This game is just for fun, but I'm in it until the end. It's my time to give the fans a game to watch, to let them enjoy it. I can't control whether or not I'll get injured, but I can control whether or not I play the right way. But when my time is done, I'm done. So for now, I'm focused on what I can do to make it as enjoyable for them as it was for me." Of course, there is a caveat, and it is what makes this a bittersweet ending to a great career. As I wrote a few weeks ago, it's just hard to do all of this now that there is this very real possibility of an NFL lockout. "It's tough for me to wrap my mind around it because it's a game I love," said Lewis, who now takes time to spend with his family before he begins his second career as a studio analyst. "You want to be there when they call your number. That's the worst part about it. That is the only thing that I am worried about. If there is no NFL, I won't miss it. But in the meantime, if I can make one last memory, my family can smile every day." That is the biggest reason Lewis has done this, especially after his career was over in Pittsburgh and a new chapter was starting. "I couldn't do this during a season because there are a lot of distractions," he said. "In this case, it's now or never. My time to play is over, but I want to help the players that I know I'll be watching and enjoy this game again. It's been such a major part of my life, and it's taken me to places I never thought I'd be. There's no right way to do this, but this is where I want to be." This week, when the Rams play the Raiders, you can expect a huge crowd at the Coliseum and on TV. It will be like old times, especially with his former club having a chance to clinch a playoff berth this weekend. "It's like going to a reunion," Lewis said of the team he has always supported. "It's been 15 years since I played for them, and I still care about what happens to them. It's one of the things I'm most excited about. My wife and I, we root for them, and we love this team. It's another way of my getting back into football. I always knew I'd still be watching." Even though Lewis will be moving on to a new life, he hopes that doesn't mean that a generation of kids will never have a chance to see him play. "What happens is the NFL pays for my pension and they give me a lump-sum payment to cover taxes," he said. "I will get a big check at the end of the year, but now I'm working. I know I'll have to work, but you never know when football is going to go away. The reality is it's going away and we have to find a way to make sure kids understand that. If I can help a few kids at the college level, or even the high school level, that's why I do it." "There's a small chance that I could have an injury that will make it tough for me to do this, but I want to make sure I can finish the season in front of my family," Lewis said. "It's sad for me, but it's also what I've always dreamed of. I want to have something when I'm done that I've accomplished, and I can't wait to help some kids." At least for this one last time. "I want to be the best coach ever," Lewis said, "and I can't do that without those kids who may never have had the chance to see me play." It is part of life that never seems to end and that he will get used to. "One day you realize how the light changes in a room and there are dark clouds coming your way," he said. "The future is coming in, so I have to understand that." Until the NFL does realize that there is still time to prevent a lockout, Lewis is going to enjoy what he can do. After all, he can always wait until his last year of eligibility for his head coaching job to kick off. "I'm going to coach again," he said. "One of these days I have to coach. It may be at the high school level, I don't know. But if it comes time to take a college team, I'm not going to shirk that responsibility." Even though there is no pressure in a non-sport job, Lewis is still going to do it. It's not only that he loves football and coaching, it's that he is trying to leave a legacy behind him. He wants future generations to appreciate the game, and he knows that even if he doesn't coach any more years in the NFL, he can leave his mark on that field. "This is what I want to do," Lewis said. "There's no other way to put it. I have so much history in this game. I know I'm only 36 years old and the NFL keeps getting younger and younger, but it's a huge part of my life. I didn't have any choice but to go into coaching, and I love it. I just want to show the kids that I see everything, every play. When you watch a game, you have to really be on your toes." Lewis had to do it on a football field because there was never any question that he had the work ethic. His coaches always knew he would be able to perform if he was committed to what he did on and off the field. "It was probably when he was 5 or 6 years old that I realized how driven he was and how focused he was," said his father. "He was always going to college, and he was studying everything he could about it. That's the kind of