On
August 12, 1978 in a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, wide
receiver John Holland was lost for the year
with a knee injury. Three days later, the Bills traded tight end Paul Seymour
to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Holland's possible replacement, Frank Lewis.
Lewis was the Steelers leading receiver in 1976 but with Lynn Swann and
John Stallworth ahead of him on the depth chart, Lewis was considered expendable.
Seymour was a converted tackle and was an original member of the famed
Electric
Company, the nickname given to the offensive linemen who in 1973 paved
the way for O. J. Simpson's record breaking season. 1978 was a year of
change for the Buffalo Bills. Chuck Knox was hired to turn things around.
He promptly traded Simpson to San Francisco and installed the shotgun
formation, Seymour was expendable.
In retrospect, the trade for Frank Lewis turned out to be the steal of the decade for the Bills. Seymour was damaged goods (as was O. J.) and was returned to Buffalo by the Steelers who were compinsated in some other way as Lewis remained a Bill. In his first game as a Bill, Frank Lewis caught a 22 yard touchdown pass ironically, against his former team, the Steelers. Against the Miami Dolphins in the third game of the season, Lewis hauled in a 92 yard scoring strike from quarterback Joe Ferguson, the longest in both of their careers. Lewis would finish the season second in team receptions, first in yardage and first in touchdowns.
In 1979 Lewis became the second Buffalo Bills wide receiver in the history of the franchise to go over 1000 yards in receptions in a season, with 1,082 yards. He also lead the team in receptions with 54 catches for a whopping 20.0 yards per catch average, the highest by any Bills receiver since 1964.
In 1981 Frank Lewis had his finest season, becoming the first Buffalo Bills player to catch 70 passes in one season. He also broke Elbert Dubenion's record for yardage in a season with 1,244 yards. He continued to shine in the post season as he caught seven passes for 155 yards in the Bills 31-27 victory over the New York Jets. It was the Bills first playoff win since 1965.
A players strike shortened the NFL season in 1982, only nine games were played but Lewis still led the team in receptions and yardage with 28 and 443 respectively.
The 1983 season started out promising for the
Bills but a seaon of promise turned into a season of disappointments as
the bills lost more man games to injury than any other team. Frank Lewis
went down in week 12 for the rest of the season. On May 30, 1984, Frank
Lewis retired from football the way he played the game, with little fanfare.
At the time of his retirement Frank Lewis was near the top of receiving
catagories; third in career receptions (269), second in career yards (4,638),
forth in career average (17.24), third in touchdown receptions (24), first
in most receptions in a season (70) and first in yards in a season (1,244).