May 20, 2008

While at the University of Pittsburgh, punter Andy Lee developed into one of the best kickers in the country. Now, five years later, Lee is developing into one of the best in the National Football League with the San Francisco 49ers.

Lee was born in Westminster, S.C., and attended West Coast High School. While there, he earned first team All-State and two time All-Conference honors as a four year starter on the football team. Lee averaged a more than respectable 42.8 yards per punt during his senior year in high school.

It didn't take long for Lee to catch on at the University of Pittsburgh, capturing the punting job late in his freshman year, a job he held until graduating from Pitt in 2003. During his career with the Panthers, Lee set records for career punts with 244 and ranks second in yardage with 10,353 yards. Lee won the Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year award twice in his career, the only player ever to do so in the conference. Lee was also a semi-finalist for the Ray Guy Award in 2003, given annually to the nation's top punter.

In 2004, Lee was selected in the sixth round by the San Francisco 49ers and it didn't take long for Lee to make an impact in the NFL, as he appeared in all 16 games his rookie season. After assuming the starting job, Lee quickly and quietly grew into one of the league's top punters.

In 2005, Lee set career highs in punts with 107 for 4,447 yards, including three touchbacks and 13 punts inside the 20-yard line. His ratio of touchbacks to punts was the best for the 49ers' organization since 1970. In 2006, Lee responded with another great season, setting career highs in gross and net punting averages.

However, it was last season in which Lee emerged as one of the NFL's finest special teams players.

Lee put up one of the greatest punting seasons in NFL history in 2007 and was named to his first Pro Bowl as the NFC's punter. He led the NFL in almost every punting category and set an NFL record for punts inside the 20-yard line with an outstanding 42 punts. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007, Lee boomed an 81-yard punt, the fourth longest punt in team history and the longest punt of the entire 2007 NFL season.

This year Lee averaged an outstanding 42-yard net average per punt. No punter has averaged 40 yards or more since 1976 when they began keeping the statistic. Lee is also pushing for the franchise record of 45.8 yards set by Tommy Davis in 1965.

In addition to his punting duties, Lee serves as the holder for all field goals and extra points and has made several special teams tackles in his short career. In the Pro Bowl last year, Lee even threw and completed his first pass on a fake punt.

When the 2008 season begins in August, former Pitt Panther Andy Lee will be counted on by the San Francisco 49ers to play a key role on his team as they continue to improve. His success with football has been well extended past his time with Pitt with even more success on the horizon in San Francisco.