Donald Lee (American football)
{{Short description|American football player (born 1980)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Donald Lee
| image = Donald Lee-Edit.jpg
| caption = Lee with the Packers in 2007
| number = 85, 86
| position = Tight end
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1980|8|31}}
| birth_place = Maben, Mississippi, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lbs = 248
| high_school = Maben
| college = Mississippi State
| draftyear = 2003
| draftround = 5
| draftpick = 156
| pastteams =
- Miami Dolphins ({{NFL Year|2003}}–{{NFL Year|2004}})
- Green Bay Packers ({{NFL Year|2005}}–{{NFL Year|2010}})
- Philadelphia Eagles ({{NFL Year|2011}})*
- Cincinnati Bengals ({{NFL Year|2011}}–{{NFL Year|2012}})
| highlights =
| statlabel1 = Receptions
| statvalue1 = 209
| statlabel2 = Receiving yards
| statvalue2 = 1,990
| statlabel3 = Receiving touchdowns
| statvalue3 = 19
| pfr = LeexDo00
}}
Donald Tywon Lee (born August 31, 1980) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL draft and spent two seasons with the team. He also played for the Green Bay Packers from 2005 to 2010 and the Cincinnati Bengals from 2011 to 2012. With Green Bay, he won Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Early years
Lee attended Maben High School in Mississippi, where he lettered in football, track, and basketball.
College career
Before his professional career, Lee was a four-year letterman at Mississippi State from 1999 to 2002.
Professional career
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 3
| weight = 249
| arm span = 32+1/2
| hand span = 9+1/2
| dash = 4.82
| ten split = 1.67
| twenty split = 2.81
| shuttle = 4.42
| cone drill = 7.42
| vertical = 39
| broad ft = 10
| broad in = 0
| bench = 26
| wonderlic =
| note = All values from NFL Combine.{{Cite web |url=https://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=1076&DraftYear=2003 |title=Donald Lee, Mississippi State, TE, 2003 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football |website=draftscout.com}}
}}
=Miami Dolphins=
Lee was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round, 156th overall in the 2003 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=2003 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2003/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He went on to play two years for the Dolphins.
=Green Bay Packers=
In the 2005 NFL season, Lee was signed by the Green Bay Packers in free agency.
After the injury of Bubba Franks, Lee gained more playing time. He finished the season fourth in receiving (1st among tight ends) for the Packers.
In November 2007, Lee signed a four-year contract extension with the Packers for $12 million.{{cite web | last = Fly | first= Colin | title = Packers TE Donald Lee gets contract, has career day | date= November 19, 2007 | url=http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2007/11/19/packers/packers2.txt | access-date = November 19, 2007}} On November 18, 2007, Lee had the first multi-touchdown game of his career{{cite web | last = Pete Dougherty | first = Rob Demovsky | title = Short week is long enough for Favre and Co. | url = http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/PKR0201/711190473/1989 | access-date = November 19, 2007 | archive-date = November 23, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071123012658/http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/PKR0201/711190473/1989 | url-status = dead }} as he caught two touchdown passes from Brett Favre in a 31–17 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Lee also found the end zone in Favre's record setting day for "most passing yards" on December 16, 2007, vs. the St. Louis Rams. Lee finished the 2007 season with 48 receptions for 575 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught Favre's final touchdown pass as a Packer during the NFC Championship Game against the New York Giants on January 20, 2008.
His final career touchdown and his final reception as a Packer was a game-winning fourth-quarter touchdown in a must-win Week 17 victory over the Chicago Bears, in which the Packers won 10–3. Had the Packers tied or lost that game, they would have missed the playoffs. Lee appeared in all four playoff games thereafter on the way to Green Bay's fourth-ever Super Bowl victory.{{cite web | title=Donald Lee Pro-Football-Reference 2010 game log | website=Pro-Football-Reference.com| url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LeexDo00/gamelog/2010/| access-date=May 17, 2023}}
On March 2, 2011, Lee was released by the Packers.{{cite web|last=Silverstein|first=Tom|title=Packers' Hawk released, but will re-sign|url=http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/117294168.html|publisher=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel}}
=Philadelphia Eagles=
On July 29, 2011, Lee was signed to a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.{{cite web|last=Wulf|first=Bo|title=Eagles Shock NFL, Agree With CB Asomugha|url=http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Eagles-Shock-NFL-Agree-With-CB-Asomugha/48d6115e-3453-4633-9dc8-21054b00d9ef|publisher=Philadelphiaeagles.com|access-date=July 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616043321/http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Eagles-Shock-NFL-Agree-With-CB-Asomugha/48d6115e-3453-4633-9dc8-21054b00d9ef|archive-date=June 16, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} He was released during final roster cuts on September 3.
=Cincinnati Bengals=
Lee was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals on September 14, 2011.
Lee was released by the Bengals on September 27, 2012.{{cite web|title=www.bengals.com|url=http://www.bengals.com/news/transactions.htm}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
=Regular season statistics=
| border=0 cellspacing=1 cellpadding=0 style="text-align:right; text-indent:1em;"
|+ align=bottom | | ||||||
| style="background-color: #9999dd;"
! rowspan=2 | Year !! colspan=5 | Receiving !! | ||||||
| style="background-color: #9999dd;"
! Team !! G !! Rec !! Yds !! TD !! Avg !! | ||||||
| style="background-color: #ddddff"
| 2003 | MIA | 16 | 7 | 110 | 1 | 15.7 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2004 | MIA | 16 | 13 | 110 | 1 | 8.5 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2005 | GB | 15 | 33 | 294 | 2 | 8.9 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2006 | GB | 15 | 10 | 150 | 0 | 15.0 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2007 | GB | 15 | 48 | 575 | 6 | 12.0 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2008 | GB | 16 | 39 | 303 | 5 | 7.8 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2009 | GB | 16 | 37 | 260 | 1 | 7.0 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2010 | GB | 15 | 11 | 73 | 3 | 6.6 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2011 | CIN | 9 | 11 | 115 | 0 | 10.5 |
| valign=top style="font-weight:bold; background-color: #9999dd;"
| Total | 109 | 187 | 1802 | 16 | 9.6 |
=Post-season statistics=
| border=0 cellspacing=1 cellpadding=0 style="text-align:right; text-indent:1em;"
|+ align=bottom | | ||||||
| style="background-color: #9999dd;"
! rowspan=2 | Year !! colspan=5 | Receiving !! | ||||||
| style="background-color: #9999dd;"
! Team !! G !! Rec !! Yds !! TD !! Avg !! | ||||||
| style="background-color: #ddddff"
| 2007 | GB | 2 | 5 | 51 | 1 | 10.2 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2009 | GB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2010 | GB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| style="background-color: #ffffff"
| 2011 | CIN | 1 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 36.0 |
| valign=top style="font-weight:bold; background-color: #9999dd;"
| Total | 7 | 6 | 87 | 1 | 10.9 |
Personal life
Lee was dating former WNBA player Anriel Howard better known as current WWE NXT Superstar Lash Legend. He also has two children, Donsha and Don Lee Jr.
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110821004906/http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/team/roster/Donald-Lee/a4948d0d-acde-4000-a080-9853c233a2e8 Philadelphia Eagles bio]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101017031042/http://www.packers.com/team/roster/donald-lee/5f3a2104-970b-4e50-93c3-3ab21a203659 Green Bay Packers bio]
{{Dolphins2003DraftPicks}}
{{Super Bowl XLV}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Donald}}
Category:Players of American football from Mississippi
Category:American football tight ends
Category:Mississippi State Bulldogs football players
Category:Green Bay Packers players
Category:Miami Dolphins players
Category:Philadelphia Eagles players