Vad Lee

Vad Lee
refer to caption
Lee in 2013
Personal information
Born: (1993-04-27) April 27, 1993 (age 31)
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:213 lb (97 kg)
Career information
High school:Hillside
(Durham, North Carolina)
College:Georgia Tech (2011–2013)
James Madison (2014–2015)
Position:Quarterback
Undrafted:2016
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards

Lavaedeay Monlique "Vad" Lee (born April 27, 1993) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He previously played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), Columbus Lions of American Indoor Football (AIF), DC Defenders of the XFL, and Pittsburgh Maulers and Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL).

He went to Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina. Lee is considered to be a skilled dual-threat, athletic quarterback who redshirted as a true freshman at Georgia Tech. Lee played in several games during his redshirt freshman season in 2012 as a backup to starting Georgia Tech quarterback Tevin Washington, and Lee was the Yellow Jackets' starting quarterback during 2013 season. Lee went to Georgia Tech after a successful prep career in North Carolina. In January 2014, Lee transferred to James Madison University.

High school

Lee earned four varsity letters and served three years as a team captain while playing for Hillside under coach Antonio King. Lee led Hillside to the North Carolina state championship in 2010. Lee's high school career totals include: 5,000 passing yards, 1,960 rushing yards, and Lee was responsible for 85 touchdowns. Lee also played wide receiver as a sophomore, producing 1,124 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Lee led Hillside to a perfect 16–0 record in 2010 and won the North Carolina 4A State Championship game 40–0 over Davie County at BB&T field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Lee threw for 264 yards and three touchdown passes in the state championship game, earning MVP honors. Lee's other high school honors include: the Pac-6 Conference Player of the Year, the AP North Carolina state Player of the Year, first team all-state, and MVP of the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl.[1][2]

College

Georgia Tech

Lee was recruited by Georgia Tech as a four-star recruit. He received a redshirt season in 2011. Lee played in several games during 2012 football season as a backup to starting Georgia Tech quarterback Tevin Washington. However, Lee saw only limited playing time until Georgia Tech faced North Carolina on November 10, 2012. Lee entered the game at Kenan Memorial Stadium with Tech trailing North Carolina 14–7 in the first quarter, and he never left. Lee made Georgia Tech's triple option offense unstoppable, helping the Yellow Jackets account for 588 yards of offense in a 68–50 win over North Carolina, the most combined points ever in any Atlantic Coast Conference football game. Lee rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and he threw for 169 yards and a touchdown as well.[3] However, coach Paul Johnson continued to start Washington in every football game during 2012 season, and he rotated the two quarterbacks with their playing time depending on performance during games.[4][5][6][7] Lee became the Yellow Jackets' starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2013 football season. Lee announced his decision to transfer to another school at the end of the 2013 football season.[8]

James Madison

In January 2014, Chip Patterson at CBSsports.com reported Lee would transfer to FCS James Madison for the upcoming spring semester.[9] Lee transferred to JMU due to his familiarity with the Dukes' new head coach, Everett Withers, who had recruited him from his time at North Carolina.[10]

2014 season

In his first season with the Dukes, Lee was named the starter at quarterback and would go on to lead the Dukes to a 9–3 regular season along with a trip to the 2014 FCS playoffs. Along the way, Lee would go on to set JMU's single-game passing, completion percentage, single-season touchdown, passing & total-offense records in addition to being named CAA Offensive Player of the Week three times.[11][12][13] Following a 55–20 JMU victory over rival Richmond on November 15, 2014, Lee was named to the 2014 Walter Payton Award watch list and would ultimately place 4th for that award.[14][15] On December 10, 2014, Vad Lee was named the recipient of the 2014 Dudley Award, which is given to the top Division I football player in Virginia over Old Dominion's Taylor Heinicke & Virginia Tech's Kendall Fuller.[16][17] The following week, Lee was named 2014 Associated Press Third Team FCS All-American.[18]

2015 season

Prior to the start of the 2015 season, Lee was named to the watch lists for the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year (formerly the Walter Payton Award) and the College Football Performance Awards FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy.[19][20] In JMU's 2015 home opening victory against Morehead State, Lee became the first JMU QB to throw for more than 250 yards and rush for more than 100 in a single game. In a week four 48–45 victory against SMU, Lee set a Division I record by becoming the first player to both run and pass for 275 yards in a single game.[21][22]

After a 7–0 start to the season, Lee suffered a broken foot during the fourth quarter of a 59–49 loss against Richmond. During the game, Lee tied JMU's all-time passing touchdown record with 51 career touchdowns, across just 21 games.[23] Lee was forced to undergo surgery for his foot, ending his final college season. While announcing the end of Lee's career, head coach Everett Withers called him "one of the best players in JMU history."[21]

External image
image icon GT vs. UNC 11/10/12

Statistics

Passing Rushing
Year (College) Comp Attempts Comp% Yards TDowns Intercep. Attempts Yards TDown
2011 (GT) DNP
2012 (GT) 27 56 48.2% 596 4 3 96 544 9
2013 (GT) 82 180 45.6% 1,561 11 10 182 513 8
2014 (JMU) 282 465 60.6% 3,462 30 7 183 826 9
2015 (JMU) 164 240 68.3% 2,190 21 10 109 814 8
Total 555 941 59.0% 7,809 66 30 570 2,697 34

Professional career

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Lee dressed for three games for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2016 as 3rd string QB, recording one rushing attempt.[24] Lee was cut on August 12, 2016.

Columbus Lions

On August 28, 2017, Lee signed with the Columbus Lions for the 2018 season. He was released on February 1, 2018.[25]

In February 2019, Lee joined Your Call Football where he was coached by Solomon Wilcots during a 4-game series where fans called the plays through a mobile app.[26]

DC Defenders

Lee was signed by the DC Defenders of the XFL in December 2019. He was waived during final roster cuts on January 22, 2020.[27]

Lee signed with the Alphas of The Spring League in May 2021.[28]

Pittsburgh Maulers

He signed with the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League on May 10, 2022.[29] Lee led the team to its first win of the season just 5 days later.[30]

Lee was released after the season on January 2, 2023.[31]

BC Lions

Lee signed with the BC Lions of the CFL on January 5, 2023.[32] He was released on February 27, 2023.[33]

Philadelphia Stars

On March 19, 2023, Lee signed with the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL).[34] The Stars folded when the XFL and USFL merged to create the United Football League (UFL).[35]

Career statistics

Year Team League Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2016 SSK CFL 3 0 0–0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 0 0.0 0
2022 PIT USFL 6 4 1–3 71 128 55.5 729 5.7 6 6 68.1 17 60 3.5 1

See also

References

  1. ^ "Vad Lee Profile". ramblinwreck.com. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  2. ^ "Vad Lee Profile". scout.com. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  3. ^ Klemko, Robert (November 10, 2012). "Georgia Tech, UNC combine for 118 points". USA Today. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  4. ^ Jack Blanchat (November 11, 2012). "Georgia Tech Vs. North Carolina: Vad Lee steers Yellow Jackets to win in highest-scoring ACC game ever". sbnation.com. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  5. ^ W. E. Warnack (November 14, 2012). "Vad Lee is triumphant in homecoming". newsobserver.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  6. ^ Ken Sugiura (November 10, 2012). "In return home, Lee incinerates Tar Heels". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Odum, Charles (November 17, 2012). "Washington leads Georgia Tech past Duke, 42–24". ap.org. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  8. ^ "Statements On Vad Lee's Decision To Transfer". ramblinwreck.com. January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  9. ^ "Ex-Georgia Tech QB Vad Lee headed to James Madison". cbssports.com. January 13, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  10. ^ "Fresh start: Georgia Tech transfer Vad Lee looks to lead JMU football turnaround". Augusta Free Press. August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  11. ^ "Vad Lee Named CAA Offensive Player of the Week". JMUsports.com. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  12. ^ "Reynolds, #25 JMU Rolls to 55–20 Triumph at #14 Richmond". JMUsports.com. November 15, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  13. ^ "CAA Football Week 13 Awards". CAAsports.com. November 24, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  14. ^ "Lee, Ricard Added to National Award Watch Lists". CAAsports.com. November 18, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  15. ^ "The Sports Network – Football Championship Subdivision". Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  16. ^ "JMU's Lee wins Dudley, H-SC's Nance wins Lanier". Richmond Times-Dispatch. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  17. ^ "Lee Named Dudley Award Winner, State's Top Division I Player". JMUSports.com. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  18. ^ "Quarterback Vad Lee Named Third Team AP All-American". JMUSports.com. December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  19. ^ "FCS Offensive Player of the Year Watch List". CAASports.com. July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  20. ^ "Vad Lee Named to CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year Watch List". JMUSports.com. July 30, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  21. ^ a b Williams, Erin (October 26, 2015). "Quarterback Vad Lee out for remainder of season". The Breeze. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  22. ^ "JMU's Vad Lee still seeking NFL opportunity". Fox Sports. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  23. ^ "JMU Quarterback Vad Lee Out Indefinitely with Foot Injury". nbc29.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  24. ^ "Vad Lee". cfl.ca. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  25. ^ "Transactions". nationalarenaleague.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  26. ^ Evans, Dayna (April 10, 2019). "Inside the tech experiment that wants to change football forever". www.espn.com. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  27. ^ Talbot, Damond (January 22, 2020). "A Full List of XFL Roster Cuts, Who was released today?". NFLDraftDiamonds.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  28. ^ @TheSpringLeague (May 2, 2021). "First look at the #TSLAlphas roster at #TSL2021!" (Tweet). Retrieved June 22, 2021 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ @USFLMaulers (May 10, 2022). "Roster Update" (Tweet). Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Twitter.
  30. ^ @USFLMaulers (May 15, 2022). "MAULERS WIN MAULERS WIN MAULERS WIN MAULERS WIN MAULERS WIN" (Tweet). Retrieved May 15, 2022 – via Twitter.
  31. ^ @USFLMaulers (January 2, 2023). "Released" (Tweet). Retrieved January 2, 2023 – via Twitter.
  32. ^ "2023 CFL Transactions". CFL.ca. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  33. ^ "Transactions". bclions.com. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  34. ^ @USFLStars (March 19, 2023). "Free Agent Signing" (Tweet). Retrieved March 19, 2023 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ Seifert, Kevin (January 1, 2024). "Newly formed United Football League sets 8 markets, tabs coaches". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 15, 2024.