Fresno City College starting quarterback, Emmanuel Lewis, helped lead his team to a 6-4 season. He has also had many obstacles in his life, yet he is proving that he is up to the task of doing what is needed to be successful.
Lewis graduated from Tulare Union high school he broke many records. He was a two time MVP of the league, and first team all conference for two different years where he broke the State passing record with 42,000 yards plus. He also threw 50 touch downs his senior year, and was first team all-valley.
Lewis was recruited by Ball State. He hoped to compete with their quarterback for the starting position, but found himself relegated to their back up. That is when he decided to move on to FCC. “I came out of high school big headed; not too big headed. I also went out there to show I really could play.”
He sat out the 06 seasons, and Nate Davis, who is now the starter, had the edge over him, based on the fact that he had started the last seven games of the 06 season.
Playing for Ball State was very frustrating for Lewis, because he thought he would never be a starter on that team.
In 2008, Lewis chose to attend FCC. He was closer to home and knew he had an opportunity to become the starting quarterback. “I think this program is great,” Lewis said,”They have the weight program, and they have all the things a player needs to be successful at the JC college level.”
Lewis grew up in a single parent household where he had to struggle with issues of being young, black, and poor.
He moved to Atlanta Georgia, after his elementary years. He did not have any friends or family outside of those in his home, and he went without because he was poor.
“Not having the best of clothes and not coming to school with any money in my pocket was very difficult for me,” said Lewis about living in Atlanta.
He moved back to Tulare, CA. during his junior year in high school, and found himself struggling with peer pressure, because of his popularity. “Gang influences, going to class on time, girls hitting on me and doing the right thing,” said Lewis.
Lewis got into some trouble in Tulare. He had to refocus on what he wanted out of life. “I just told myself to be the best I could be. I knew that only I could do wrong and go to jail, or do right and go to college.”
Even though Lewis was raised in a single family, his dad gave him some advice to last a lifetime, “The decisions you make today will affect you for the rest of your life.”
Lewis also has a one-year-old child who is named after him. He says having a child has made him a more humble person, “My whole view of life has changed.” Lewis said he has learned that he has to be a responsible person now that he is a father.
Playing for FCC has rejuvenated Lewis’s college career. Now, he is hoping to play for a bigger college than Ball State.
If he doesn’t succeed in football, he plans to get a degree in sports administration, and become an athletic director or a coach.
