Father’s Time

Jermaine Lewis only had eyes for his son.

The final seconds had just ticked away. UCLA had just beaten Arizona State Saturday night. There were handshakes and high-fives all around, especially for Lewis, whose 57-yard touchdown scamper ignited a 28-point third quarter.

Bask in the glory? Some other time, maybe.

Lewis scurried off the field and into the reception area where friends and family members greet players after the game. The other players kissed their girlfriends and hugged their moms, but he passed them all on his way to a little boy. Lewis stretched apart his arms, as wide as they could possibly go, then made a bigger catch than he will ever make on the field.

His 2-year-old son, Khalil, was jumping into his arms.

“He puts a smile on your face,” Lewis said. “I’ve never met anybody that hasn’t liked him yet.”

On the field, Lewis is the man who will replace the injured DeShaun Foster as the Bruins’ starting tailback. Off the field, he is a man, thanks to his little boy.

“I had a lot of fun going out my first two years,” said Lewis, a senior. “I’ve matured a lot. When I have free time, I just want to spend it with Khalil. That’s all I look forward to.”

Lewis was quite the party animal--so much so he once served a one-game suspension for fighting at an off-campus party--until his relationship with Khalil’s mother soured last year. The two were high school sweethearts and had dated for three years when he learned he was about to become a father, at 20.

“At that point, his mother and I were in a really deep relationship,” Lewis said. “The two of us were head over heels for each other. I was happy. I was looking forward to the future, to starting a little family, to marriage.

“Sometimes things don’t work out. You plan, but they don’t. You have to keep moving forward.”

During the first year of Khalil’s life, the couple shared a Northridge apartment. But he said he and the child’s mother, whom he declines to name, “just grew as opposites.”

She moved out, and Lewis moved to Westwood with primary custody of his son.

Some days Lewis had to beg off practice. Some days, Lewis brought his son to practice.

“That’s one of the things that hurt his focus last year,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “He understood, and we understood. There was a lot of responsibility on him.”

Lewis endured, with the assistance of day care, the kindness of his family and help from friends.

Lewis asked wide receiver Freddie Mitchell to be Khalil’s godfather, and Mitchell said he was honored to accept. Mitchell said he helps out with toys, shoes and even baby-sitting whenever he can. Foster sometimes drops by to kid around. (Khalil knows his friends; Lewis said his son can pick out the pictures of Mitchell and Foster in the UCLA media guide.)

Truth be told, the players didn’t mind Khalil tagging along to practice, a bubbly reminder that life is more than football and classes.

“It’s fun just being around him,” Foster said. “It’s nice to see someone happy all the time.”

Last spring, Lewis and his ex-girlfriend revised their custody agreement so she could have more time with Khalil and he could have more time for classes and football.

“His mother is helping a lot more now,” he said. “She’s a great mother. I’ve got to thank her.”

Lewis said he cannot foresee getting back together with his ex-girlfriend. He is scheduled to graduate in June with a sociology degree, he said, and he isn’t ruling out more children once he establishes himself as a teacher or businessman.

“For now, one’s enough,” he said. “Once I figure out my occupation and annual income, I’ll be looking forward to more children, because I love them.”

Fatherhood, he has discovered, is a noble calling.

“Everything I do is for him,” he said. “I’d like to be a role model to other single fathers out there. You need to step up and take responsibility.”

Said Mitchell: “He’s one of the best fathers I know. Saturday night, we’ll all go out after the game, and he says, ‘I have to stay with my son.’ ”

That does not necessarily make for a relaxing evening.

“When I get home from the games, I’m tired,” Lewis said, “but he still wants to go in his room and pick his football up. He loves it when I come tackle him.”

That could make Khalil Lewis a second-generation Bruin, Class of 2019.

“He might want to be a Bruin,” Toledo said. “But, when he’s ready to go, I’ll be retired. I’ll be tailgating.”