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It wasn’t until the eighth week of the 2014 season that Lee made his debut. It came against one of the CFL’s top quarterbacks in Ray, who is currently approaching 38 years of age and in the midst of another strong year, sitting third in the league in passing yards with 3,567.

Facing Ray as a member of the opposing defence can be a challenge for any veteran defensive back, never mind a rookie playing in their first game with the midway point of the season approaching.

Lee finished that game with one defensive tackle to his credit, and a forced fumble.

“It wasn’t historic in the sense that I made a lot of plays like interceptions and touchdowns and such. I have had games like that,” said Lee. “With that game, it was just the pressure and how I prevailed under the situation — coming from a small school, trying out here, backing up guys and getting that chance to play.”

The chance to play was the result of an injury to veteran defensive back Dante Marsh, said Lee. The Lions had to move Cord Parks over to fill the void left by Marsh, which meant Lee was placed into the lineup.

Photo by Frank Gunn / THE CANADIAN PRESS

By the end of September through to the middle of November that season, Lee had become a regular presence in the Lions defence, finishing his rookie campaign with one interception and two forced fumbles, the latter category being a speciality of his from his college days, with seven forced fumbles during his time at Eastern Washington.

Since that day versus the Argonauts, Lee has gone on to appear in 37 more regular-season games for the Lions, with seven career interceptions and four sacks, as well. But everyone needs to start somewhere, and for Lee, his playing days with the Leos officially began in Toronto just over three years ago.