Cowboys' Sean Lee retires after 11 seasons

A football career defined by hundreds of tackles but also interrupted by several serious injuries came to an end Monday when Upper St. Clair native Sean Lee retired from the NFL after 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

Lee announced his decision via a letter posted to the team’s website.

“For 11 seasons, I was privileged to wear the Cowboys star,” Lee wrote. “We want to play forever. But today, it’s my time to walk away.”

Lee, 34, retires as the eighth-ranked tackler in team history. He had 995 career tackles.

The honor was all ours, Sean.

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) April 26, 2021

Lee was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2010 draft. He made the Pro Bowl two times in a career that was slowed by injuries.

“Whenever I’m near a field, the smell brings me back to when I first started playing, pulling on a helmet, trying on those shoulder pads, that perfect tackle,” Lee wrote in his letter. “To think of the journey now, experiencing things I never thought possible with the men and women who make this game what it is, I’m beyond grateful.”

Lee missed at least five games in a season five times in his career, and he sat out 58 games overall. But Lee showed perseverance throughout his tenure. After tearing an ACL and missing the entire 2014 season, Lee bounced back to earn Pro Bowl honors in each of the next two years.

In 2020, Lee underwent core muscle surgery that reattached abdominal muscles to his pelvic bone, and he spent the first seven weeks of the season on injured reserve. Lee returned for the final nine games, making two starts.

Overall, Lee started 92 games in the 118 he played at inside linebacker with the Cowboys. He led all NFL linebackers in interceptions through his first six seasons

Lee ranks fourth among Cowboys linebackers with 14 interceptions. His 22 tackles against the New York Giants in a 2016 game stands as the team’s single-game standard.

Lee was a two-sport star at Upper St. Clair. He was a three-year point guard on the basketball team, averaging 21.2 points and 9.1 rebounds. Lee also was a standout linebacker/running back on the football team.

Lee was recruited to Penn State as a linebacker, and he played in seven games as a freshman. He started every game as a sophomore and junior, emerging as one of the Big Ten’s top tacklers. An ACL tear in 2008 cost him a season, but Lee returned as a team captain for his senior season.