Hewitt was presented as one of seven inductees into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on Monday night and spoke in his address of a major career change that was in the works prior to his appearance at the final of the 2005 Australian Open.
Born to South Australian footballer Glynn Hewitt, who booted 529 goals from nearly 300 SANFL matches for four clubs as well as the South Australia state team, Lleyton was raised in an Australian rules family in Adelaide and his love for the sport exploded when the Adelaide Crows were introduced into the AFL in 1991.
Hewitt played the sport until 13 when switching to tennis on a full-time basis, and it was as a 22-year-old in 2003 when he contemplated a change of sport after his Wimbledon title defence fell over at the first round in 2003 and he subsequently lost his world number one ranking.
Both Hewitt and Williams deny making the initial approach, but it almost got as far as Hewitt playing a pre-season trial match as a rookie.
"It (AFL) was in my blood," Hewitt said on Monday night. "That was what I wanted to do as a kid."
"I grew up absolutely hating the Power, the Port Adelaide Magpies (in the SANFL), but at the time, I was actually considering it."
"I didn't love the contract and the money and he (Williams) gave me a few weeks to think about it."
As fate would determine, Hewitt would then produce one of the epic victories of his career by coming from two sets down to defeat Swiss legend-to-be Roger Federer in the semi-final of the 2003 Davis Cup, a tournament that Hewitt has always held extremely close to his heart.
"It was one of my greatest victories and I called 'Choco' (Williams) and said no," Hewitt added.