Ronnie Lee’s Career Ignited By Mark Left at John Tyler High School

Ronnie Lee was one of only a handful of players to play three different positions in the NFL. He only played one in high school (tight end), but as would be expected, he was overshadowed by a running back at John Tyler High School in the early 1970s.

Fingers always point to Earl Campbell as the catalyst to John Tyler's 15-0 season in 1973, which ended in a Class 4A state championship.

And rightly so. We are talking about Earl Campbell.

But, there was a tight end on that team who did pretty good, too.

Ronnie Lee was 6-foot-3, 265 pounds, easily one of the biggest players on the field. His quickness and speed set him apart, hence his ability to play on the line or at tight end.

He caught an 80-yard touchdown pass in the state semifinals to send the Lions to the title game.

"You sit down and you think and you look at all the talent we had," Lee said in 2004 when he was inducted into the Texas High School Hall of Fame. "That's a team that could have given some college teams a run for their money. We had some studs, some tough guys on that team."

Of course, most of his time was spent blocking for that Campbell kid -- Earl couldn't do it all himself.

Lee was a year younger than Campbell, and spent another year at John Tyler before going to Baylor after high school. He was a part of a dynamic group under legendary coach Grant Teaff, and he would go on to play 14 seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the third round.

Lee played for the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks. He started his career at tight end before moving to right guard and then right tackle.

He blocked for Dan Marino, was a teammate of fellow legendary East Texan David Overstreet and even scored three career touchdowns at tight end. His versatility was second to none.