Lee’s CFL debut a Ray of sunshine
DB recalls his first starting assignment and what it all meant to him
In each edition of Blitz through the 2017 CFL season, we’ll get a Lions player to recall a memorable game from his past. We’ll leave it to the player to determine whether the game was noteworthy due to the stakes, the venue, the playing conditions, individual performance or some other factor. Today’s entry: T.J. Lee.
Thinking back through his past, T.J. Lee comes back to one date as if it were circled on the calendar: Aug. 17, 2014.
Ricky Ray was in the 12th year of what will be a Hall of Fame career. Lee was making his B.C. Lions and Canadian Football League debut.
In many respects, Lee’s rise to a starting member of the Lions’ defensive unit typifies the classic underdog story. Born in Seattle, Lee attended Eastern Washington University and signed with the Lions after impressing the football staff during a freeagent camp in the spring of 2014. He’s also had to battle back from an Achilles injury that ended his 2016 season when it was just taking off.
It wasn’t until the eighth week of the 2014 season that Lee made his debut. It came against one of the CFL’s top quarterbacks in Ray, who is approaching 38 years of age and in the midst of another strong year, sitting third in the league in passing yards with 3,567.
Facing Ray can be a challenge for any veteran defensive back, never mind a rookie playing their first game with the midway point of the season approaching.
Lee finished that game with one tackle and a forced fumble.
“It wasn’t historic in the sense that I made a lot of plays like interceptions and touchdowns and such. I have had games like that,” said Lee. “With that game, it was just the pressure and how I prevailed under the situation — coming from a small school, trying out here, backing up guys and getting that chance to play.”
The chance to play was the result of an injury to veteran defensive back Dante Marsh, said Lee. The Lions had to move Cord Parks over to fill the void left by Marsh, which meant Lee was placed into the lineup.
By the end of September through to the middle of November that season, Lee had become a regular presence in the Lions’ defence, finishing his rookie campaign with one interception and two forced fumbles, the latter category being a specialty from his college days with seven forced fumbles during his time at Eastern Washington.
Since that day, Lee has gone on to appear in 37 more regular-season games for the Lions with seven career interceptions and four sacks as well. But everyone needs to start somewhere and for Lee, his playing days with the Leos officially began in Toronto just over three years ago.
“If I was nervous, it was all with good intentions,” said Lee of his debut.
“I (wasn’t) nervous that I couldn’t do the job. I was nervous that I was in something new, an unfamiliar situation. I probably imagined it in my head very differently than it actually was. I was probably nervous in that aspect.
“But outside of that, it was just a great game. I played well and I had a picture where I tackled a guy, hit him low and he was just in the air. That was good. A good memory.”
Every player reacts differently to a new situation, as Lee can attest. Some may lean on experience to guide them through the quick on-field calculations players have to make at full speed. Others rely on a more aggressive mode of thinking.
“Me, as a young player, you’re not going to be mind strong in a sense of knowing the Xs and Os,” said Lee.
“But I’m mind strong in the sense of attacking situations that come to me, attacking the challenge and not being afraid to get scored on or not being scared to hit a big running back.”