The reputation of an up-and-coming coach and the chance to play alongside a fellow BYU alum led undrafted free agent tight end Chad Lewis to Philadelphia in 1997.

"Jon Gruden was the offensive coordinator and I knew that he ran the West Coast offense, which is basically what I ran at BYU," said Lewis. "I was very comfortable with that and I felt like I had a great opportunity with Ty Detmer as the quarterback. Everything about it just seemed to fit."

Despite having 12 catches and four touchdowns during his rookie season, Lewis was waived by then-coach Ray Rhodes in September '98. Three months later, he signed with St. Louis after recuperating from a broken ankle, and returned to Philadelphia in November '99 after being released by the Rams.

"Andy Reid was the head coach then and I knew (assistant coaches) Juan Castillo and Ted Williams were still there, and coach (John) Harbaugh and Mike Wolf, the strength guy, so I still had some friends there," Lewis said. "I was excited for the opportunity to go back and be a part of his program."

TE Chad Lewis

Lewis became an essential part of the program in 2000, as he led the Eagles with 69 receptions for 735 yards and three touchdowns.

"I think there were a couple of keys," Lewis said. "Number one was teaming with Donovan McNabb. I thought he was incredible as a person, as a quarterback, as a leader. His playmaking ability is just absolutely phenomenal.

"And then they brought in Mike Bartrum and Jeff Thomason as backup tight ends and I learned a lot from those guys. Jeff had been with Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson for several years in Green Bay, so he knew how those guys ran the same routes that Andy was trying to run. Jeff could take Andy's coaching and put it in my brain and tell me what he really wanted. So I felt like I understood what Andy wanted out of me as a tight end and I was able to deliver that."

Reid made a delivery of his own in late December when he called Lewis to tell him that he had been selected for the Pro Bowl. It would be the first of three straight trips for the tight end.

"I was so unbelievably happy. I had the most receptions out of NFC tight ends that year and I knew that I had a chance (to go)," Lewis said. "I felt vindicated in a way for all the hard work and the coaching that had gone in to get me to that point. I felt proud that the Eagles were turning a major corner and that I was a part of that change."

After a three-year absence, that season Philadelphia made the playoffs as a wild-card team. The following year, the Eagles began a streak of four consecutive trips to the NFC Championship Game.

"Our team chemistry was unbelievable," said Lewis. "A lot of that was fostered by, I felt like, three key individuals: Andy Reid, John Harbaugh as the special teams coach, and Donovan as the team captain. Those three had an influence over the whole team. And we had incredible leaders in Troy Vincent and Brian Dawkins. Brian Mitchell was such a powerful special teams player for us.

"I could go down the list and name every person on the team. I felt that we bought into the Eagles' team mentality and we were not there for ourselves. We were there for the team!"

With two touchdowns in the 2004 NFC Championship Game, Lewis helped the Eagles beat Atlanta and earn their first trip to the Super Bowl in 24 years. Unfortunately for the tight end, his season ended on the second scoring reception.

"I was running to the corner of the end zone. I stopped and turned around to catch the ball and when I did that, my foot just exploded," Lewis said about what was diagnosed as a Lisfranc foot sprain. "I think it was a combination of very, very cold temperatures and long spikes that I had in my cleats. It snowed a foot the day before the game and they had semi trucks parked in the end zone as they did the snow removal.

"I think the end zones were packed down just enough that when I planted my foot, it didn't tear through the grass right. It just held it steady enough to explode my foot."

While his teammates prepared to meet New England in Super Bowl XXXIX, Lewis underwent surgery to insert two titanium screws in his foot. Think that would keep him off the Jacksonville, Fla., sideline on Super Sunday? Not a chance.

"I was there and there was an issue about me being hurt and on the sideline for safety reasons," Lewis explained. "I said, 'I'm not sitting in the box. I'm not sitting in the stands. I'm sitting on the sideline and that's the way it's going to be!' And that's the way it was."

After rehabbing for over nine months at his home in Utah, Lewis returned to Philadelphia midway through the '05 season for his third stint with the Eagles.

"It was the hardest rehab I'd ever gone through," he said. "I can't believe the amount of work and pain and sweat and effort that it took to get my foot back. When I got back there, I thought we were going to win the Super Bowl. And then Donovan got hurt and that was the end of that season. Just like that. It was crazy."

But Lewis has no regrets about his career.

"I worked as hard as I could to be the best tight end I could be for the Philadelphia Eagles. I was proud to take the field as an Eagle," Lewis said. "I just feel like I gave everything I had. I mean, I left it all on the field."

That, he did.

Lewis is now giving everything he has as a general manager for Century Steel Inc., which provides rebar throughout Utah.

"We fabricate the steel and we place it," Lewis said. "Our goal is to treat people in a first-class way in every respect. There's a lot of construction, a lot of development. It's one of the only places in America that's still rising, as far as that goes."

Lewis and his wife, Michele, have two daughters: Emily and Sarah; and three sons: Jacob, Jefferson and Maxwell.