T. J. Lee
T. J. Lee III (born March 20, 1991) is an American professional Canadian football defensive back for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
![]() Lee with the Lions in 2022 | |||||||
No. 6 – BC Lions | |||||||
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Position: | Defensive back | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Houston, Texas, U.S. | March 20, 1991||||||
Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Seattle (WA) West Seattle | ||||||
College: | Eastern Washington | ||||||
Undrafted: | 2014 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
Roster status: | Active | ||||||
CFL status: | American | ||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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Career CFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at CFL.ca |
College career
Lee played college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles from 2010 to 2013.[1] He played in 49 games where he recorded 182 tackles, four interceptions, and seven forced fumbles.[1]
Professional career
Lee signed with the BC Lions on May 22, 2014.[2] In his first season with the Lions Lee played in 8 games and contributed 24 tackles, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles. He had a breakout season in 2015 when he played in 17 games and totaled 80 tackles, three sacks and four interceptions. Lee missed most of the following season after suffering an Achilles injury in late July.[3] He was re-signed by the Lions only days before hitting the open market as a free agent in February 2017.[4] Lee returned to a prominent role within the Lions defense in 2017, playing in 15 games, contributing 49 tackles, and four interceptions.[1]
Lee was once again re-signed to a contract extension before becoming a free agent in February 2018.[5] He became a CFL All-Star in 2018 with 81 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, and one touchdown.[6] In 2019, he was the BC Lions Most Outstanding Defensive Player after contributing with 66 defensive tackles, six special teams tackles, four interceptions, and one forced fumble.[7]
Lee returned to the Lions following the cancelled 2020 season and played in all 14 regular season games in the shortened 2021 season.[1] He was once again a major component of the team, amassing 71 defensive tackles, 12 special teams tackles, four interceptions and one forced fumble.[1] On January 11, 2022, he signed another contract extension with the Lions.[8] On July 29, 2022, Lee played in his 100th regular season game, in a match against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.[1][9]
References
- "T. J. Lee". BC Lions. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
- "T.J. Lee III Gets His Professional Opportunity with the B.C. Lions - Eastern Washington University Athletics". www.goeags.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08.
- "Lions lose starting halfback T.J. Lee". Vancouver Sun. 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
- "Lions re-sign DB Lee, add DL Ainsworth - Article - TSN". TSN. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
- "Lions re-sign DB Lee for 2018 - Article - TSN". TSN. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
- "2018 CFL ALL-STARS ANNOUNCED". press.cfl.ca. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
- "CFL announces 2019 team award winners". October 30, 2019.
- "Veteran DB T.J. Lee extends with the Lions". CFL.ca. 2022-01-11. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
- "100 Career Games And Counting For Ageless Veteran TJ Lee". BC Lions. 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2022-07-25.