Lee was born in Shreveport to Roy Lee and the former Hazel Braley. He grew up in the small town of Minden in Webster Parish, some thirty miles east of Shreveport.
The family home was a short walk from the Minden High School stadium, then a new structure, where Lee made his first successful mark in football between 1957 and 1960. Not only was Lee All-District and All-State in football in his senior year, the fall of 1960, but he excelled similarly in basketball, baseball, and track. He was also elected by his peers to the Student Council during his senior year.
After graduation from Tech in 1965, Lee joined the Cleveland Browns. They signed the papers in Ruston at the home of the parents of future NFL star Bert Jones; William "Dub" Jones was an assistant coach for the Browns at the time. He was transferred after a year to the Colts. As a rookie, Lee won the NationalFootball League punting title. In the 1968 season, the Colts lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets, but Lee again won the NFL punting title. In 1970, the year in which the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowl V, Lee uncorked a 76-yard punt, the longest in Colts history. Six years after Lee retired from the Colts, the team relocated to Indianapolis. During his sports career, Lee was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and often gave motivational lectures to young people attempting to develop their athletic abilities.
Personal life
Lee briefly dated United Airlines flight attendant Mary Freund in the 1960s. They met in Denver, Colorado. Later, the two broke up. Lee is married to the former Sandra Harper, his high school cheerleader and sweetheart. The Lees reside in Bossier City, east of Shreveport. The Lees have a son and a daughter. Jared Harper Lee resides in Frisco, Texas, with his wife, Heather A. Lee. Whitney Lee Nolan, a school administrator, resides in Jasper, Georgia, with her husband, Roger R. Nolan, a teacher and coach. Lee has a younger brother, Danny Roy Lee, of Minden, who played high school and college football. Danny Lee was named in 1972 as the state's second-leading collegiate punter while he attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Lee was among several outstanding football figures from his hometown of Minden during the 1960s:
