Bob Lee
No. 19
Position:Quarterback, punter
Personal information
Born: (1946-08-07) August 7, 1946 (age 76)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Lowell
(San Francisco, California)
College:Arizona State (1963–1964)

San Francisco CC (1965)

Pacific (1966–1967)
NFL Draft:1968 / Round: 17 / Pick: 441
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT:30–40
Yards:5,034
QB Rating:63.7
Punts:156
Punting yards:6,195
Player stats at PFR

Robert Melville Lee (born August 7, 1946) is a former professional American football quarterback and punter. He played college football for Arizona State University and the University of the Pacific. He was selected 441st overall in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He was nicknamed "General" Bob Lee during his brief period of success with the Atlanta Falcons. After his stint with the Falcons he rejoined the Vikings before ending his fourteen year career with the Los Angeles Rams.

Early life

Lee was born in Columbus, Ohio. He would attend Lowell High School in San Francisco, California.

College career

Lee originally played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils in 1963 and 1964, lettering in 1964. He then attended the City College of San Francisco for the 1965 before finishing his career with the Pacific Tigers, lettering in both 1966 and 1967.[1]

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings (first stint)

Lee was drafted in the seventeenth round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).[2] As a member of the Vikings, he saw action as a punter in Super Bowl IV.[3]

Atlanta Falcons

On May 14, 1973, the Atlanta Falcons dealt quarterback Bob Berry and a first round draft pick for Lee and linebacker Lonnie Warwick.[4] During his stint with the Falcons, he led Atlanta to a 20–14 victory over the 9–0 Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football on November 19, 1973.[5] 1973 was Lee's most successful season in the NFL. He replaced Dick Shiner as the Falcons quarterback in Week 5 and led the Falcons to seven consecutive wins, including the win over the Vikings, on their way to a 9–5 record, the Falcons' best season in their history at that point. Lee started ten games and passed for 1,786 yards with ten touchdowns and eight interceptions.[6]

Minnesota Vikings (second stint)

In 1976, Lee threw a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XI.[7] With starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton's late season injury in the 1977 season, Lee started and led the Vikings to a 14–7 win over the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs.[8] The game was infamous due to the muddy conditions.[9] Lee started the NFC Championship the next week as well against the Dallas Cowboys, but the Vikings lost 23–6.[10][11]

Los Angeles Rams

He was also a backup in Super Bowl XIV as a member of the Los Angeles Rams.[12]

He is one of twelve quarterbacks to post both a perfect quarterback rating and a zero passer rating over the course of their careers, and is the first to have done so in the same season.[13]

NFL career statistics

Legend
AP NFL MVP
Super Bowl MVP
Won the Super Bowl
NFL record
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks Fumbles
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg TD% Int% Att Yds Avg TD Sck Yds Fum Lost
1969 MIN 14 0 — 7 11 63.6 79 7.2 1 0 115.3 9.1 0.0 3 9 3.0 0 0 0 2 2
1970 MIN 6 2 2–0 40 79 50.6 610 7.7 5 5 71.2 6.3 6.3 10 20 2.0 1 6 36 2 2
1971 MIN 14 4 3–1 45 90 50.0 598 5.1 2 4 60.3 2.2 4.4 11 14 1.3 1 8 91 2 1
1972 MIN 2 0 — 3 6 50.0 75 12.5 1 0 135.4 16.7 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
1973 ATL 12 10 8–2 120 230 52.2 1,786 7.8 10 8 77.9 4.3 3.5 29 67 2.4 0 28 256 6 2
1974 ATL 9 9 2–7 78 172 45.3 852 5.0 3 14 32.4 1.7 8.1 19 99 5.2 1 31 269 4 4
1975 MIN 4 0 — 5 14 35.7 103 7.4 2 1 72.3 14.3 7.1 1 0 0.0 0 1 6 1 1
1976 MIN 4 1 1–0 15 30 50.0 156 5.2 0 2 37.6 0.0 6.7 2 2 1.0 0 6 41 3 3
1977 MIN 5 4 3–1 42 72 58.3 522 7.3 4 4 76.3 5.6 5.6 12 -8 -0.7 0 7 47 1 1
1978 MIN 3 0 – 2 4 50.0 10 2.5 0 1 16.7 0.0 25.0 0 0 0.0 0 2 20 0 0
1979 LAR 3 0 – 11 22 50.0 243 10.8 2 1 101.1 9.1 4.5 4 -5 -1.3 0 4 39 1 0
1980 LAR 1 0 – 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 77 30 19−11 368 730 50.4 5,034 5.3 30 40 63.7 4.1 5.5 92 197 2.1 3 93 805 22 18
Year Team GP Punting
Punts Yds Avg Lng Blk
1969 MIN 14 67 2,680 40.0 56 0
1971 MIN 14 89 3,515 39.5 58 0
Career 28 156 6,195 39.7 58 0

Postseason

Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks Fumbles
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg TD% Int% Att Yds Avg TD Sck Yds Fum Lost
1969 MIN 3 0 — 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
1971 MIN 1 1 0–1 7 16 42.8 86 5.4 0 2 21.4 0.0 12.5 3 28 9.3 0 0 0 0 0
1976 MIN 2 0 — 7 10 70.0 81 8.1 1 0 127.5 10.0 0.0 2 4 2.0 0 1 7 1 1
1977 MIN 2 2 1–1 19 41 46.3 215 5.2 0 1 52.4 0.0 2.4 3 -10 -3.3 0 3 22 1 1
Career 8 3 1–2 33 67 49.3 382 5.7 1 3 47.8 1.5 4.5 8 22 2.8 0 4 29 2 2

Personal life

His son, Zac Lee, played football for the University of Nebraska and was the team's starting quarterback for most of the 2009 season,[14] he briefly signed with the Seattle Seahawks and he played for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League (UFL).[15] His daughter, Jenna Lee, worked in various roles for the Fox Business Network starting in 2007, prior to becoming an anchor on the Fox News Channel in 2010.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Bob Lee NFL Stats and Bio - Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  2. ^ "1968 NFL Draft: Round 17". 247Sports. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  3. ^ Network, Sports History (2020-12-15). "The Ultimate Recount of Super Bowl IV". Sports History Network. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  4. ^ Yowell, Keith (2016-05-14). "Today in Pro Football History: 1973: Falcons Deal Bob Berry to Minnesota for Bob Lee". Today in Pro Football History. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  5. ^ Times, William N. Wallace Special to The New York (1973-11-20). "Falcons Halt Vikings' Streak, 20 to 14". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  6. ^ Chass, Murray (1973-11-24). "A Lee Who Took Atlanta Can Burn Jets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  7. ^ "Just Because: Bob Lee had Tim Tebow's career before Tim Tebow". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  8. ^ Rosenberg, I. J. "Ex-Falcon Bob Lee helped Vikings in relief role". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  9. ^ Brady, Dave (1977-12-27). "Vikings Upset Rams, 14-7". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  10. ^ Smith, Cole (2020-08-08). "Championship Shortcomings: The 1977 Minnesota Vikings". Last Word on Pro Football. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  11. ^ Arcand, Tim. "NFL: Randy Moss and the Top 10 Vikings to Return to Minnesota". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  12. ^ Rosenberg, I. J. "Whatever happened to: Ex-Falcon Bob Lee". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  13. ^ Choate, Dave (2021-07-03). "Forgotten Falcons: Bob Lee". The Falcoholic. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  14. ^ "Zac Lee - 2010 - Football". University of Nebraska. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  15. ^ "Las Vegas Locomotives Training Camp Notes - Monday, August 29". OurSports Central. 2011-08-29. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  16. ^ "FBN's Jenna Lee: "He's My Dad, It's Hard For Me to Ask Him Questions"". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
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