Former Saint 'Beer Man' Lewis visits FF&F lunch

By CASEY COLLIER
Michael “Beer Man” Lewis, New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame wide receiver/ punt returner gave the keynote remarks at Fit Fun and Fabulous Serving St. Mary Parish’s Lamp Post luncheon Thursday.
Lewis’ comical and casual style took center-stage during the remarks portion of the luncheon, running a stark contrast to the traditional and earnest address from the morning’s breakfast speaker Durand “Rudy” Macklin.
Lewis spoke of Franklin’s charm, and confided his love for small towns like Franklin, saying, “Your town is like something from TV. It’s nice. Everything is all together, and the people here are so sweet.”
However, he left no doubt of how contrarily he felt about Dallas Cowboy fans, Pittsburgh Steelers fans and Atlanta Falcons fans, ribbing them for a good portion of his half-hour address, for not having the good sense to be Saints fans instead.
He also spoke of his having played football in many forms other than the NFL before earning a spot on the Saints.
He said he was driving a janitorial truck between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and quit his job, where he was reportedly making almost $1,000 per week, when his boss refused to give him a Friday off for a game.
Lewis said that at the time, he was only making $200 per week to play football in New Orleans.
He went on to speak about the day he quit his beer truck driving job at Budweiser. He said he got a call to sign his NFL contract with the Saints while he was in the middle of his route, and that he turned around, brought the truck back, and went directly to the Saints’ office to sign his contract.
During the Q & A portion of the luncheon, Iris Sharpe asked on behalf of Franklin Rotary, if Lewis had any tickets to upcoming games with which he didn’t mind parting. Sharpe urged that the Rotary would use the tickets for fundraising and would raffle them off, as they did last year, (when Beverly Domengeaux won the tickets and took her son for the weekend and reportedly had a fantastic time.)
After poking fun at Sharpe for asking that question of a man who had not received a check from the Saints organization in some time, Lewis fished his phone from the back pocket of his trousers, and leaning on the podium, began searching through his calendar, whistling and snarking, all the while.
As Sharpe began to physically shrink into her seat, under the seeming ridicule of Lewis, he straightened up, broke into a grin, and said he was going to donate his two personal tickets to the Nov. 4 home game vs. the Los Angeles Rams. To which theatrical style diners broke into applause.
Of his current endeavors, Lewis said he trains kids to play professional football, and loves it.
When asked what kind of beer he prefers to drink, he answered that his mother loved to drink Coors Light, so he prefers to drink that beer when he gets the chance, but that he’ll “drink whatever you’ve got.”
In answer to who he thought was the most likely player on this year’s Saints team to turn a losing game into a winning game, Lewis replied that the game of football is such a team sport that every single player on the team has the ability to win and lose the game for the entire team at every given point in the game. He then smiled and nodded, “But you know, Mark Ingram is coming back on Sunday.”