MARCEDES LEWIS SETS NEW NFL RECORD AFTER SIGNING WITH BEARS FOR 19TH SEASON
- Marcedes Lewis returns for his 19th NFL season in 2024.
- Lewis set an NFL milestone by becoming the longest-tenured tight end in history in 2023.
- Lewis played 11 seasons with the Jaguars and is mainly a blocking tight end with the Chicago Bears.
Marcedes Lewis became the longest-tenured tight end in NFL history in 2023 when he played his 18th season—he'll continue to pad his lead in 2024.
The Chicago Bears announced on June 10 that Lewis was signing a contract to return for his 19th season in the NFL and will be a part of a campaign in which the Bears entire franchise seems to be injected with some much-needed hope thanks to a bevy of talented free agents and a new quarterback, No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, who was only four years old when Lewis played his first NFL game.
Lewis turned 40 years old last month and has become primarily a blocking tight end at this point in his career. He played in all 17 games with four starts in 2023, catching four passes for 29 yards and one touchdown.
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Jaguars selected UCLA star in first round almost 20 years ago
Lewis was a high school star at Southern California football powerhouse Long Beach Poly before winning the John Mackey Award as the nation's best collegiate tight end at UCLA in 2005. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Lewis with the No. 28 overall pick in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft.
Lewis played 11 seasons in Jacksonville and had the best years of his career with the Jaguars. He earned his lone NFL All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2010 with career highs of 58 receptions, 708 yards, and 10 touchdowns.
| Marcedes Lewis Career TE Ranks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Total | Rank |
| Games | 268 | 3rd |
| Starts | 225 | 3rd |
| Receptions | 436 | 33rd |
| Receiving Yards | 5,113 | 37th |
| Yards Per Catch | 11.7 | T-44th |
| Touchdowns | 40 | T-30th |
| Career Earnings (thru '23) | $62.8 million | N/A |
Lewis then spent five seasons with the Green Bay Packers before hopping to the NFC North rival Bears in 2023. Lewis has primarily worked as a blocking tight end for the last few seasons and could continue to mentor up-and-coming tight end Cole Kmet, who had career highs of 73 receptions and 719 receiving yards to go with six touchdowns in 2023.
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Several Pro Football Hall of Famers had lengthy careers surpassed by Lewis
Lewis broke a three-way tie with Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez and longtime Dallas Cowboys star Jason Witten for the longest-tenured tight end in NFL history in 2023 — Gonzalez and Witten each played 17 seasons.
Gonzalez, who is the NFL's career leader for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, has almost 10,000 more receiving yards than Lewis. By comparison, Lewis has over 1,000 less receiving yards in 18 seasons than San Francisco 49ers tight end and NFL All-Pro George Kittle has amassed through his first seven seasons.
GIVEMESPORT Key Stat: Marcedes Lewis' longevity is impressive for a tight end, but also for an NFL player, period. Apart from QBs, kickers, and punters, there are only six players in NFL history who have participated in more than Lewis' 19 campaigns.
The next group behind Lewis, Gonzalez and Witten are three tight ends tied at 16 seasons each. The only one of this trio that modern NFL fans will remember is longtime San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, who is joined by Pete Metzelaars (1983-1997) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jackie Smith (1963-1978). Gates is likely to join Smith in Canton sooner rather than later, as he is the NFL's all-time leader in TE touchdowns, with 116.
| Most Season By A TE, NFL History | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | NFL Years | NFL Tenure | HOF? |
| Marcedes Lewis | 19 | 2006-present | Not Yet Eligible |
| Jason Witten | 17 | 2003-17, 2018-20 | Not Yet Eligible |
| Tony Gonzalez | 17 | 1997-2013 | Yes |
| Antonio Gates | 16 | 2003-2018 | No |
| Pete Metzelaars | 16 | 1982-1997 | No |
| Jackie Smith | 16 | 1963-1978 | Yes |
| Benjamin Watson | 15 | 2004-2019 | No |
| Greg Olsen | 14 | 2007-2020 | Not Yet Eligible |
| Vernon Davis | 14 | 2006-2019 | No |
| Mark Bruener | 14 | 1995-2008 | No |
| 9 others tied at 14 seasons. |
Smith had one of the most famous dropped passes in NFL history in Super Bowl 13, when he let what would have been a touchdown pass from Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach slip right through his fingers and bounce off his chest during the third quarter of a 35-31 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The play led to one of the most infamous play-by-play calls in Super Bowl history from iconic Cowboys radio man Verne Lundquist:
Roger back to throw.. has a man open in the end zone.. caught! Touchdown-dropped! Dropped in the end zone! Jackie Smith all by himself! Oh, bless his heart, he's got to be the sickest man in America.
One interesting stat about the tight ends with the longest careers in NFL history is that of the Top 10 on the list, only two ever won Super Bowls: Benjamin Watson (15 seasons) with the New England Patriots following the 2004 season and Vernon Davis (14 seasons) with the Denver Broncos following the 2015 season.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise. All salary info via Spotrac.
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