Waiting For His Moment
July 17, 2024 | Football
DALLAS – Redshirt junior John Lewis was one of three Mississippi State players that represented the Bulldogs alongside first-year head coach Jeff Lebby at SEC Media Days on Wednesday.
And although Lewis spent a majority of the day separated from Lebby and his teammates, he was far from alone as he made the rounds answering questions throughout the Omni Hotel. Â
Just inside the liner of Lewis' custom black blazer were photos of his late brother, Tyrese Hoskins, who passed away two years ago along with an ultrasound of his 18-day-old son, Jace.
"I wanted to bring a piece of them here to Dallas with me," Lewis said.
With their images close to his heart, Lewis fielded questions for over four hours ranging from his new role as a leader on MSU's defense to his happiness with his rating in the new EA Sports College Football game that was released earlier this week.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder from Canton, Mississippi remained cool, calm and collected throughout the process and tried to showcase some of his personality. Perhaps the place he felt the most at home was on top of a mechanical bull that was staged for photos with his new custom cowboy hat.
Lewis, who is an avid horseback rider and racer, had an SEC official turn on the artificial . It was all part of a memorable day that Lewis has been longing for quite some time.
"This is literally a dream come true," Lewis said. "I've been dreaming of this since I was a little kid. This is a big deal for our university and me personally. This is something I really wanted to do once I saw (Nathaniel Watson) do it. I was a little nervous when they asked me to do it. But once I got here, I felt relaxed and just tried to be myself like my grandma Nellie told me to."
Waiting for his moment is something Lewis understands more than most. He patiently bided his time behind the likes of Watson, Jett Johnson and Tyrus Wheat during his first three seasons in Starkville.
Instead of looking for playing time elsewhere, Lewis made the most of his opportunities to learn from three of the SEC's top linebackers that have since moved on to the NFL.
"Everybody has to wait their turn," Lewis said. "God has a different path for everybody. I just kept my head down, followed and took things from 'Bookie' (Watson), Jett and Tyrus Wheat. There's a lot of stuff I learned from them."
Johnson and Watson finished as the top two tacklers in the SEC in each of the past two seasons with Watson later being tabbed as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year last fall.
But it wasn't just bone-crunching hits, sideline-to-sideline coverages and reading opposing offenses that Lewis was learning from the veterans in front of him. He was also studying their leadership qualities and is now attempting to implement what he observed and instill it into the next generation of Bulldog linebackers.
"It's not only about being a leader; It's about being respected by everybody on the team," Lewis said. "I'm considered an old head now and am just trying to follow 'Bookie's footsteps as a leader. I paid attention to the things that he did and have pieced things together from him and Jett."
Lewis has appeared 28 career games and earned three starts last fall. He and fellow veteran J.P. Purvis will lead a deep and talented group of maybe lesser-known linebackers that he expects to become household names by the end of the season.
"We've got a lot of great players at linebacker and a lot of faces that are probably not known yet," Lewis said. "But they'll be known this year. There's so much depth. It's to the point where we can rotate so many guys that all know so much like Zakari Tillman, Javae Gilmore and Stone Blanton."
After three years of learning and developing, Lewis is looking forward to being back into Davis Wade Stadium this fall to showcase his abilities in front of the Maroon and White faithful in more of a featured role on defense.
But as a lifelong Bulldog fan himself, Lewis is excited to ring in the Lebby era of Mississippi State football and wants the Maroon and White faithful to match his enthusiasm by packing the stands and creating one of the most intimidating atmospheres in all of college football. Â
"There's going to be a lot of scoring, so bring your cowbells," Lewis said. "There's going to be a lot of turnovers on defense, so bring your cowbells. Just like coach Lebby says, it's going to be showtime."
