Lee Edward Bouggess (January 18, 1948 – July 4, 2024) was an American 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for three seasons 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) for 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 ...

from

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. He was selected by the Eagles in the third round of the

1970 NFL draft The 1970 NFL draft was the 35th National Football League draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1970, at the Belmont ...

. 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

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

College career

At Louisville, Bouggess started his career as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He performed well enough at that position to be named to the All

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

team in 1967 and 1968. Before his Senior year, Bouggess was converted to Running Back. In 1969, Bouggess excelled, compiling 6 games of 100 yards or more rushing on his way to a MVC leading 1,064 rushing yards.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Bouggess was drafted by the

in the third round of the

. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

, Bouggess had one of the worst seasons ever with a yards-per-carry average of 2.52, the lowest in NFL history. However, he currently ranks sixth for all Eagles rookies with 50 receptions, only behind

Keith Jackson Keith Max Jackson (October 18, 1928 – January 12, 2018) was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his caree ...

(81),

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(62),

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(58),

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(56) and

Charle Young Charle Edward Young (born Charlie Edward Young; February 5, 1951) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and w ...

(55). Bouggess would miss the entire

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

season due to knee injuries. In his three-year career, Bouggess played in 32 games, but never started in any. He rushed for 697 yards on 271 carries and two touchdowns with an average of 2.6 yards-per-carry. He also caught 78 passes for 589 yards and three touchdowns.

Death

Bouggess died at a care facility in

Atco, New Jersey Atco is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Waterford Township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Philadelphia- Camden metropolitan area, located southeast of Camden. Though gener ...

on July 4, 2024, at the age of 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouggess, Lee 1948 births 2024 deaths Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky American football running backs Louisville Cardinals football players Philadelphia Eagles players