{{Short description|Japanese gridiron football player (born 1995)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox NFL biography | name = Taku Lee | image = | caption = | current_team = Obic Seagulls | number = 29 | position = Running back | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1995|2|20}} | birth_place = Nagoya, Japan | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 11 | weight_lbs = 195 | high_school = Nanzan (Nagoya) | college = Keio University | cfldraftyear = 2021G | cfldraftround = 3 | cfldraftpick = 24 | pastteams = *Obic Seagulls (2017–2020) *Montreal Alouettes ({{CFL Year|2021}}–{{CFL Year|2022}}) *Obic Seagulls (2023–present) | status = | highlights = *X-League champion (2020) *Rice Bowl champion (2020) *Japan X Bowl MVP (2020) *2x All X-League Team (2019, 2020) *X-League Best Rookie Award (2017) | statlabel1 = | statvalue1 = | pfr = | cfl = 166187 }} '''Taku Lee''' (born February 20, 1995) is a Japanese professional gridiron football running back for the Obic Seagulls of the Japanese X-League.
== Early life == After enrolling in Nanzan Junior High School, Lee started playing American football. He played as a running back from that time on.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}
== College career == After graduating high school, he went on to Keio University's Faculty of Policy Management,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfc.keio.ac.jp/magazine/students/t_ri.html|title=We want to use the Keio American Football Club's efforts to "build the best team in Japan" to develop the football world|website=sfc.keio.ac.jp|date=|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=ja}}</ref> where he joined the American football club. During his time at Keio, he served as team captain and was the leading rusher in the Kantō region in his junior and senior years and was selected for the Kanto Best 11. In his senior year, he won the MVP award at the College Bowl. As a member of the Japanese national team, he was selected to represent Japan in the U-19 World Championship in his sophomore year (but did not participate). In his junior year, he was selected to represent Japan in the Senior World Championship. In his senior year, he also represented Japan in the University World Championship as a member of the college team.
== Professional career == === Obic Seagulls === After graduating from Keio, Lee joined Japan Airlines, but in parallel, he joined the Obic Seagulls in 2017. In the same year, he won the X-League's Best Rookie Award. In 2018, he served as vice captain and offensive leader and left Japan Airlines in the fall of the same year to focus on American football and challenge the NFL.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/japanese-rb-taku-lee-set-aside-dreams-of-flying-to-play-football/|title=Japanese RB Taku Lee set aside dreams of flying to play football|website=American Football International|first=Roger|last=Kelly|date=June 28, 2020|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=en}}</ref> In the spring of 2019, he participated in The Spring League scouting event and was invited to try out for the XFL. In the spring of 2020, Lee was invited to the Canadian Football League (CFL) Global Combine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbm-japan.com/article/detail/82|title=[American Football] Obic RB Li Zhuo advances to the CFL Global Combine finals in Canada|website=Baseball Magazine Company|first=Yosai|last=Kozano|date=February 1, 2020|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=ja}}</ref>{{efn|The 2020 season had later been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.}} He was selected for the All X-League Team for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020. He won the MVP award at the 2020 Japan X Bowl. In January 2021, Lee was invited to the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP) program camp as a candidate player.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://xleague.jp/news/14052|title=Obic's Li Zhuo selected as one of 11 candidates aiming to join the NFL's 2021 IPP program|website=X-League|date=December 31, 2020|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=ja}}</ref>
=== Montreal Alouettes === On April 15, 2021, Lee was selected in the 2021 CFL global draft by the Montreal Alouettes in the third round as the 24th overall pick.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbm-japan.com/article/detail/17748|title=[American Football] Maruo, Yamagishi, Machino, Sato and six other players selected in the CFL Global Draft|website=Baseball Magazine Company|date=April 16, 2021|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=ja}}</ref> He had been aiming to join the NFL, but after not being drafted he gave up and joined Montreal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbm-japan.com/article/detail/20136|title=[American Football] RB Li Zhuo signs with the CFL Alouettes: "I'm looking forward to starting my professional career"|website=Baseball Magazine Company|date=June 10, 2021|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=ja}}</ref> On September 18, he played in a game against the BC Lions, becoming the third Japanese player to play in the CFL after Les Maruo (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) and Takeru Yamasaki (BC Lions).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbm-japan.com/article/detail/24943|title=[American Football] Li Zhuo makes his CFL debut, becoming the first Japanese player to return the ball, scoring 48 yards on two attempts|website=Baseball Magazine Company|date=September 19, 2021|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=ja}}</ref>
=== Obic Seagulls (second stint) === On November 1, 2022, with the end of the CFL regular season, Lee returned to Japan and joined the Seagulls, returning to his former team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://xleague.jp/news/34159|title=RB Li Zhuo joins the Obic Seagulls, playing in a domestic match for the first time in two years|website=X-League|date=November 1, 2022|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=ja}}</ref> From this season, he renewed his contract as a professional player with Japanese nationality.
== Personal life == Since Lee was in high school, his goal was to become an airline pilot. After graduating from college, he joined Japan Airlines as a pilot trainee, a position that is said to have a 100 to 1 ratio, and was assigned to Narita International Airport. However, he left the company after a year and a half to focus on his challenge in the NFL.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/2020/07/04/no-regrets-taku-lee-elated-choice-play-football/|title=No Regrets: Taku Lee elated with choice to play football|website=CFL.ca|first=Roger|last=Kelly|date=July 4, 2020|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=en}}</ref>
Lee is a fourth-generation Korean resident of Japan who later acquired Japanese citizenship in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/03/07/more-sports/football/ex-keio-running-back-taku-lee-puts-pilots-dream-hold-pursue-nfl-ambition/|title=Ex-Keio running back Taku Lee puts pilot's dream on hold to pursue NFL ambition|website=The Japan Times|first=Hiroshi|last=Ikezawa|date=March 7, 2020|access-date=February 18, 2025|language=en}}</ref>
== Professional record == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Season ! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Match ! colspan="5"| Run ! colspan="3"| Return |- ! GP !! GS !! Att !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! Att !! Yds !! TD |- ! 2019 !! rowspan="2"|OS | 7 || 6 || 54 || 527 || 9.8 || 68 || 2 || - || - || - |- ! 2020 | 2 || 2 || 22 || 175 || 8.0 || 34 || 2 || - || - || - |- ! 2021 !! rowspan="2"|MTL | 4 || 4 || - || - || - || - || - || 2 || 48 || 0 |- ! 2022 | 0 || 0 || - || - || - || - || - || - || - || - |- ! 2023 !! OS | 5 || 5 || 40 || 271 || 6.8 || 54 || 1 || - || - || - |- ! colspan="2" | Total || 48 || 17 || 116 || 973 || 8.4 || 54 || 5 || 2 || 48 || 0 |}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://www.cfl.ca/players/taku-lee/166187/ CFL bio]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Taku}} Category:1995 births Category:Living people Category:American football running backs Category:Canadian football running backs Category:X-League (Japan) players Category:Montreal Alouettes players Category:Japanese players of American football Category:Japanese players of Canadian football Category:Sportspeople from Nagoya Category:College football players in Japan Category:21st-century Japanese sportsmen