Bob Lee, who began his college football career with the Arizona State Sun Devils in the early 1960s before a long NFL journey that included multiple Super Bowl appearances, has died in San Francisco. He was 81.

Lee arrived in Tempe from Lowell High School in San Francisco, where he earned the nickname “The General.”

He played for Frank Kush’s Sun Devils in 1963 and 1964, lettering in his second season as the program continued its rise under the demanding coach.

The 1964 team finished 8-2. Lee also spent time on the baseball team as a freshman; Reggie Jackson was a year behind him.

His stay in maroon and gold was brief. After a strong spring game in which he completed 11 of 12 passes, Kush informed him he would be moved to defensive back.

Lee transferred, first to City College of San Francisco and then to the University of the Pacific, where he starred as a quarterback and kicker, earned MVP honors as a senior, and later served as athletic director.

The Minnesota Vikings selected him in the 17th round of the 1968 draft. Over 12 NFL seasons with the Vikings, Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams, Lee appeared in 77 games, started 30, and passed for 5,034 yards and 30 touchdowns. He also punted, leading the league in punting yards in 1971.

He reached Super Bowls with Minnesota and the Rams and enjoyed his best statistical year in 1973 with Atlanta, going 8-2 as a starter and helping the Falcons to a then-franchise-best 9-5 record.

Lee is survived by his wife, Janice; children Matt, Jenna and Zac; and six grandchildren. Zac followed his father as a quarterback, starting at Nebraska.

Though Lee’s most celebrated college years came after he left Tempe, Arizona State was where the journey started.

In an era when Kush was building the program that would put ASU on the national map, Lee was one of the young players who passed through Sun Devil Stadium.

The Sun Devil family remembers a former letterman whose career stretched from the desert to the Super Bowl.