Jeffrey Scott Lewis, 39, passed away in Phoenix on Jan. 5, 2013.

Born April 17, 1973 in Columbus, Ohio, Jeff and his family moved to the Phoenix metro area in 1982. He grew up in North Scottsdale playing all sports and later was a standout athlete at Horizon High School, where he started on the Huskies' football, basketball and baseball teams prior to graduating in 1991.

After leading his Horizon football team to a league championship as a senior, Jeff earned a scholarship to play football at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He put together a standout career as the Lumberjacks' quarterback from 1991-95 and finished at NAU ranked second on the school's all-time lists for passing yards (9,639), touchdowns (67), completions (785), attempts (1,315) and completion percentage (59.6). Jeff also holds the FCS/Division I-AA career record for interception avoidance with a figure of 1.82 interceptions per 100 passes. He earned third-team All-America and second-team All-Big Sky honors as a junior in 1994 and was inducted into NAU's Hall of Fame in 2003. His leadership skills were also displayed by his three-time selection as NAU team captain, a first in school history. Jeff graduated from NAU with a degree in health education with an emphasis in psychology in 1996.

Jeff would go on to enjoy a seven-year career (1996-2002) in the National Football League after being selected by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round (100^th overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played quarterback behind John Elway on the Broncos consecutive Super Bowl championship teams in 1997 and 1998 prior to playing for the Carolina Panthers (1999-2001) and New Orleans Saints (2001-02).

Jeff helped mentor other young men playing football as a coach after his playing career. He was part of the University of Louisville's football coaching staff from 2007-09, an assistant football coach at Prescott High School in 2011 and a wide receivers coach on the NAU football staff in 2012.

Jeff is survived by his 5-year-old son Elijah James Lewis, his mother Sherri Lewis, his brother Sean Lewis, his sister Michelle Shoffner, nephew Brayden Shoffner and brother-in-law Chris Shoffner.  All of his family was much loved by Jeff.

A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m. on Jan. 19, 2013 at Christ's Church of the Valley's Scottsdale Campus, located at 19030 N. Pima Rd. in Scottsdale. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Jeff Lewis FCA Camp Scholarship Fund to send children and coaches to football camp in the summer. For more information, please go to azfca.org.