Arena football wide receiver Daniel Lee has taken advantage of every opportunity presented his way.
Lee, who played for Clarksdale High School coach Henry Johnson at West Bolivar High School, took what he learned and passed it along to kids at the first DLee Elite Performance and Training Camp at Crumpton Field for grades seven to 12 Thursday.
“It was pretty much the hard work,” said Lee reflecting on what he learned from Johnson. “He really concentrated on us finishing and pretty much just hard work.”
Lee was on the 2007 West Bolivar state championship team as both a receiver and free safety when Johnson was the head coach. He recalled scoring three to four touchdowns a game and having the same amount of interceptions each week. He also won championships with Shaw University and the Richmond Roughriders and helped lead Coahoma Community College to the playoffs for the first time in 2009. He currently plays for the Carolina Energy.
The unconventional route began in fifth grade when Lee’s friend had a father who was a junior high coach in the West Bolivar schools and things moved forward from there.
“There’s always ways to stay in the game such as myself playing arena football,” Lee said. “I’ve got the opportunity to play against NFL guys. This year, I played on a team with Greg Hardy. Of course, we all know he played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Panthers. And Ellis Lankster and guys that played for the Jets and Buffalo Bills, so there’s ways around it. You can get there.”
Lee is 5 feet, 11 inches and around 185 pounds.
“I definitely stressed that to them earlier today about working hard and no matter what, just continue to keep playing and keep fighting,” Lee said.
“The size doesn’t matter. You’ve got (wide receiver) Steve Smith. He’s one of the smallest guys in the NFL. He is a great example of it doesn’t matter how big and tall you are.”
Lee went to CCC where he had the opportunity to improve his grades. He majored in recreation and took advantage of the opportunity.
“High school and college are pretty much the same thing,” Lee said. “As you continue to keep playing, the level of play gets harder. It gets tougher and tougher. As far as arena goes, it’s different from outdoor football. Today is about 100 something degrees. Playing arena football, you’re always indoors. The field is only 50 yards and not that wide. You definitely don’t get that 100-yard feel. It’s pretty fun to play a high-scoring game.
“It took me awhile to adjust to the game because I was so stuck on outdoor football. I had to adjust to the indoor. It’s a big difference from outdoor.”
Lee said, in arena football, you have to be quick and fast and put the brakes on more than at other levels. His goal is to play in the CFL and then NFL, hopefully on a high-scoring team.
“Last year (in arena football), we won a championship,” he said. “I was with the Richmond Roughriders and that team alone was the greatest show on turf.”
Lee first learned about the opportunity to play arena football during his time at Shaw University and one of his friends knew an agent who helped get him in the league. He has played arena football since 2013.
Eventually, Lee hopes to have a football camp at CCC and believed the one at Crumpton Field went well.
“Today is going great,” he said. “The guys are doing a great job picking up on what I’ve shown them.”
Lee said the kids’ strength is leadership, but they will have to keep working out. He added he learned a lot on his own and wanted to teach the kids so they were able to learn from someone.
