Assuming he is able to make Green Bay’s roster and takes the field in the 2022 regular season, NFL veteran Marcedes Lewis will become the third tight end in league history to play 17 seasons, tying Pro Football Hall of Famers Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten for most pro seasons played at the position.
For Lewis, who started all 17 regular-season games for the Packers as well as Green Bay’s lone playoff game last season but failed to record a touchdown reception from Aaron Rodgers, that would be quite an accomplishment. (He came close.)
Selected in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, the 38-year-old tight end spent 12 seasons with the Jags…even though his goal when he was drafted was to play in the NFL for just a decade. Instead of retiring after a dozen years in Jacksonville, Lewis moved on to Green Bay and has spent the past four seasons with the Packers.
Named a Pro Bowler in 2010 when he caught 10 touchdowns and had a career-best 700 receiving yards, Lewis now has his sights set on playing not just his 17th season in the NFL but his 18th as well. If he does, Lewis will become the first tight end in the history of the NFL to play 18 seasons.
“This year, I’ll tie the record,” Lewis said. “It would be great to break it and then I would consider, ‘OK, I’ve done that.’ Eighteen is kind of bizarre, especially at the tight end position. When you’re in Year 17 sometimes I wake up like, ‘Damn, I’m still doing this.’ Obviously, a little longer in the tooth but I love what I do.”
With 234 games under his belt, Lewis currently sits in fifth place on the all-time games played list for a tight end. Trailing all-time leader Jason Witten (271 games) by 37 contests, Lewis will not catch the longtime Cowboy even if he plays all 17 regular-season games over the next two seasons. Still, for a player who has hung around in the league thanks to his blocking, durability and leadership as opposed to just his skill, making it to and through his 18th season in the pros should be viewed as a major feather in the helmet.
Fun fact courtesy of NFL.com: In addition to being the last remaining player still active from the 2006 draft class following the recent retirement of Baltimore Ravens punter Sam Koch, Lewis is also the only first-round pick Rodgers has ever hit with a successful touchdown pass.
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