Lee Saltz (born September 25, 1963) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

who played for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. Saltz also played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, and the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Early life

Saltz grew up in

Randolph, New Jersey Randolph is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 25,734, reflecting an increase of 887 (+3.6%) from the 24,847 counted in the 2000 census, which had in turn ...

, a football town in the northern part of the state. Ted Hart, director of the Randolph Bulldogs midget program, is credited for teaching Saltz the basics of throwing and gripping the ball. Saltz played at Randolph High School for football coach, John Bauer, Sr. In his senior year, Saltz threw for 1,253 yards and had 7 touchdowns.

College career

Saltz earned a full ride to the

Temple Owls football The Temple Owls football team represents Temple University in the sport of college football. The Temple Owls compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). They play thei ...

team, where he majored in Business Law and played for the head coach

Bruce Arians Bruce Charles Arians (born October 3, 1952) is an American football executive and former coach in the National Football League (NFL). Since 2022, he has been a senior football consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arians was previously the he ...

. In his freshman year (1983), Saltz debuted unexpectedly against Penn State when the injured starter, Tim Riordan, left early in the first half. He finished that game with ten passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Saltz never saw the bench again. Saltz held numerous records at Temple, including a 95-yard touchdown pass which still stands today. Lee finished eight in the 1986 National Quarterback rankings at Temple.

Professional career

After a standout career at Temple, Saltz was signed by the Detroit Lions in 1987 as an undrafted free agent. Released mid-season in 1988 by Detroit, he was picked up by the Canadian Football League's

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. He played in the eastern division playoff game beating the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

and ultimately winning a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

ring. In 1989, he replaced

Sean Salisbury Richard Sean Salisbury (born March 9, 1963) is an American football analyst, former National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) quarterback, and actor. He is currently the host of '' The Sean Salisbury Show'' on KBME, Sport ...

as the Blue Bombers starting quarterback. For a short period of time Lee was head lot attendant at Ed Bozarth Chevrolet. In 1990, he was traded to the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. In 1991, Saltz left the Canadian Football league for the

, where he played for the

San Antonio Riders The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas S ...

. He wore the first ever football helmet camera on the playing field. In 1992, Saltz returned to the NFL to play for the New England Patriots. In 1993, Saltz played for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

, and in 1995, he played in the Arena Football League for the

St. Louis Stampede The St. Louis Stampede were a professional arena football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was a member of the Pacific Division (AFL), Central Division of the American Conference, in the Arena Football League (AFL). The Stampede compet ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saltz, Lee 1963 births Living people American football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from New Jersey Canadian football quarterbacks New England Patriots players Players of American football from Morris County, New Jersey People from Randolph, New Jersey Randolph High School (New Jersey) alumni Sacramento Surge players San Antonio Riders players Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey St. Louis Stampede players Temple Owls football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players