Three- time Pro Bowl tight end Chad Lewis says that every good thing in his life is a direct result of his family and his faith. Surround Yourself with Greatness takes readers around the world while looking through the eyes, mind, and heart of Chad Lewis a once freckle- faced, four- eyed, skinny teenager who at an early age wrote in his journal, My goal and quest is to surround myself with greatness . . . only greatness will penetrate the walls of my heart. Within these soul- searching, character- framing chapters, we meet extraordinary people coaches, teammates, friends, and family and learn what a profound influence we have on each other s lives. From the miraculous, near- death experience of his father to the life- changing events in Taiwan as a missionary to the brutal football training camps and his nine- year career in the NFL, Chad takes us on a path to our own selfdiscovery as he shares his secrets to happiness and what it means to surround yourself with greatness. We live in a world of relationships that are dynamic. We need each other. We need to choose, with conscious awareness, to open our eyes, heart, and mind to the great people who elevate life that are all around us.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH GREATNESS

By CHAD LEWIS

SHADOW MOUNTAIN

Copyright © 2009 Chad Wayne Lewis
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60641-195-7

Contents

Foreword..........................................................................................ixPreface...........................................................................................xiiiIntroduction......................................................................................1Chapter 1 The Bombshell...........................................................................3Chapter 2 The Road to the Hospital................................................................20Chapter 3 Alive...................................................................................29Chapter 4 Blessings Book..........................................................................35Chapter 5 "Doc Rog" Walks to Education Week.......................................................54Chapter 6 The Missionary Training Center..........................................................65Chapter 7 Hello, Taiwan...........................................................................75Chapter 8 Larry, Rob, and President Watson........................................................87Chapter 9 "If It's to Be, It's Up to Me"..........................................................103Chapter 10 Home to America, Family, and BYU Football..............................................121Chapter 11 Michele and BYU........................................................................139Chapter 12 Marriage, Football, and a Baby Girl....................................................151Chapter 13 The NFL................................................................................167Chapter 14 The Most Powerful Man in Philadelphia..................................................186Chapter 15 Friends................................................................................200Chapter 16 The St. Louis Rams.....................................................................208Chapter 17 Back to Philadelphia, Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, and Training Camp.....................225Chapter 18 Training Camp Goes On..................................................................243Chapter 19 The Pro Bowl...........................................................................257Chapter 20 9/11: The Day That Put Football in Perspective.........................................269Chapter 21 NFC Championships......................................................................282Chapter 22 Coaches and Players....................................................................293Chapter 23 The President of the United States.....................................................300Chapter 24 The NFL in China.......................................................................321Chapter 25 Life after Football....................................................................340Chapter 26 Coaches, Teammates, and Trainers.......................................................350Chapter 27 Neighbors..............................................................................368Chapter 28 Family.................................................................................383Acknowledgments...................................................................................393Notes.............................................................................................397Index.............................................................................................399

Chapter One

9/11: THE DAY THAT PUT FOOTBALL IN PERSPECTIVE

Philadelphia is very close to New York City; by car, it is just over an hour away. Philly is also close to Washington, D.C., only two hours away. When the events of 9/11 began happening, I felt as though we were part of the war zone. It was one of the most unforgettable days of my life.

But for me, the closeness of it all started two months previously in a once-in-a-lifetime experience on Wall Street.

One of the Philadelphia Eagles' business sponsors, Sovereign Bank, made its leap from the NASDAQ to the NYSE in July of 2001. In order to get as much publicity as possible, they wanted a Philadelphia Eagles player to help them ring the closing bell on Wall Street. When they called to ask if I would like to be the player, I jumped at the chance.

Joining them meant giving up three days of cherished, summertime, pre-training camp time with my family in Utah. Instead of going with me, Michele suggested I take my mom. Mom was working for a company that teaches trading principles, and she followed Wall Street on a daily basis. She tried to defer to Michele, but Michele and I finally convinced her she needed to be the one to make the trip.

We were given first-class airfare to New York City. It was the first time Mom had flown first class, and I was thrilled to share the experience with her. We enjoyed the additional leg room and the extra amenities of first class as we made the journey to visit one of the most important financial institutions in the world.

When we arrived in New York, we went straight to our hotel, which was the Marriott at the World Trade Center. The twin towers were constructed in 1971, the same year that I was born. We had dinner that night in the fabulous Windows on the World Restaurant. It took up the two top floors, 106 and 107 of the North Tower, and was world- famous for both its menu and its view.

While waiting to be seated, we looked out one of the windows, very, very far down to the street below. We talked about how crazy it was that eight years before, some crazed lunatics had tried to blow up the building we were standing in.

As we looked down, we wondered aloud where these buildings would go if they were knocked down? This was a steel giant, scraping the sky-literally a city in the air. There was no room below for a building this big to fall. The notion of the building collapsing was so uncomfortable to imagine that we quickly dropped the topic.

After a fantastic dinner-with views of the summer sun setting over Manhattan, which could only be seen from there or through the window of an airplane-we decided to visit the observation deck of the South Tower. We descended the North Tower, changed elevators, and went back to the top of the South Tower. We walked out onto the observation deck and looked at the glowing lights of the city shining in the night. The enormous size and height of those buildings was breathtaking.

The next morning we were joined by Bob Lang of the Philadelphia Eagles public relations department. Rob Alberino and Rich Gentile were the football highlight gurus of the Eagles Television Network, and they were to film the whole adventure.

Larry Harmer just happened to be in town on business, and he joined us as well. Jay Sidhu, the president and CEO of Sovereign Bank, and Dick Mohn, the chairman, were gracious hosts and seemed genuinely happy to have my mom and me there with them.

Before ringing the bell, we attended a small reception with Dick Grasso, the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. We were instructed on bell ringing and clapping at the appropriate time. And Dick, who is a big football fan, and I tossed a football back and forth.

After we rang the bell, we took a tour of the wooden trading floor, which was a beehive of commotion. We shook hands with many of the floor traders and found some were Eagles fans, along with Jets fans, and a whole bunch of Giants fans. Some of the floor traders asked me how I was able to...