The third in a series featuring newcomers to the Arkansas football team
University for Arkansas defensive lineman Taylor Lewis was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side and was able to defy the odds of life on the streets with the help of his mother, coaches and his own-self determination.
According to a June 2019 news report, a New York University School of Medicine study showed residents living in an affluent community on Chicago’s North Side residents on average live to age 90, while the life expectancy of residents of the city’s predominately Black South Side is roughly 60 years.
During Lewis’ youth, his longevity wasn’t promising.
“Had a bit of a background that could’ve led me to two places: Dead or in jail,” Lewis said. “Pretty much went through a lot of stages in life where I didn’t know who I was going to be. Didn’t know who I wanted to be. I feel like football ultimately gave me that outlook to appreciate life versus taking it for granted and doing the things I was doing.”
Lewis, 6-3, 317 pounds, who last played at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif., made official visits to Arkansas, Washington State and Oregon State before committing and signing with the Hogs. He reported to Arkansas in early June.
The chances he would ever be at Arkansas — or any Division I program — looked extremely slim during Taylor’s early years.
“I got expelled from middle school for gang activity,” Taylor said. “First year in high school playing [football], grades were below average. Same thing throughout high school. I ended up getting removed from my high school twice. I had to go the alternative school route. Alternative school was for the kids that public school kicked out.”
Lewis was able to garner some attention while playing football at Chicago’s Kenwood Academy. But his troubles continued after his senior season as he was kicked out of Kenwood and placed in the Pathways alternative school for the second semester.
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Despite his challenges, he was able to land at Iowa Central Community College in July 2018, where he redshirted that fall.
“That was my first time to be away from Chicago by myself, so I was going through a real depressed stage,” Lewis said. “I wasn’t playing. I was really being told I really wasn’t going to play anymore. So I started believing it. I started not believing in myself.”
He left Iowa Central in December shortly after the season ended and went back to Chicago for a couple of months.
“I was going to give up football and just dive head first in the life that I thought was mine,” he said. “My ultimate inability.”
According to chicago.gov, the homicide rate for Blacks was nine times higher in the city than non-Blacks in 2017. Going back home eventually made Lewis realize living on the South Side wasn’t what he wanted for his future.
“I think it really turned around when I had to go back to Chicago from Iowa Central and one of my cousins got killed,” Lewis said. “I lost a few cousins, but this one was different. That one kind of put me in the spot where it was like, ‘Is this going to be my life? Is this what I want to see myself doing? I can’t raise kids like this. I can’t have a life like this.’
“That was my turning point and from then on, I came to a point where I became a completely different person.”
Kevin Sabo, a trainer and key figure in Lewis’ life, helped Lewis navigate through some tough times.
“He’s a guy that was working me out in Chicago and he did some things for me I can’t speak on, but I truly love that man,” Lewis said.
Sabo spoke to a contact at College of the Canyons, and soon the coaches reached out to Lewis on Twitter in February 2019.
“I felt like this was my last chance,” Lewis said. “God pretty much did the work from there. Even before then, but that let me know my purpose on this planet.”
When he arrived at College of the Canyons a month later, Lewis still had an edge about himself. But the coaches were eventually able to gain his trust.
“I came out here in defense mode, street kid from Chicago,” Lewis said. “I wasn’t going to let anybody play with me and these coaches just loved on me and were there for me for all of my hard times and never turned their backs on me.
“They were there for me even at my worst time — when I was being an a******, when I was being defensive, when I was not buying in to trusting coaches. They showed me what love really was. It was unconditional. It wasn’t about what I could do on the field. It’s about the impact I have on other people and the things they want me to do for my family down the line. It’s bigger than football. It pretty much turned everything around for me.”
Two major events in Lewis’ life happened back-to-back during the summer of 2019 that made his desire to change the direction of his life even more urgent.
Another cousin and a close friend of Lewis’ were shot on the South Side on the same day in the early part of that summer. While both survived their injuries, having about four cousins and about five friends shot and killed during his life had taken a toll.
“I told my coach that and I was like. ‘Man, I’m going back to Chicago,’ ” Lewis said. “I couldn’t function no more. My mind was playing tricks on me. I couldn’t be out here by myself. I was at one of those points [like], ‘Yeah, I need to go check up on my people.’
“So I went back home and every day I was at home, the coaches checked up on me. Making sure I was good. Asking how my family was doing. Asked how I was doing. … That made me realize there’s people out here that really care about me.”
That July, Anita Lewis, Lewis’ beloved mother, suffered a stroke.
“My mom is everything to me. I can’t lose my mom,” Lewis said. “That’s my biggest fear. I had to go back to Chicago once again.
“My mom is very upbeat and vibrant. She’s always doing stuff for people. To see her in the state that she was in after the stroke — not really remembering anything, not knowing what’s going on, not being able to speak — that beat me up inside.”
With his mother recovering and out of work, Lewis was in danger of being evicted from his apartment in California. But Sabo came through for him again.
“I couldn’t pay rent without my momma,” Lewis said. “I had a job but couldn’t pay it myself. He put me into contact with some people and got me some loans the right way. That really put football into perspective. Like this is my way out, like, I got to grind, I have to take this stuff serious. I can’t be just an average player. I just can’t come here and play. I have to change my life around and put my all into football so I can get something back.”
Lewis’ mother has since made a full recovery. Meanwhile, his teammates at College of the Canyons encouraged him and helped him see a different way of life and thinking while making lifelong friends.
“They had a different appreciation for life, and it wasn’t about the street, it wasn’t about being hard, it wasn’t about being tough,” Lewis said. “It was more about enjoying the opportunity you’re given. Enjoy quality time with brothers that really care about you outside what I had going on. I gained some real true friendships out of juco.”
He started to flourish on the field and off. As a freshman, he recorded 19 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss in 8 games.
Then the 2020 season was cancelled as coronavirus pandemic hit, and Lewis and his teammates were on their own.
“We pretty much had to depend on each other,” Lewis said. “It made us become better teammates and better brothers. I also had to find ways to also make money to keep my rent going and keep myself in school because [in] California jucos, you don’t get scholarships.”
During that time, Lewis found time to coach a youth football team which he said helped smooth off even more of his rough edges.
“Especially coaching kids that [were] not like myself,” he said. “They didn’t come from the same back ground as me. It helped me understand a different side of life versus my own, because they were kids with all the money in the world. Their parents made sure they were good. They had the support systems. They still had a love for football and they still grinded like they came from nothing.”
When football resumed, Lewis shined during the 2021 season. He recorded 18 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 1/2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 pass breakup in 6 games and was an unanimous All-Southern California Football Association first-team selection.
Lewis was also named to the Region III All-California Community College team and the JCGridiron All-America second team.
He said he was able to let his guard down while in California.
“Being in Santa Clarita, not having to look over my shoulders, not having to worry about nothing, it mellowed me out,” Lewis said.
He acquired an appreciation for nature, photography and video games at the College of the Canyons.
“I just enjoyed life now,” Lewis said.
Lewis also credits his high school coach, Sinque Turner, for being there for him.
“He stuck with me throughout the whole process,” Lewis said. “He was there from start to finish.”
Lewis also said he can look back now and see how the streets of the South Side hardened him and put him in protective mode in order to survive.
“Everybody wants to be the tough dude,” Lewis said. “Everybody wants to be the hardest dude from Chicago. Even the guys that are the smartest and are doing the right things in Chicago usually get caught up in that life as well.
“I feel like I’m a natural-born leader, but in constant situations I just kind of fell for the peer pressure. Not wanting to be by myself, not wanting to be preyed on. So I made sure I was around the guys I knew that would protect me. It was a bad outlook on what a man should be. That’s what that was.”
The few years of being away from his former environment and being exposed other ways of life has changed Lewis’ perspective of what being a man is all about.
“A man now, if you have a family you lead your household for one,” he said. “Doing everything to make sure that the people you care about [are] taken care of. Being honest, being loyal, being respectful, respect others, treat people the way you want them to treat you, Caring about your family, caring about your mom, your dad. your bothers.”
Lewis said he now wants to be a positive influence on others struggling in his hometown.
“Also carrying a legacy for other people that might not be related to you,” Lewis said. “I’m focused on making sure the kids that came up how I came up, see there’s another way out of Chicago. I just want to be that person people look at and say it’s never too late to change. It’s never too late to be somebody else.”
He said he appreciates the opportunity he has at Arkansas.
“It’s so hard to put into words. I honestly don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Lewis said.
Lewis made his official visit to Fayetteville on May 25-27 and four days later committed to the Hogs.
“None of this, I thought was going to happen, I’m not going to lie,” Lewis said. “I had dreams about Arkansas since I committed. It’s hard to put into words. I’ve never been in a predicament or situation this good.”
Lewis At a Glance
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-3, 317 pounds
HOMETOWN Chicago
HIGH SCHOOL Kenwood Academy
JUNIOR COLLEGE College of the Canyons
AGE 22 (Born Nov. 30, 1999)
NOTEWORTHY Rated a 3-star recruit by 247Sports. … As a sophomore was a unanimous All-Southern California Football Association first-team selection, named to the Region III All-California Community College team and to JCGridiron All-America second team.