Tyrone Lewis' NFL dream on hold

It was a little after 11 o'clock on a cold February night. Members of the Niagara University men's basketball team were still in a joyous mood after snapping Siena's 15-game winning streak a few days earlier.

Before going to sleep, Niagara's undersize senior guard, Tyrone Lewis, the team's leading scorer, checked his Facebook account.

One message was from Eliot Wolf, the Green Bay Packers' assistant director for pro personnel, asking if Lewis was interested in pursuing an NFL career after college.

"Man, I thought it was a joke," Lewis said. "I didn't even know who Eliot Wolf was."

But Wolf, the son of former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, was serious. He explained how he'd been following Lewis, a Levittown native, since his freshman year at Niagara. Wolf told the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder that he was aware of his being a Division I prospect in football at Harry S Truman High.

Impressed with Lewis' speed and agility, Wolf wondered if Lewis was interested in playing defensive back.

"I just told him, 'Yeah, I'm interested in playing football,' " Lewis said. "If somebody gave me the opportunity, yeah, I would take it."

Two months later, agent Marc Lillibridge said Lewis had the chance to become the next noncollege football player to end up in the NFL.

Lillibridge said scouts from the Packers, Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts were impressed with Lewis' quick feet and explosiveness during his pro day April 5 at Niagara.

However, Lewis was not drafted, and he had not been picked up as a rookie free agent as of last night.

Lillibridge "said if I haven't heard from any NFL teams by now, then I probably won't hear anything, Lewis said last night.

"I would have taken advantage of the opportunity. But now since nobody called, I'm just going to focus on basketball. It's time to get down to business."

If any NFL team were still to decide to take a chance on Lewis, he would follow the path of, among others, San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates and former Pittsburgh Steelers guard Carlton Haselrig.

Before becoming an undrafted rookie in 2003, Gates, a six-time Pro Bowler, hadn't played in an organized football game since his senior year of high school. And despite not playing football in college, Haselrig was the Steelers' 12th-round pick in 1989. The former NCAA champion wrestler had a five-year NFL career.

The first famous such player emerged in 1962, when the Dallas Cowboys signed Utah State basketball player Cornell Green as a free agent. Green went on to play 13 seasons at defensive back and made five Pro Bowls, and a precedent had been set.

A football career wasn't something Lewis considered before being contacted by Wolf. His goal had always been to become a professional basketball player.

That's why he turned down football scholarship offers from Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to play basketball at mid-major Niagara.

At the time, a lot of people, including family members, questioned that decision. At Truman, Lewis was an electrifying cornerback, wideout, and kick returner.

Despite his small stature, Lewis was a big-time basketball player in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. He finished his career as the only player in league history to record at least 1,500 points (he had 1,849), 500 rebounds (523), 200 assists (222), and 200 steals (250, a school record). He also added a school-record 290 three-pointers.

"Basketball is still my first love," Lewis said. "Football is my love, too."