Jamal Lewis to IR, career likely over
The Cleveland Browns have placed Jamal Lewis on their injured reserve list, ending his 2009 season, and since he was set to retire at the end of the year anyway his career is now over. If his career is over Lewis will finish with 10,643 rushing yards leaving 21st on the all time list, just 36 yards short of 20th place Ricky Waters. Since he seemed content to move towards a life away from football, this injury isn’t especially sad but Lewis was without a doubt one of those special players that come along once in a generation.
While he may be just 21st on the all time yards list, Lewis is only one of five NFL backs that has gained more than 2,000 yards in one NFL season. He also is in second place for the NFL single game rushing record where he ran for 295 yards against the Cleveland Browns. Lewis was at the time, still a member of Baltimore Ravens.
Lewis is being placed on IR with what the Browns are calling Post Concussion Symptoms, and with all the talk about concussed NFL players lately they were unlikely to allow Lewis to return before being completely clear of any concussion symptoms. Lewis has been highly critical of the Cleveland franchise about their lack of an offensive identity, and the way Head Coach Eric Mangini was conducting his practices. In the end, Lewis was having the worst season of his nine year career, and did not seem happy with the direction of the team.
The Browns also placed Safety Brodney Pool on IR after suffering his fourth known concussion in Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
