Damione Lewis life and biography

Damione Lewis is an American football defensive tackle for the Houston Texans of the National Football League.

Selected by the St. Louis Rams in the first round (12th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft...Signed by Rams on July 27, 2001...Signed with Carolina Panthers as an unrestricted free agent on March 13, 2006...Re-signed with Panthers on February 9, 2008...Released by Panthers on March 4, 2010...Signed by New England Patriots on April 2, 2010...Released by Patriots on September 3, 2010...Signed by Houston Texans on October 25, 2010.

PRO:
Talented veteran defensive tackle who brings extensive starting experience to Houston...joined the Texans during the bye week and will be expected to compete for playing time in the middle...has played in 131 career games with 65 starts and has 22.5 career sacks, four forced fumble and five fumble recoveries.

2010 (Houston 0/0):
Went through training camp with the New England Patriots before being released in the final roster cut-down...signed with the Texans during Week 7 (10/25).

2009 (Carolina 16/16):
Started in all 16 games for the first time in his career, playing along the defensive line...finished with a career-high 65 total tackles, a half-sack and one fumble recovery...recovered a fumble in the season opener vs. Philadelphia (9/13)...registered a half-sack to go along with seven tackles at the New York Jets (11/29)...recorded a season-high 11 tackles at New England (12/13).

2008 (Carolina 15/15):
Started all 15 games that he played in and finished with 48 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 11 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and five passes defensed...also started in one playoff game...registered a sack and a forced fumble vs. Tampa Bay (12/8)...missed the regular season finale at New Orleans (12/28) due to injury...started in the NFC Divisional Playoff vs. Arizona (1/10/09) and recorded a five-yard sack in the first quarter.

2007 (Carolina 15/2):
Played in 15 games with two starts and was inactive for one contest...finished the season with 32 tackles, 3.5 sacks, seven quarterback hurries, one pass defensed and one fumble recovery...his 3.5 sacks tied him for the team lead with LB Na’il Diggs...contributed to a defense that ranked 11th in the NFL in yards allowed per play and fourth in rushing yards per attempt...recorded a sack and recovered a fumble vs. San Francisco (12/2).

2006 (Carolina 16/3):
Played in 16 games with three starts and posted 30 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, 11 quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and three passes defensed...was a key contributor on a defensive unit that finished seventh in the NFL in total defense and tied for eighth in scoring defense, allowing 19.1 points per game.

2005 (St. Louis 16/7):
Played in all 16 games with seven starts for the Rams and finished with 45 tackles, one sack, 23 quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery...started the final seven games of the season.

2004 (St. Louis 16/10):
Played in all 16 games, starting the first 10...totaled 601 tackles and five sacks to go along with eight quarterback pressures, one forced fumble and two passes defensed...tallied a season-high six tackles and one sack vs. Arizona (9/12)...matched his season high with six stops at Miami (10/24)...registered a sack and forced a fumble which was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown vs. New England(11/7)...appeared in both of the Rams’ playoff games and started in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game at Atlanta (1/15/05).

2003 (St. Louis 12/7):
Played in 12 games with seven starts...finished the season with 34 tackles, a half-sack, 13 quarterback pressures, one forced fumble and a pass defensed...started the first seven games before suffering an injury at Pittsburgh (10/26) that caused him to miss the next four contests...saw action in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game vs. Carolina (1/10/04).

2002 (St. Louis 16/2):
Played in 16 games with two starts...finished with 44 tackles, four sacks, 14 quarterback hurries and one pass defensed...started at defensive end vs. Arizona (12/15) and again vs. San Francisco (12/3)...came on strong late in the year, registering 31 tackles, two sacks and five quarterback hurries over the final eight games...recorded the first two sacks of his career vs. Oakland (10/13)...had another two-sack game vs. Chicago (11/18).

2001 (St. Louis 9/3):
Saw action in nine games with three starts as a rookie before being placed on injured reserve with a broken right foot (11/20)...finished the year with 25 tackles and one fumble recovery...started at Detroit (10/8), vs. the New York Giants (10/14) and at the New York Jets (10/21)...tied for the team lead with seven tackles in his NFL debut at Philadelphia (9/9)...made his first professional start on Monday Night Football at Detroit (10/8).

COLLEGE:
Started 41 of the 43 games in which he played at Miami...finished his Hurricane career with 220 tackles, 15.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and one fumble recovery...was a first-team All-Big East selection and third-team All-America by The Sporting News as a senior...registered 39 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles that season...second-team All-Big East choice as a junior after posting 57 tackles, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery...led all Hurricanes defensive linemen with 52 tackles as a sophomore and registered two sacks...started as a redshirt freshman and produced a career-high 72 tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble...majored in liberal arts.

PERSONAL:
Attended Sulphur Springs High School in East Texas...is related to hurdler McClinton Neal, who won a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and competed in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta...he and his wife, Silvana, have a daughter, Soraya, and a son, Damione, whom they call Manny.

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