RB Lewis looks forward to rejoining Ravens

ATLANTA --Jamal Lewis walked into the room wearing an open-collared shirt, blue jeans and gleaming white sneakers. He brought along a new appreciation for his freedom.

No more wearing those drab prison duds. No more getting up at 4:30 in the morning. No more eating the same ol' thing day after day. No more feeling like someone is watching his every move.

"It wasn't easy," Lewis said Friday, a day after the Baltimore Ravens running back completed a four-month sentence at a federal prison camp in Florida.

"People say four months isn't that long. But when you're serving it day by day, you have a chance to reflect on the things that are important in your life."

Lewis is ready to get on with his life, having served the bulk of his sentence for a youthful mistake that cost him dearly. He pleaded guilty in October to using a cell phone to try to set up a drug deal in 2000, shortly after the Ravens picked him fifth overall in the NFL Draft.

Lewis still has to complete two months in an Atlanta halfway house, which may prevent him from attending a Ravens minicamp that begins June 13. But the worst is behind him.

Jamal Lewis is all smiles after being released from federal prison. (AP)

"It's good to be here," Lewis said at the opening of a news conference staged on the bottom floor of a high-rise hotel in his hometown. "I want to get back on the football field and do what I do best. I want to put this whole thing behind me."

He talked openly for a half-hour, discussing the drudgery of prison life, the state of his gimpy right ankle, and the loyalty of family, friends and teammates who visited him at the prison camp in Pensacola, Fla.

During his time behind bars, Lewis had to get up at 4:30 a.m. and work in the prison tool shop. He often cooked up his own meals in a microwave near his bunk. For the most part, he was treated like just another inmate.

"I'm not used to getting up that early in the morning to go to work," Lewis said, revealing the slightest of grins. "As soon as you wake up, they're watching your every move. There's no freedom. You don't get to eat what you want to eat. You don't get to move where you want to move.

"It wasn't about Jamal Lewis. You're just another number in prison."

He spent a lot time reading, lifting weights, rehabbing his ankle and talking with his fellow inmates, many of them serving time measured in years rather than months.

Their message was clear: "Just do your time."