Wake Forest WR Cortez Lewis Has Personalized Handshakes With 50 Separate People
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ESPN – Wake Forest gathered for its first team meeting of the preseason, and assistant Asil Mulbah noticed something he had never quite seen before. Redshirt freshman receiver Cortez Lewis stood there like he was at a receiving line at a wedding, greeting teammates with their very own unique handshake. Mulbah walked over and asked Lewis, ‘How many different handshakes do you have?’
Lewis looked at him. “At least 50?”
And thus began the viral sensation that is Lewis’ handshakes. The 15 second video Mulbah posted on Twitter was picked up by the Football Vines feed and retweeted 2,600 times (with 3,000 favorites!) The demand for more was so great, Mulbah put together a two-plus-minute video showing a bigger sampling of all the handshakes Lewis has with his teammates.
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I’m not easily impressed but that was legit amazing. 50 separate handshakes with 50 separate people. Most likely more when you consider he also does it with the damn basketball team:
Lewis says he has handshakes with students in his classes and basketball players, too. All told, he has no idea how many handshakes he actually has with people. “Maybe 70?” he says. “It’s over 50.”
Losing track doesn’t really seem that out of the ordinary, considering how many people are in his loop. What is extraordinary is that A, each handshake is unique; and B, he remembers every single handshake, its moves coming to mind as soon as he sees the person’s face.
Does he have a photographic memory? Lewis laughs. “Yes I do!”
Not sure how good the dude is at catching passes, but if eidetic memory and awesome handshake routines get factored into Heisman votes than I have a feeling we’ll be seeing this kid up on stage in Manhattan in the near future.
It’s a ritual he started in high school, but not to this extent. What was just a few handshakes with friends and teammates has turned into a viral phenomenon.
“That’s how I kept up relationships with people,” said Lewis, whose Twitter handle is @CortezLewis1. “I had handshakes, so I always kept good relationships.”
His second week at Wake Forest last year — as a true freshman — he decided to do a handshake with veteran cornerback Merrill Noel. Smart move to debut a super cool handshake with the BMOC.
“That first one I did was like a slap in the front, a slap to the back and you hit your chest two times, three fingers out and salute it,” Lewis said. “After my teammates saw it, people automatically want to come up with a handshake.”
His favorite? One with tailback James Ward, which includes a little vocal interpretation (about 1:20 into the video). But he’s an equal opportunity handshaker. The extended video closes with a special shake from receivers coach Kevin Higgins.
All these shakes might ratchet up expectations on the football field, where he will have a much bigger role this year.
“I told him, ‘Listen, man, you’d better never go the wrong way on the team because if you can remember all the handshakes, there’s no way you should mess up a play in a game!'” Mulbah said with a chuckle.