Bob Lee (quarterback)

Bob Lee
No. 19
Position:Quarterback
Punter
Personal information
Born: (1946-08-07) August 7, 1946 (age 78)
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)
CCSF (1965)
Pacific (1966–1967)
NFL draft:1968 / round: 17 / pick: 441
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Passing attempts:730
Passing completions:368
Completion percentage:50.4%
TDINT:30–40
Passing yards:5,034
Passer rating:63.7
Punting yards:6,195
Punting average:39.7
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Robert Melville Lee (born August 7, 1946) is an American former professional football quarterback and punter. He played college football for Arizona State, CCSF and Pacific. He was selected 441st overall in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He also played for the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams.

Early life

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Lee was born in Columbus, Ohio. He attended and played high school football for Lowell High School in San Francisco, California.

College career

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

Professional career

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Minnesota Vikings (first stint)

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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]

Lee started a 1971 NFC Divisional Playoff on Christmas against the Dallas Cowboys over Gary Cuozzo and Norm Snead. Lee was seven of seventeen for 86 yards—49 of those on a second quarter completion to Bob Grim—with no touchdowns and two interceptions. With the Vikings trailing 3–20 late in the third quarter, coach Bud Grant replaced Lee with Cuozzo, who led Minnesota to its lone touchdown on a 6-yard pass to Stu Voigt. Despite the late score, the team still lost 12–20.[citation needed]

Atlanta Falcons

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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)

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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

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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

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Legend
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

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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

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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

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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] The two Lees are inducted in the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame for football and they are the first father-son duo to be honored in the Hall of Fame.[16] 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.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Bob Lee NFL Stats and Bio - Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  2. ^ "1968 NFL Draft: Round 17". 247Sports. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  3. ^ Network, Sports History (December 15, 2020). "The Ultimate Recount of Super Bowl IV". Sports History Network. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  4. ^ Yowell, Keith (May 14, 2016). "Today in Pro Football History: 1973: Falcons Deal Bob Berry to Minnesota for Bob Lee". Today in Pro Football History. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  5. ^ Times, William N. Wallace Special to The New York (November 20, 1973). "Falcons Halt Vikings' Streak, 20 to 14". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Chass, Murray (November 24, 1973). "A Lee Who Took Atlanta Can Burn Jets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  7. ^ "Just Because: Bob Lee had Tim Tebow's career before Tim Tebow". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Rosenberg, I. J. "Ex-Falcon Bob Lee helped Vikings in relief role". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  9. ^ Brady, Dave (December 27, 1977). "Vikings Upset Rams, 14-7". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  10. ^ Smith, Cole (August 8, 2020). "Championship Shortcomings: The 1977 Minnesota Vikings". Last Word on Pro Football. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  11. ^ Arcand, Tim. "NFL: Randy Moss and the Top 10 Vikings to Return to Minnesota". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  12. ^ Rosenberg, I. J. "Whatever happened to: Ex-Falcon Bob Lee". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  13. ^ Choate, Dave (July 3, 2021). "Forgotten Falcons: Bob Lee". The Falcoholic. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Zac Lee - 2010 - Football". University of Nebraska. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  15. ^ "Las Vegas Locomotives Training Camp Notes - Monday, August 29". OurSports Central. August 29, 2011. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  16. ^ Stephens, Mitch (April 25, 2011). "St. Ignatius' Lee could get the call in the NFL draft". SFGATE. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  17. ^ "FBN's Jenna Lee: "He's My Dad, It's Hard For Me to Ask Him Questions"". www.adweek.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.