David Lee (punter)
David Allen Lee (born November 8, 1943) is a former American football punter for the former Baltimore Colts in the National Football League and subsequently retired from a career as a General Motors executive in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish, in northwestern Louisiana. He accumulated several sports records in punting for the Colts in a 12-year career from 1966 until 1978.
| Born: | November 8, 1943 Shreveport, Louisiana, USA |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Punter |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Weight | 230 lb (100 kg) |
| College | Louisiana Tech |
| High school | Minden High |
| AFL draft | 1965 / Round: 17 / Pick: 137 |
| Drafted by | Boston Patriots[1] |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1966–1978 | Baltimore Colts |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Career stats | |
| Punts | 838 |
| Punting yards | 34,019 |
| Punt blocks | 11 |
| Games played | 184 |
On October 1, 2011, Lee was inducted into the Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame.[2]
Early years
Lee was born in Shreveport to Roy Lee (1916–1994) and the former Hazel Braley (1919–2007). He grew up in the small town of Minden in Webster Parish, some thirty miles east of Shreveport.
The family home was a short walk from the Minden High School stadium, then a new structure, where Lee made his first successful mark in football between 1957 and 1960. Not only was Lee All-District and All-State in football in his senior year, the fall of 1960, but he excelled similarly in basketball (1961), baseball (1959–1961), and track (1958–1961). He was also elected by his peers to the Student Council during his senior year.
College career
Upon his 1961 graduation from Minden High School, Lee enrolled on a football scholarship at Louisiana Tech, then Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, in Ruston in Lincoln Parish. Similarly successful in college football, the tall, ectomorphic Lee excelled in punting.
Professional career
After graduation from Tech in 1965, Lee joined the Cleveland Browns. They signed the papers in Ruston at the home of the parents of future NFL star Bert Jones; William "Dub" Jones was an assistant coach for the Browns at the time. He was transferred after a year to the Colts. As a rookie, Lee won the National Football League punting title.
In the 1968 season, the Colts lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets, but Lee again won the NFL punting title. In 1970, the year in which the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowl V, Lee uncorked a 76-yard punt, the longest in Colts history.
Six years after Lee retired from the Colts, the team relocated to Indianapolis.
During his sports career, Lee was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and often gave motivational lectures to young people attempting to develop their athletic abilities.
Personal life
Lee briefly dated United Airlines flight attendant Mary Freund in the 1960s. They met in Denver, Colorado. Later, the two broke up.
Lee is married to the former Sandra Harper (born 1945), his high school cheerleader and sweetheart. The Lees reside in Bossier City, Louisiana, east of Shreveport. The Lees have a son and a daughter. Jared Harper Lee (born 1971) resides in Frisco, Texas, with his wife, Heather A. Lee (born 1974). Whitney Lee Nolan (born ca. 1966), a school administrator, resides in Jasper, Georgia, with her husband, Roger R. Nolan (born ca. 1960), a teacher and coach.
Lee has a younger brother, Danny Roy Lee (born 1953), of Minden, who played high school and college football. Danny Lee was named in 1972 as the state's second-leading collegiate punter while he attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe.[3]
Lee was among several outstanding football figures from his hometown of Minden during the 1960s:
- Charlie T. Hennigan (born 1935), originally from Bienville Parish, graduated from Minden High School in 1953 and played for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches prior to joining the newly created Houston Oilers in 1960.
- Fred Haynes (1946–2006), a 1964 Minden High School graduate, became a champion college player at LSU, where he was affectionately known as the "Littlest Tiger".
- Billy Joe Booth (1940–1972) played professional football for the Ottawa Rough Riders in the Canadian Football League. He was a cousin of Mrs. David Lee.[4]
References
- "1965 AFL Draft". Retrieved March 23, 2017.
- "Louisiana Tech Announces Hall of Fame Induction Class: List includes Minden's David Lee", Minden Press-Herald, August 31, 2011
- Minden Press-Herald, January 5, 1972
- Billy Joe Booth obituary. Shreveport Times, July 2, 1972