Jamal Lewis Jamal Lafitte Lewis ( born August 26 , 1979 ) is a former American football running back in the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens fifth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft . He played college football at Tennessee . After spending his first seven seasons with the Ravens , Lewis signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns prior to the 2007 season and retired after the 2009 season . Lewis is most famous for his career as a Raven , where he helped the team win Super Bowl XXXV as a rookie . Jamal is also well - known for his outstanding 2003 season , where he rushed for 2 , 066 yards , which is third - most of all - time , behind Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson . That same year , Lewis also rushed for 295 yards in one game , which was a record at the time until Adrian Peterson rushed for 296 yards in 2007 . Lewis was inducted into the Ravens ' Ring of Honor on September 27 , 2012 . Early years . Lewis attended Douglass High School in Atlanta , Georgia . Lewis was rated the top RB prospect in the nation by Super Prep . Prep Star rated him as the No . 2 southern RB . Lewis rushed for 1 , 716 yards and 25 TD as a senior and earned AAAA All - State and All - City honors . He was named MVP of the Georgia - Florida All - Star Game with 137 yards on 11 carries ( 12 . 4 avg . ) and 2 TDs . Jamal gained 1 , 923 yards and scored 28 TDs as a junior and 1 , 240 yards and 15 TDs as a sophomore . In his 3 years as a starter , he rushed for a school - record 4 , 879 yards and 68 TDs , plus had a 9 . 7 - yard average per carry . While at Douglass , Lewis went from a fullback to starting at running back , and also participated in track and field . College career . In his three year career at the University of Tennessee , Lewis rushed for 2 , 677 yards and accounted for 3 , 161 all - purpose . Lewis stands third on the university ' s list of all - time rushers and fourth in all - purpose yards . As a freshman in 1997 Lewis rushed for 1 , 364 yards and seven touchdowns . For his efforts , he was named first team Freshman All - America by The Sporting News and second - team All - SEC by the Associated Press . In 1998 , Jamal suffered a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and missed the rest of the season . He was an arts and science major . He played with former Indianapolis Colts ( and now Denver Broncos ) quarterback Peyton Manning . Professional career . Baltimore Ravens . Regarded as the best available tailback alongside Thomas Jones , Lewis was the fifth pick overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens . In his rookie season , he rushed for over 1 , 300 yards , supplanting Priest Holmes as the team ' s starting running back . On November 19 , Lewis became the youngest player since 1960 to record 200 yards from scrimmage ( 21 years , 82 days ) . The Ravens ' running game and punishing defense earned them their first World Championship when they defeated the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV . Lewis rushed for 103 yards and scored a touchdown in the game , becoming only the second rookie ever to rush for over 100 yards in a Super Bowl and the youngest player to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl ( 21 ) . In the 2003 season , Lewis led the NFL in rushing with 2 , 066 yards , falling just 39 yards short of the all time single season rushing record , which remains Eric Dickerson ' s 2 , 105 yards in 1984 . Lewis joined Dickerson , Terrell Davis , Barry Sanders , and O . J . Simpson as the only backs in the 2 , 000 rushing yards club . In 2009 , Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans , would also surpass the 2 , 000 - yard mark by rushing for 2 , 006 yards . In 2012 , Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings finished with 2 , 097 rushing yards , the second - most ever for a running back in a single season . On September 14 , 2003 , Lewis also broke Corey Dillon ' s single - game rushing record of 278 yards by running for 295 yards against the Cleveland Browns . Lewis was rewarded by being named NFL Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press . Lewis ' s single - game rushing record was later broken by Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings on November 4 , 2007 , when he ran for 296 yards against the San Diego Chargers . After the 2005 season , the Baltimore Ravens declined to place the franchise tag on Lewis , making him an unrestricted free agent after the end of the season . This move was seen by many as a formality in letting Lewis move to another team . Popular speculation blamed Lewis ' steadily declining performance since the 2003 season . Lewis had also voiced displeasure during the 2005 season over the team ' s failure to sign him to a long term deal . Despite these events the Ravens re - signed Lewis on Monday , March 13 , 2006 with a three - year deal , despite having signed former Denver Broncos running back Mike Anderson , who was widely thought to be Lewis ' replacement . On November 19 , 2006 , Lewis rushed for a season - high three touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons . He ended the season rushing for 1 , 132 yards , and 9 touchdowns . On February 28 , 2007 , the Ravens announced that they released Lewis . However , general manager Ozzie Newsome pointed out that they hoped to re - sign him but that changed on March 7 , 2007 , when Lewis signed a contract with the Cleveland Browns . Cleveland Browns . After joining the Browns , Lewis became the team ' s starting running back . Lewis had his first 1 , 300 + yard season since 2003 in his first season with the Browns , rushing for 1 , 304 yards and 9 touchdowns . On November 8 , 2008 , " The Plain Dealer " reported that Lewis was dissatisfied with the performance of his teammates in the Browns ' recent loss to the Denver Broncos . Lewis stated , " This is the NFL , you can ' t call it quits until the game is over . " Lewis went on to say " it looks to me like some people called it quits before that . Denver was down , but they didn ' t call it quits . They kept their heads up and they finished . We didn ' t do that two weeks in a row - at home . " Without naming names , Lewis said : " Some people need to check their egos at the door and find some heart to come out here and play hard . This is a man ' s game . The way we went out there and played two weeks in a row , finishing the same kind of way , it ' s not there . I think there are some men around here that need to check theirselves , straight up . That ' s it . " On November 2 , 2009 , Lewis announced he would retire after the 2009 season . Late in the 2009 season , Lewis was placed on injured reserve , ending his season . On February 17 , 2010 , the Browns released Lewis . Personal life . In February 2004 , it surfaced that Lewis had been involved in talks about a drug deal . Lewis was charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms of cocaine and using a cell phone in the commission of the first count . Lewis reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in October 2004 and ultimately , Lewis was sentenced in January 2005 to four months in federal prison . He was released on August 2 , 2005 . On October 31 , 2011 , Regions Bank filed suit against Lewis over an unpaid $ 660 , 000 loan .