By KSTP
Courtesy: Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have announced the death of former quarterback and punter Bob Lee, who died on Aug. 17 at age 81.
Lee was the last Minnesota Viking to have thrown a touchdown in the Super Bowl, doing so in 1977 on a 14-yard pass to Stu Voigt in the fourth quarter against the Raiders.
In 30 starts at quarterback, Lee posted a 19-11 record with the Vikings. He played in eight postseason games and made three starts.
Lee made the Vikings roster in 1969 and played in the NFL until 1980, totaling 77 regular-season games with the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams.
After making two starts as a backup late in 1970 but not punting that season, he returned to punting duties in 1971.
Lee made four starts in the regular season, as well as the playoff game against Dallas in the Divisional Round. Lee also handled punting duties in that loss to the Cowboys, the final time he punted in an NFL game.
In 1973, Lee was traded to Atlanta, going 8-2 for the Falcons. After one more season there, he returned to Minnesota in 1975. Lee backed up starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton over the next four seasons and went 4-1 in five starts from 1976-77.
When Tarkenton suffered a broken leg in mid-November of the 1977 season, Lee won three of four starts to help Minnesota finish 9-5.
Playing through a broken right hand during the stretch, he then quarterbacked the Vikings to a win over the Rams in the Divisional Round of the NFC Playoffs, a game that came to be known as the “Mud Bowl.”
“Bob Lee was under appreciated at how good he was at quarterback,” Tarkenton said. “He was a great backup QB for us and a good starter for the Atlanta Falcons. Plus, Bob was an absolutely great human being that you could depend on anytime. He was as good of a teammate as you could ever have.”
Lee would go on to play two more seasons of football with the Los Angeles Rams as a backup. His final scoring pass was a 41-yarder against the Vikings in a 27-21 overtime win for L.A.
