"I met Joe Kapp when I was 12 years old and he was a junior at the University of California on a 1-9 team," Lee explained. "My dad ran _The_ _Associated Press_ in San Francisco. They were in competition with other wire services. They hired a college senior journalism student to do the postgame stories. Those stories for the Eastern papers paid a nickel a word. They were 1,500 words, so 75 bucks, which was a big deal in 1957.
"The senior didn't show up. They said, 'The press pass works. Go down there, write a bunch of notes. We'll turn it into a story.' The first guy I listened to was Joe Kapp," Lee continued. "Joe took all the blame for the loss. Nobody else. It was his fault. … He was a leader. He didn't push himself in certain directions on other people."
Lee attempted one pass in a 51-3 win over Cleveland on Nov. 9, 1969, and went 3-for-4 with his first touchdown, a 7-yard strike to John Henderson in a 52-14 win over the Steelers two weeks later.
During the 1969 postseason, Lee punted three times in a 23-20 win over the Rams and thrice more in a 27-7 victory over the Browns, helping Minnesota advance to Super Bowl IV. He punted three times in that game as well.
After making two starts as a backup late in 1970 but not punting that season, he returned to those duties in 1971.
Lee made four starts in the regular season, as well as the playoff game against Dallas in the Divisional Round. Lee also handled punting duties in that loss to the Cowboys. That was the final time he punted in an NFL game.
Tarkenton's return to Minnesota in 1972 led to Lee returning to a reserve QB role before he was traded to Atlanta in 1973, when he posted his best results, going 8-2 for the Falcons. After one more season there, he returned to Minnesota in 1975. Lee backed up Tarkenton over the next four seasons and went 4-1 in five starts from 1976-77.