Featured photo via Louisiana Tech Athletics
Funeral services for former Minden High and Louisiana Tech football star and Super Bowl champion David Lee are set for Friday at Rose-Neath Funeral Home in Minden.
Lee passed away May 11 in Jasper, Ga., at 82. Visitation will be at noon followed by a Celebration of Life Memorial Service at 2.
Lee had a 14-year career in the NFL as a punter beginning with the Cleveland Browns in 1965 and then with the Baltimore Colts from 1966-1978. The Colts reached Super Bowl III in the 1968 season, losing to the New York Jets in an historic contest a year before the official merger of the AFL and NFL.
He became a Super Bowl champion when Baltimore defeated the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V. Lee was named All-Pro in 1969. He was the top vote-getter on the Colts’ 1977 Silver Anniversary Team.
While he made a name and professional career for himself with his leg, his athletic talent was hardly limited to punting.
At Minden High, the 6-foot-4 Lee was named All-State at punter and end and All-State in baseball. He was also an All-District basketball player and lettered in track.
Lee was mainly a punter at Tech from 1961-64 but he also played some end as a sophomore, according to a column by Louisiana Tech staff member and longtime area sports writer Teddy Allen posted on Tech’s website upon Lee’s induction into the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame.
He also played baseball at Tech for three years. Lee was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.
“The people at Tech, the tradition at Tech, it’s special, and to be elected in this group is very special,” Lee told Allen. “The Tech family is very important to me and always has been.”
Lee was drafted by the American Football League’s Boston Patriots in 1965 but signed as a free agent with the Browns. He spent a year on the taxi squad (now known as the practice squad) for one season then was traded to Baltimore.
In 1966, he led the NFL in punting as a rookie. His longest punt was 76 yards which was also his longest at Tech, according to Allen’s column. He also had five over 60 at Tech.
But he told Allen stats weren’t important to him.
“My philosophy about punting was just to do my job and help the team. Stats were never defining for me. One of my best punts ever was a 25-yarder that was downed at the 1.”
Lee played with NFL legends Johnny Unitas, John Mackey and Bubba Smith early in his career and Roger Carr and Bert Jones later.
Lee retired from the NFL in 1978. He moved to Bossier City after his NFL career and was a manager at General Motors for 18 years.
According to his obituary, Lee and his wife Sandra moved to Georgia in 2021 to be closer to family.