This week, Troy wide receiver Chris Lewis medically retired from playing football after his battle with cancer, but his career in football is far from over. 

In December of 2023, doctors discovered a miss behind his left knee. Lewis had been dealing with pain in his leg for much of the 2023 season but put off getting an MRI until after the Sun Belt Championship. Later doctors diagnosed him with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. 

Despite that diagnosis, Lewis played in Troy’s Birmingham Bowl game against Duke. 

“It was difficult,” Lewis said of playing with the thought of cancer on his mind. “For me to say it didn’t affect me at all would be lying. I just knew in the back of my head I had (cancer) and this could be the last game I could ever play.”

Lewis said he played the entire season with the mass in his knee, so he was determined to finish what he and his teammates started.

“I’m always one to put others above myself, so I knew I couldn’t leave my brothers hanging,” Lewis emphasized. “I battled all year with my team with that in my leg, I just didn’t know what it was. I decided I might as well finish the mission with my boys.”

Lewis was a star athlete growing up at Pleasant Grove High School in Alabama and started his college career at Kentucky. Former head coach Jon Sumrall recruited Lewis to Troy after Lewis entered the transfer portal but that wasn’t Sumrall’s first time recruiting the 6-foot-4-inch receiver. Sumrall was an assistant coach at Kentucky when Lewis was in high school.

“I was at (Pleasant Grove) to watch another guy that was a year older than Chris, a linebacker, and the entire practice Chris kept catching my eye and doing things that impressed me,” Sumrall recalled. “He was in the front of every line, took extra reps, was very coachable and took great attention to detail. I came to watch this other guy but I really fell in love with Chris. By the time I left, the guy I wanted on our team was Chris.” 

Lewis transferred to Troy prior to the 2023 season and pretty quickly became one of Troy’s top offensive weapons. He earned All-Sun Belt honors after grabbing 32 catches for 735 yards and 10 touchdowns. He even threw a touchdown pass and was routinely making highlight reel grabs. 

Lewis said the game that stands out to him most was the night he helped lead Troy to a victory over rival South Alabama, catching four passes for a staggering 120 yards and three touchdowns in the process.

“Being on the field the first few drives in the first quarter we just couldn’t score,” Lewis remembered. “Nothing was going our way and I remember looking at (offensive coordinator Joe) Craddock and telling him, ‘Give me a chance. I can turn this game around.’ 

The practices leading up to that game I showed him that I could be trusted and he put the game in my hand and I took it over. That was one of my favorite memories.” 

After being diagnosed with cancer, Lewis began the difficult task of battling his cancer, which included 10 weeks of chemotherapy treatments and surgery. When talking about the battle, Lewis’ toughness is evident. 

“Going through cancer is different for everyone,” he said. “It really wasn’t that bad for me. Just sitting in the hospital and having to clear the medicine before I could go home – and throwing up and everything – was the worst thing. The whole process wasn’t that bad to me because I had family, friends, my team and fans giving me unwavering support.”

Troy Coach Gerad Parker, who took over the program following Lewis’ diagnosis, said it didn’t take long for him to realize what kind of person Lewis was.

“Very quickly you realize who he is as a human being when you get around him for even a little bit and spend some time with him,” Parker said. “This has been a long journey for him and I cannot by any means understand or know how he feels – or what he went through – but our staff and team certainly put a lot of thoughts and empathy on how things would transpire and wanting to be there for him.” 

Sumrall said the type of person that Lewis is enhances the type of player he was.

“He’s just such a great person, that’s who he is,” said Sumrall. “Everyone gets lost on who a guy is as a player but what made Chris the player he’s been is the type of heart he has. He cares deeply for others, he’s a really humble kid and he’s a really thoughtful kid. He’s very intentional and always has been.

“I think that’s what stood out to me the most when I first met him as a (high school) sophomore. You could just feel his positive energy and his connectivity to others. He hasn’t changed, he’s that same guy several years later.” 

Parker said it was important to him and his team to make sure Lewis felt their love during his battle.

“He’s a part of Troy. He was part of Troy before we got here and he’ll always be a part of Troy,” said Parker. “We wanted to make his experience as good for him as we could, regardless if he plays or doesn’t play.”

Lewis said he never felt alone throughout his treatments, which made things a lot easier.

“It meant everything to me, it kept me up,” Lewis said of the support he received. “There wasn’t a moment going through cancer and chemo and all of that where I felt alone. Every day I had calls from somebody, whether it was teammates, fans, coaches, friends, whoever. Even the Kentucky fanbase – even though I transferred – showed love to me. I felt a lot of love throughout the process.” 

Lewis likely would have been an NFL prospect if not for the cancer diagnosis and had held out hopes to play again one day, but finally decided it was time to close that chapter of his life.

“You saw the level I was playing at before everything,” he said. “I didn’t want to come back and not be able to play at that level. The muscle mass in my leg is not ready now and I think it would be 1-2 years before it would get fully back to where I could even be able to train how I’m supposed to, to be able to play. That’s just the beginning steps, not including running and hard cutting that comes with it. I was chasing a dream that I’ve had since I was a child that just wasn’t there for me anymore.”

Throughout the 2024 season, Lewis remained around his teammates and could be seen on Troy sidelines even during practices, talking to his teammates and uplifting them.

“To have a young man like that around our team, even if he’s not able to play, is a blessing,” Parker said. “It also gave him a chance to see things from a different lens. I was just really glad he was here and still around our team.”

Lewis said while his playing days are over, he still intends to remain a part of the game; as a coach. 

“That’s my next step, to get into coaching and finish what I started on the field,” Lewis emphatically said. “There’s still a lot of knowledge that I feel like I can give to young receivers and young players. I can give them my insight and the knowledge of playing the game at a high level. I just want to be able to pour into kids and show my teammates what I have left in the tank and give them what I have. That’s what I would be doing as a player.”

Lewis will graduate this fall and will spend football season as a student assistant on the football team at Troy. 

“He’s getting a unique look at what a coach’s hours looks like,” Parker said. “A lot of (players) have no idea about that part of it. I think he will be able to see what it takes (to be a coach) and I love who he will be around. He has (receivers coach) Gary Banks and graduate assistant Johnathan Lloyd, a graduate assistant, who are both phenomenal. He will be around people that will show him how to do this and will give him a really great chance of growing and being even more prepared than most in his position.” 

Sumrall recalled a lesson he learned from legendary Troy Coach Larry Blakeney about former players.

“I remember Coach Blakeney always telling me not to forget my former players,” Sumrall said. “Everyone gets caught up in the moment, your current players, but you can’t forget about those former players.” 

Sumrall says he stays in contact with Lewis and that he will be visiting the staff at Tulane to get some more insight into the coaching profession this summer.

“I’ve given him some thoughts on what that looks like and how to go about it,” said Sumrall. “He’s going to spend a week with our staff. We talked about his intention to be a coach. I’ve told him what that looks like and what you need to know. 

“This is what being a (graduate assistant) looks like, this is what being an analyst looks like, this is how you get your start. He’ll get a little bit of a (coaching) education from our program’s standpoint.” 

While Lewis is in the infancy of his coaching journey, he’s already setting goals for himself.

“My goals for the future are simple; I want to be a coach,” he flatly said. “I want to be a receivers coach and one day, I want to be a head coach. That’s what I’m working towards.”