Tanner Joseph Lee (born February 14, 1995) is a former
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 wit ...
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 ...
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...
and
Tulane
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...
Destrehan, Louisiana
Destrehan is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 11,340.
Etymology
The community is named after Jean Noël Destréhan (1754–1823), who was twice President ...
. He attended Jesuit High School, where he played both football and baseball for the Blue Jays. In his career, he led the Blue Jays football to a 30–8 record while passing for 3984 yards, 39 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
College career
2014 season
Lee
redshirted
Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...
as a freshman at Tulane in 2013. In 2014, he became the starter. On August 28, 2014, Lee recorded 262 yards and three touchdowns in his college debut against
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
. On September 13, he tossed three touchdowns and recorded 238 yards against Southeastern Louisiana. On November 8, he gained 237 yards and scored three times against
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
. Lee started all 10 of his games, throwing for 1,962 yards and 12 touchdowns which set Tulane freshman records.
2015 season
On September 3, 2015, Lee recorded 246 yards and a touchdown in the season opener against
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...
. On September 19, he recorded a season-high 277 yards and a touchdown against
Maine
Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...
. On October 3, Lee threw a career-high four touchdowns against UCF. On November 14, he recorded 252 yards and two touchdowns against
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. He started all 9 of his games in 2015, throwing for 1,639 yards, 11 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
2017 season
On January 30, 2016, Lee announced that he was transferring to the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' ...
. He sat out the 2016 season per NCAA transfer rules. On April 19, 2017, Lee was named the starting quarterback for the 2017 season. On September 2, 2017, Lee recorded 238 yards and two touchdowns in the season-opener against
Arkansas State
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. The next week, he threw a season-high three touchdowns against
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
. On September 16, Lee ran in two scores against
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...
, the first time ever doing so in college. On September 29, he threw three touchdowns against
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
. On October 14, Lee recorded 303 yards and two touchdowns against
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
. On November 28, he threw two touchdowns and gained a career-high 431 yards against
Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
. On November 18, Lee recorded 399 yards and three touchdowns against
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...
. Lee finished his 2017 season recording 3,143 yards, 23 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, two rushing scores, and compiling a 4–8 record as Nebraska's starter.
On December 28, 2017, Lee announced that he would enter the
2018 NFL Draft
The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first dra ...
.
College statistics
Professional career
Lee was drafted by the
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...
in the sixth round (203rd overall) of the
2018 NFL Draft
The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first dra ...
. On May 10, he signed his rookie contract. He was waived on September 1, 2018 and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 28, 2018.
On August 17, 2019, Lee was waived by the Jaguars.