The recently completed National Arena League season saw Jacksonville win the title, and on Tuesday the Storm scooped up one of its better players to boost the offensive line.
FROM THE STORM P.R. STAFF – The Tampa Bay Storm has acquired All-Arena offensive lineman, Cornelius Lewis, announced vice president of football operations Jeff Gooch.
“Cornelius adds veteran leadership to the offensive line,” said Gooch. “Any time you have the ability to add a player of his caliber, you have to take the opportunity. He will further stabilize our offensive line, helping our offensive output.”
Lewis (6-foot-5, 350 lbs., Tennessee State) enters his seventh season in the Arena Football League and first in a Storm uniform. The six-year veteran comes to the Storm after spending the 2016 season with the Jacksonville Sharks. Lewis started on an offensive line, with current teammate Ray McNeil, that allowed just 10 total sacks in 2016, earning him a First Team All-Arena selection.
A Jacksonville native, Lewis began his arena football career in 2011 with the Iowa Barnstormers. He would spend the 2012 season in Iowa before joining the Sharks in 2013. He began his professional career in 2009 as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League.
Lewis played collegiately at Florida State before transferring to Tennessee State. A standout offensive lineman for the Tigers, he earned All-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 2007 and 2008.