Over the next week, the Arizona Wildcats football team will continue to look back at some of its top players by jersey number as it approaches the start of the season. Former Arizona defensive back Darryll Lewis is featured for his time with the Wildcats from 1986 to 1990.
Lewis redshirted his first year and began his collegiate career as a running back before moving to defense. In his final year with the Wildcats, he won the Jim Thorpe Award, was recognized as a unanimous All-American, named Pac-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, and earned First-team All-Pac-10 honors in 1990. The previous year, Lewis was selected for the Second Team All-Pac-10.
His achievements with Arizona include having his jersey number retired and being named to Arizona’s Ring of Honor. He is tied with Allan Durden for fifth most interceptions in program history with 14.
Lewis was selected in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers. In 1995, he was named to the Pro Bowl after recording six interceptions for 145 return yards and one touchdown that season. That same year, Lewis was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.
From 1994 to 1997, Lewis had at least five interceptions each season and scored a touchdown in five different seasons during his professional career. He later joined the San Diego Chargers in 1999 and also played for the Tennessee Titans before being released. His career concluded after playing ten years when he was released by the Denver Broncos in 2001.
Across his NFL career, Lewis totaled 465 tackles, 32 interceptions, five sacks, seven touchdowns, six forced fumbles, and eight fumble recoveries.
After retiring from playing football, Lewis entered coaching as defensive backs coach at Oregon State in 2003 but resigned after two months due to personal reasons cited by Oregon State.
The article concludes by inviting readers to share their memories of Lewis’s career at Arizona and in professional football.
