Saturday, May 25, 2002
Eagles' Lewis promotes NFL in Asia, returns for camp
By ROB MAADDI
AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Chad Lewis has been to the Pro Bowl twice and played in the NFC championship game last season.
But the most memorable NFL experience for the Philadelphia Eagles' tight end may have been his recent 10-day promotional trip to Asia.
“It's something I'll never forget,” Lewis said after arriving back in Philadelphia in time to participate in a four-day minicamp this week.
“It was so crazy. I put a helmet on and they would crack up laughing. I'd show them a football and they didn't know what the strings were for.”
Lewis made the trip to Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan to help the NFL promote its sport in a part of the world that rarely gets a chance to see it. Soccer and rugby are the dominant sports in Asia.
“They don't care about American football, they don't know the Eagles,” said Lewis, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. “All they know is I care about them. If you show the people there you care about them, they care about you.”
Lewis' visit to Taiwan wasn't his first. He lived in Taichung from 1990-92 while on a Mormon mission. At the time, the 6-foot-6 Lewis was a 20-year-old student from Brigham Young University.
Because of his height and the big glasses he wore that made him look like Clark Kent, Lewis said his nickname was “Superman” during his first visit.
The people remembered Lewis, but he wasn't going around knocking on doors to talk about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this time. He was explaining football instead.
“To go back was special,” he said. “I saw people I hadn't seen in 10 years. It was special because I took my wife. She had heard about it every day for 10 years.”
Before his mission, Lewis spent about 10 hours a day for two months learning the language. His interview requests tripled when he went two weeks ago once reporters found out he speaks Manadarin Chinese.
“It was fun, but I was a celebrity,” Lewis said. “I stayed in a big hotel, ate at the best restaurants. It's not real.”
The NFL started a flag football program in schools throughout Korea in 1999 and Thailand in 2000. The league has also held 10 preseason games in Tokyo, and has scheduled one between the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins in Osaka, Japan, on Aug. 3.
Lewis' road to stardom has been even more difficult than learning a foreign language. He was signed by the Eagles as an undrafted rookie in 1997, played all 16 games and caught four touchdown passes.
But he was released the following year, signed with St. Louis and played just six games with the Rams before landing on waivers midway through the 1999 season.
Lewis rejoined the Eagles the same season and had three TD catches in six games. He won the starting job in 2000, caught 69 passes for 735 yards and three TDs and went to the Pro Bowl as the NFC's starting tight end.
After signing a $6 million, four-
year contract extension, he had 41 catches for 422 yards and six TDs last season and again went to the Pro Bowl.
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Eagles' Lewis promotes NFL in Asia, returns for camp
