Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback and punter Bob Lee, a 17th-round pick who stuck around for 12 NFL seasons and helped the club reach two Super Bowls, died Aug. 17 in San Francisco. He was 81.
Lee was born Aug. 7, 1945, in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in San Francisco. He played high school football at Lowell High School before starting college at Arizona State, moving on to City College of San Francisco and finishing at the University of the Pacific.
With the Tigers in 1966 and 1967 he played quarterback and kicked. As a senior he was named the team’s most valuable player and set a Pacific record with a 51-yard field goal. He later became a charter member of the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Vikings took Lee in the 17th round of the 1968 NFL draft, 441st overall. He joined the team in 1969 and was on the roster that lost Super Bowl IV to the Kansas City Chiefs. He also punted that season.
Lee spent four seasons in Minnesota the first time around, mostly as a reserve behind veterans while also handling the punting job again in 1971. That year he led the NFL with 3,515 punting yards on 89 attempts. Over those two punting seasons he totaled 156 punts.
Minnesota traded him to the Atlanta Falcons in 1973. That season turned into the longest look he ever got as a starter. He replaced Dick Shiner, went 8-2, and threw for 1,786 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Falcons finished 9-5, the best record in franchise history at the time, though they missed the playoffs.
Lee was named the team’s most valuable player and Georgia Athlete of the Year.
The 1974 season was a different story. Lee threw three touchdown passes and 14 interceptions as Atlanta went 3-11.
The Vikings brought him back in 1975 and he stayed through 1978. He was again a backup to Fran Tarkenton for most of that stretch, but he got another postseason chance when Tarkenton was hurt in 1977. Lee started the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 1, 1978, a 23-6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
He finished his playing days as a backup with the Los Angeles Rams in 1979 and 1980 and retired after that season. In 77 regular-season games and 30 starts he passed for 5,034 yards. He appeared in multiple Super Bowls and a dozen playoff games across his career.
After football, Lee returned to Pacific as athletics director from 1991 to 1996. He helped push through construction and upgrades that included the Baun Fitness Center, improvements to Bill Simoni Softball Field, renovated athletic offices and the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center. He also led the school’s effort to host NCAA men’s basketball tournament games in 1998.
“What separated Bob from the average athletic director was his heart and his vision,” said Cindy Spiro, a former senior associate athletics director at Pacific. “He was most proud that the Baun Fitness Center would be for all students, not just for athletes, and at that time it was regarded as one of the top fitness facilities at California universities.”
In a 1991 Pacific Review interview, Lee said: “If you were to size up my philosophy, I would say, ‘Don’t tell me why we can’t do something, but tell me how we might go about accomplishing that something together.’”
Outside the athletic director’s office, Lee worked in real estate and construction and spent time as a television analyst.
He is survived by his wife, Janice; his children, Matt, Jenna and Zac; and six grandchildren.
