Sports

Picking a new path

• After two seasons on the practice squad, Pierre Lee has broken out as a playmaker for the South Georgia Wildcats.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY — For two years, Pierre Lee sat on the sidelines.

He battled during practices, but watched on gamedays. He played through the pain of a debilitating knee injury, but watched on gamedays. Rumors spread questioning his ability; all he could do was watch on gamedays.

So excuse Lee if the gleam from his smile matches his diamond earring these days.

Lee returned for his third season under Derek Stingley and filled into the role of starting defensive back for the first time. He is currently tied for the team lead in interceptions and has risen to fifth in the af2 in tackles.

This is his opportunity. An opportunity to silence the critics. An opportunity to advance to the AFL. And most importantly, an opportunity to prove himself on game days.

“I have been waiting two years for this,” Lee said. “It has been a long journey. Just being out there and playing, it is my dream. It is my passion.”

This journey spun from a failed tryout with the New York Jets after graduating from Virginia State with current teammate P.J. Berry in 2005 as a first-team All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association cornerback.

From there, he latched on with coach Derek Stingley and the Macon Knights.

As a wide-eyed, 21-year-old Lee could only labor on the practice squad in hopes of earning his shot.

It never came.

When Stingley moved to South Georgia last season, Lee followed.

Again, Lee fell into the background.

“Last year was probably his worst year being under me,” Stingley said. Lee suffered a knee injury that lingered undiagnosed during preseason. He could barely walk after a scrimmage against Tennessee Valley. Still, he attempted to play through it.

“The whole time I thought it was something serious, because I know my body,” said Lee, who spent the early season on IR. “The doctors couldn’t find it. Nobody knew what was going on. I toughed it out mentally, tried to block out the pain.”

No mental strength could overcome the physical limitations. Eventually, Lee asked for his release. Buried underneath Matt Jackson, Daryon Brutely and Cory Bailey on the depth chart while seeing no end in sight with his knee, the Richmond, Va., native returned home.

After receiving a second opinion, it turns out Lee was playing the entire time with a torn meniscus.

“I called coach right after the season ended,” said Lee, who had surgery immediately to repair the ligament. “I told him I still wanted to come back. He said he believed in me and wanted me to come play for him.”

Despite watching Lee sit on practice squads and never consistently take the field on Saturdays, Stingley always saw the bright light at the end of Lee’s journey.

“I didn’t hesitate,” Stingley said. “You don’t get that many 6-foot DBs that can run, tackle and cover and be an athlete after the catch. He has long arms and is always having his hand in there somewhere.”

This year, the Wildcats needed Lee as much as Lee needed the Wildcats.

With two starting positions open in the defensive backfield, Stingley put the role of weak-side corner on a player with no consistent game experience.

In his system, the back-side corner plays the lead role in the red zone.

“I knew certain things he was capable of,” Stingley said. “It was me stepping out on faith and believing he can make the plays he is capable of making. He proved a lot of people wrong.”

An urgency in this opportunity has been increasingly evident as the season progressed.

After missing the opener with a minor injury, Lee racked up 12 unassisted tackles in his first three games. Since then, Lee has covered the field and pulled in an average of 7.5 tackles a game in the last four.

Middle safety Roland Cola sits third in the af2 with an average of 7.4 tackles while Lee has ascended to fifth at 6.3 a game.

But at defensive back, priority No. 1 is grabbing interceptions. Lee has three, tied with Cola for the team lead.

However, three more have been called back by penalty; twice at Austin and another during Saturday’s win against Corpus Christi.

“It is rough,” Lee said with a laugh. “It lasted up until Tuesday, then I let it go.”

Those plays return a frustration to Lee, only this year of an alternate brand.

“It is a completely different experience,” Lee said. “After being frustrated, where you are sitting on the sideline…you want to be out there. You want to play.”

Two years of anxiety officially in the past, Lee embraces his new reality.

“I will get more opportunities to make plays,” he said, “and I will definitely make ’em.”

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