get a chance to play in the playoffs. I've got a chance to go to the Super Bowl. When you get the opportunity, you bask in the moment. "You try to live it up, as much as possible," said Michael Lewis, who knows all about opportunities.
