Douglass High stars reunited as Browns

Associated Press

Berea, Ohio — James Davis cheered from the stands as Jamal Lewis set all the rushing records at Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta. Now the two are teammates with the Cleveland Browns.

And Davis broke all of Lewis' prep records.

"I started for 3 1/2 years, Jamal started for three years, so I got a little bit more playing time than he did," Davis joked. "He's always talking about that other year."

As Lewis approaches his 30th birthday later this month and begins his 10th year in the league, the veteran running back is eager to play in new Browns coach Eric Mangini's run-oriented offense.

Mangini has made it a point to improve Cleveland's running game — he bulked up the offensive line by adding center Alex Mack in the first round of April's draft. A healthy Lewis could make another run at 300 carries, something he has done just once since 2003. Counting the playoffs, he enters this season with quite a career: 2,529 carries, 10,533 yards and 62 touchdowns.

Lewis, an observer for summer minicamps as he recovered from an offseason ankle injury, is healthy and participating fully in training camp.

He admitted even he is surprised by how well he is running at age 30, which can be viewed as a milestone among NFL running backs.

"I'm blessed to make it to 30 and still be out on this football field," Lewis said. "I'm surprised, but I owe it to my offseason conditioning and what I do to prepare for this game. To be where I am at 10 years in the league, it must be something that I do special that obviously a lot of other guys can't do."

Mangini dismissed the idea that running backs fade when they reach a certain age or number of carries. He has watched Corey Dillon and Antoine Smith in New England and Thomas Jones in New York enjoy great success after 30.

"Sometimes the wisdom, combined with the ability, produces even better results," he said.

Now Lewis is sharing that wisdom with a sixth-round rookie out of Clemson, who happens to come from his own neighborhood.

When Davis comes to the sideline after a carry, Lewis is in his ear. When the team is watching film, Lewis is pointing out what Davis did right and what he did wrong.

So far, Lewis said Davis is doing a lot right.

"I see something real special in him," Lewis said. "I see a burst out of him and an aggressiveness out of him. We're from the same neighborhood back home, so he's got some fight to him. I just try to help him out as much as I can because I see the ability there. I think he has a bright future in this league."

Mangini has noticed Davis making an impact on special teams.

"He's done it since the day he got here," Mangini said. "There are multiple drills where he's the first one down on special teams. There are 80 guys in camp and it's easy to get lost in those 80. It's important to get noticed. You notice the first one down. That's hard to miss."

Davis started four years at Clemson, finishing second on the school list with 3,881 career rushing yards. At 210 pounds, he was the power component of a rotation that included C.J. Spiller. Now he is viewed as the change of pace speed back with Lewis and the Browns. Davis can only shake his head and laugh that he is now teamed with Lewis, whom he spent his elementary school days idolizing in Atlanta.

"It's very special," Davis said. "Everybody back home is telling me what a great opportunity I have to play with a guy from my own backyard. It's really special getting to learn from a guy who has already done it.

"I just want to keep improving. When you got guys like Jamal saying, 'Hey, that's a better job than what you did yesterday,' that's kind of my motto. That's what I want to do."