Donald Tywon Lee (born August 31, 1980) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

. He was selected by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

in the fifth round of the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

and spent two seasons with the team. He also played for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

from 2005 to 2010 and the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

from 2011 to 2012. With Green Bay, he won

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Early years

Lee attended Maben High School in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, where he lettered in

, track, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

College career

Before his professional career, Lee was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

from 1999 to 2002.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Lee was selected by the

in the fifth round, 156th overall in the

. He went on to play two years for the Dolphins.

Green Bay Packers

In the

2005 NFL season The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005, to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the ...

, Lee was signed by the

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. After the injury of

Bubba Franks Daniel Lamont "Bubba" Franks (born January 6, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning fir ...

, Lee gained more playing time. He finished the season fourth in receiving (1st among tight ends) for the Packers. In November 2007, Lee signed a four-year contract extension with the Packers for $12 million. On November 18, 2007, Lee had the first multi-

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

game of his career as he caught two touchdown passes from

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 cons ...

in a 31–17 victory over the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. Lee also found the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

in Favre's record setting day for "most passing yards" on December 16, 2007, vs. the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. Lee finished the 2007 season with 48 receptions for 575 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught Favre's final touchdown pass as a Packer during the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...

against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

on January 20, 2008. His final career touchdown and his final reception as a Packer was a game-winning fourth-quarter touchdown in a must-win Week 17 victory over the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, in which the Packers won 10–3. Had the Packers tied or lost that game, they would have missed the playoffs. Lee appeared in all four playoff games thereafter on the way to Green Bay's fourth-ever Super Bowl victory. On March 2, 2011, Lee was released by the Packers.

Philadelphia Eagles

On July 29, 2011, Lee was signed to a one-year contract with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He was released during final roster cuts on September 3.

Cincinnati Bengals

Lee was signed by the

on September 14, 2011. Lee was released by the Bengals on September 27, 2012.

Regular season statistics

Post-season statistics

Personal life

Lee was dating former WNBA player Anriel Howard better known as current

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known simply as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show c ...

Superstar Lash Legend. He also has two children, Donsha and Don Lee Jr.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bio

Green Bay Packers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Donald 1980 births Living people Players of American football from Mississippi American football tight ends Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Green Bay Packers players Miami Dolphins players Philadelphia Eagles players Cincinnati Bengals players People from Maben, Mississippi