Lavaedeay Monlique "Vad" Lee (born April 27, 1993) is an

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

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who is a free agent. He previously played for 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 19 ...

and

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL), Columbus Lions of

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the ...

(AIF),

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded by Vince McMaho ...

of the XFL, and Pittsburgh Maulers and Philadelphia Stars of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He went to Hillside High School in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. Lee is considered to be a skilled dual-threat, athletic quarterback who redshirted as a true freshman at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. Lee played in several games during his redshirt freshman season in 2012 as a backup to starting Georgia Tech quarterback Tevin Washington, and Lee was the Yellow Jackets' starting quarterback during 2013 season. Lee went to Georgia Tech after a successful prep career in North Carolina. In January 2014, Lee transferred to

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

High school

Lee earned four varsity letters and served three years as a team captain while playing for Hillside under coach Antonio King. Lee led Hillside to the North Carolina state championship in 2010. Lee's high school career totals include: 5,000 passing yards, 1,960 rushing yards, and Lee was responsible for 85 touchdowns. Lee also played wide receiver as a sophomore, producing 1,124 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Lee led Hillside to a perfect 16–0 record in 2010 and won the North Carolina 4A State Championship game 40–0 over Davie County at BB&T field in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

. Lee threw for 264 yards and three touchdown passes in the state championship game, earning MVP honors. Lee's other high school honors include: the Pac-6 Conference Player of the Year, the AP North Carolina state Player of the Year, first team all-state, and MVP of the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl.

College

Georgia Tech

Lee was recruited by

as a four-star recruit. He received a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

season in 2011. Lee played in several games during 2012 football season as a backup to starting Georgia Tech quarterback Tevin Washington. However, Lee saw only limited playing time until Georgia Tech faced

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

on November 10, 2012. Lee entered the game at

Kenan Memorial Stadium Kenan Stadium (formerly Kenan Memorial Stadium) is a college football stadium located on Stadium Drive in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Opened in 1927, it is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's (UNC) football team, which comp ...

with Tech trailing North Carolina 14–7 in the first quarter, and he never left. Lee made Georgia Tech's

triple option The triple option is an American football play used to offer six ways to move the football forward on the field of play. The triple option is based on the option run, but uses three players who might run with the ball instead of the two used in ...

offense unstoppable, helping the Yellow Jackets account for 588 yards of offense in a 68–50 win over North Carolina, the most combined points ever in any

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

football game. Lee rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and he threw for 169 yards and a touchdown as well. However, coach Paul Johnson continued to start Washington in every football game during 2012 season, and he rotated the two quarterbacks with their playing time depending on performance during games. Lee became the Yellow Jackets' starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2013 football season. Lee announced his decision to transfer to another school at the end of the 2013 football season.

James Madison

In January 2014, Chip Patterson at CBSsports.com reported Lee would transfer to FCS James Madison for the upcoming spring semester. Lee transferred to JMU due to his familiarity with the Dukes' new head coach, Everett Withers, who had recruited him from his time at

2014 season

In his first season with the Dukes, Lee was named the starter at quarterback and would go on to lead the Dukes to a 9–3 regular season along with a trip to the 2014 FCS playoffs. Along the way, Lee would go on to set JMU's single-game passing, completion percentage, single-season touchdown, passing & total-offense records in addition to being named CAA Offensive Player of the Week three times. Following a 55–20 JMU victory over rival

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

on November 15, 2014, Lee was named to the 2014

Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports ...

watch list and would ultimately place 4th for that award. On December 10, 2014, Vad Lee was named the recipient of the 2014

Dudley Award The Dudley Award, named after former Virginia Cavaliers running back Bill Dudley, is presented annually by the ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' to honor the top college football player in Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virgin ...

, which is given to the top Division I football player in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

over Old Dominion's

Taylor Heinicke Taylor Heinicke ( ; born March 15, 1993) is an American professional football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Old Dominion Monarchs football, Old Dominion Monarch ...

& Virginia Tech's Kendall Fuller. The following week, Lee was named 2014

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Third Team FCS

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

2015 season

Prior to the start of the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

season, Lee was named to the watch lists for the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year (formerly the Walter Payton Award) and the College Football Performance Awards FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy. In JMU's 2015 home opening victory against Morehead State, Lee became the first JMU QB to throw for more than 250 yards and rush for more than 100 in a single game. In a week four 48–45 victory against SMU, Lee set a Division I record by becoming the first player to both run and pass for 275 yards in a single game. After a 7–0 start to the season, Lee suffered a broken foot during the fourth quarter of a 59–49 loss against

. During the game, Lee tied JMU's all-time passing touchdown record with 51 career touchdowns, across just 21 games. Lee was forced to undergo surgery for his foot, ending his final college season. While announcing the end of Lee's career, head coach Everett Withers called him "one of the best players in JMU history."

Statistics

Professional career

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Lee dressed for three games for the

in 2016 as 3rd string QB, recording one rushing attempt. Lee was cut on August 12, 2016.

Columbus Lions

On August 28, 2017, Lee signed with the Columbus Lions for the 2018 season. He was released on February 1, 2018. In February 2019, Lee joined Your Call Football where he was coached by

Solomon Wilcots Solomon Wilcots (born October 9, 1964) is an American former professional football player who is a national television analyst and broadcaster as well as a head coach in Your Call Football. Wilcots played six seasons as a free safety in the Na ...

during a 4-game series where fans called the plays through a mobile app.

DC Defenders

Lee was signed by the

of the XFL in December 2019. He was waived during final roster cuts on January 22, 2020. Lee signed with the Alphas of

The Spring League The Spring League (TSL) was an American football Minor league football (gridiron), developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional football (gridiron), p ...

in May 2021.

Pittsburgh Maulers

He signed with the Pittsburgh Maulers of the

on May 10, 2022. Lee led the team to its first win of the season just 5 days later. Lee was released after the season on January 2, 2023.

BC Lions

Lee signed with the

of the CFL on January 5, 2023. He was released on February 27, 2023.

Philadelphia Stars

On March 19, 2023, Lee signed with the Philadelphia Stars of the

(USFL). The Stars folded when the XFL and USFL merged to create the United Football League (UFL).

Career statistics

References

External links

JMUsports.com Bio: Vad Lee

YouTube video: Vad Lee interview with Wes Durham published on 11/15/12

ESPN Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Vad American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks 1993 births Living people Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players James Madison Dukes football players Columbus Lions players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Players of American football from North Carolina Sportspeople from Wilson, North Carolina DC Defenders players Hillside High School (Durham, North Carolina) alumni The Spring League players Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) players BC Lions players Philadelphia Stars (2022) players Players of Canadian football from North Carolina