Team Leader
and All-America Candidate Tears ACL in Practice
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 12, 2008 – Penn
State standout linebacker Sean Lee (Pittsburgh) suffered a
serious knee injury in practice Friday that will likely
sideline him for the 2008 season.
A probable All-America candidate, Lee tore the anterior
cruciate ligament in his right knee, according to Dr. Wayne
Sebastianelli, Penn State Director of Athletic Medicine. Lee
will have surgery within the next 2-4 weeks and
rehabilitation will take approximately nine months,
according to Sebastianelli.
A rising senior, Lee played as a true freshman in 2005 and
has a redshirt year available.
"I have a
responsibility to the team to help do everything I can this year
in what might be a non-conventional way,” Lee stated. “I have
to turn this into a positive. It's a bump in the road. I'm
excited about the team we have and the kind of season we can
have. It's a great opportunity for a young guy."
A
first team Class AAAA all-state selection from Upper St.
Clair High School, Lee was coming off a superlative junior
season, earning
2007 first-team All-America honors from Pro Football Weekly.
The vastly talented, instinctive and intelligent Lee ranked
second in the Big Ten with 138 tackles last year, trailing
only teammate Dan Connor, and giving Penn State just its
third pair of century-busting tacklers since tackle records
began being kept in 1969.
A two-time Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Week honoree in
2007, Lee earned second-team all-conference honors in a
league that featured two of the three finalists for the
Butkus Award. His 138 tackles were No. 5 on the school
season list. He has 239 career stops, needing 17 to crack
the school’s Top 10, and with a very realistic chance of
joining Connor and Paul Posluszny as the top three tacklers
in program history.
Lee recorded double-figures in tackles in 10 of the last 11
games, giving him 12 in his blossoming career. An intense
competitor who loves to hit, Lee also had 10.5 tackles for
loss (minus-34), 3.5 sacks, forced three fumbles, recovered
three fumbles and grabbed one interception. The swift and
strong athlete also was second on the team with eight pass
breakups. He was tied for first in the Big Ten in fumble
recoveries and was tied for No. 7 in the conference in
forced fumbles last year.
A starter in the last 26 games, Lee punctuated his marvelous
junior season by earning 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl Defensive
Player of the Game accolades. He recorded a game-high 14
tackles, tied for most in Alamo Bowl history, to lead a
defensive unit that allowed Texas A&M just three points over
the final 49 minutes of the game. He also had a
minus-yardage hit and a pass break-up in the 24-17 victory
to earn a berth on the ESPN.com All-Bowl Team.
A finance major, Lee earned ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-District honors last year and would have been a strong
candidate for Academic All-America accolades this fall. He
has earned Academic All-Big Ten honors twice.