Carpe Diem — seize the moment. That’s what was probably running through second-year DL Logan Lee’s head when he ran onto the football field during a critical game against the Baltimore Ravens to make the best play of his young career. It turns out that moment was never supposed to happen. He explained during an appearance on Off The Air with Matt Randazzo.
“The last regular-season game of the year, I had one play the entire game. The game was against the Ravens, it was whoever won made it to the playoffs and I had one play,” Lee said. “I wasn’t even supposed to go in. I just ran onto the field, and I ended up tipping the ball. It was going to be a screen play to Derrick Henry, who had at least 10 yards of open space, and I was able to knock that down.”
It was 2nd and 16, but it set up a 3rd and long that the Ravens were unable to overcome. The end result was the same with the Ravens punting a couple plays later. Here’s the play, and you’ll notice right away how fresh Lee’s legs were compared to everybody else on the field.
How was a player just able to run on the field like that? DL coach Karl Dunbar apparently encouraged such behavior.
“Coach Dunbar, love him to death, he really emphasizes being ready and just asserting yourself sometimes,” Lee said. “You can’t always wait for your number to be called. You just have to do it yourself. And one of our players just kind of gave a tap on the head and was like I need a break. The moment he did it, I just ran on the field. It was a little bit of a hurry-up situation, so I just didn’t look back. Usually if you look back, somebody’s waving you [to] get back off the field. I just ran.
“I got back on the sideline and I’m like, ‘Sorry I ran on the field,’ and he was like ‘I effing love it!'”
There was perhaps some outcome bias at play there, but the end result was Lee earning respect from his teammates and coaches for taking initiative and backing it up with a big play. Mind you, it was against OT Ronnie Stanley on a pass from QB Lamar Jackson to RB Derrick Henry—three All-Pro players, and the play was wrecked by a sixth-round pick who wasn’t supposed to be on the field.
Good players make big plays in big moments. Lee showed some of why the Steelers drafted him in that sequence. There’s a reason the Steelers gravitate toward tall defensive linemen with decent arm length. Batting down balls
I’ll remind you that this was the game with the infamous Tyler Loop missed kick and the priest blessing the end zone. It was that close. Lee’s renegade play very well could have changed the outcome of the game and punched the Steelers’ ticket to the playoffs.
Since being drafted, Lee appeared in just seven games with 47 defensive snaps. He managed to bat down one other pass in those opportunities and logged two tackles with a quarterback hit. He went from being a 60-snap-per-game player at Iowa to barely getting a helmet on gameday with the Steelers. So when the door cracked open for him, he was more than ready to bust it down whether anybody instructed him to or not.
How often were players just going renegade and subbing themselves in? It sounds like Dunbar encouraged it to an extent, but that’s a conversation for a different time.
However common the practice was, Lee took full advantage of it and may have bought himself more opportunities in his third professional season.
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