As a freshman for the LSU Tigers football team, defensive back Marcques Lewis probably had no idea by the time he was a senior he would have won a championship in two different conferences at two different schools. Lewis, a native of New Iberia, was a walk-on in 2002 on the LSU football team and remembers what it was like before the Tigers became a national power.

“My first year was really a rebuilding year where the team wasn’t known nationally as it is today,” Lewis says. “We lost to Arkansas and Texas in the last two games of the season and used those games next season to build on.”

Lewis says the next year the level of play on the team was much different than he had expected, and there was nothing the team could not do.

“As a team we wanted to win, and that meant winning in the classroom, winning as good citizens and winning as humble players,” he says. “Once we started working on the right things, we became a dominant football team that was unstoppable.”

The Tigers faced Georgia twice in the 2003 season, first beating the Bulldogs at home 17-10, then again in the SEC Championship game 34-13. Lewis says after defeating the Bulldogs for a second time there was no telling what bowl game the team would in.

“We figured after we won the SEC title we would go to a great bowl game. Then we found out that we were going to play for the national title and got more than we expected,” Lewis says. “We wanted to have an identity, and the national championship was our opportunity to do that.”

As a defensive back, Lewis says one of his favorite moments of the national championship game was when defensive end Marcus Spears intercepted Heisman-winning Oklahoma quarterback Jason White and scored for the Tigers in the third quarter.

“That play made the statement that our defense was the best in the country,” Lewis says. “Being a defensive player, you always want to see one of your teammates shine in the spotlight.

Although Spears’ play was his favorite of the game, Lewis’ proudest moment was when those last seconds ran off the clock and he and his teammates celebrated what they had just accomplished.

“Not only did we just win a national title, but we did it in New Orleans, surrounded by family, friends and fans,” he says. “I saw my mom in the stands, and that was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.”

Lewis then came to Nicholls and in his junior season and played in nine of 10 Nicholls games that year on a team that won the Southland Conference for the first time in school history.

Lewis says when he came to Nicholls, he wanted to make a difference and be a part of something great. The result was another championship.

“I’ve been very blessed. It shows how much it will pay off if you work hard doing the right things,” Lewis says. “I never expected to win another title, but the leadership and chemistry Nicholls had was the best I’ve ever been around.”

As a senior this year, Lewis wants to be one of the players on the Colonels team the younger players can look up to.

“I feel that as a leader it’s my job to keep the team cool whenever the pressure is on and to be hungry to get another championship,” Lewis says. “I wasn’t a leader when I first got here, and in order to lead, you have to be able to follow.”

Nicholls Head Coach Jay Thomas says Lewis has a work ethic the team has rallied around, which can be attributed to the type of person he is off the field.

“He has been such a role model to the younger guys just by the attitude he has, and there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a great ambassador for Nicholls in the future,” Thomas says.

Lewis has a total of four championship rings, one for winning the national championship, Sugar Bowl, the SEC and the Southland Conference. He said he keeps all of the rings at home so nothing happens to them.

“You never know if you’re going to drop one in a drain or something, so I keep them in a safe box at my parents’ house,” he says.

Lewis says he never brags about the accolades he has earned in his football career. Instead, he uses what he has won over the years to inspire others.

“When I was at LSU, I just wanted to do whatever I could to feel a part of the team, so if it was helping out on the scout team, I did it,” he says. “I wear the rings every now and then, but I use them only to encourage and inspire others that they can have the same things that I have if they believe and work hard enough.