Leader. Linebacker. Artist. Learn More About @MizzouFootball's Brandon Lee
8/29/2018 1:05:00 PM | Football
Mizzou LB has represented Mizzou at NCAA Leadership summits and is an avid photographer
Picture this: 6-2 inches. 225 pounds. A leader. A linebacker. An artist. Picture Brandon Lee.
"I've never been an arts and crafts type of guy. I can't really draw. I've always been interested in pictures. I got a camera about two years ago, Nikon d71. People called me crazy for spending that much money on a camera, but it was an interest of mine," Lee said.
"Brandon's a guy that you could tell me anything like that and it wouldn't't surprise me," his position coach Brian Odom said.
It's his get-away from the grind of football and the MBA he's currently pursuing in the classroom. Out on his own, the perfect hobby for a self-described introvert.
"Picture taking is something I can do by myself or I can do with a friend. Anybody that wants to tag along."
So that's what we did on a picture-perfect Missouri day in August. The first time that Lee ever took photos of his home away from home, Faurot Field. We asked him, "you've never shot the stadium before? The place you play, you've never really taken pictures, right?"
Lee tells us he never has.
His inspiration comes from everywhere. Home. Travels. Natural Splendor. Often the people in his life end up in this work, but ironically some of the most vibrant images Brandon encounters, stay only in his mind. Each week in the fall, he experiences the pageantry of the SEC. There's no picture taking on game day. On Saturday, Lee's focus is reserved for the field.
"I need to get out more, maybe Sundays and Mondays following the game or something. Just escape from the whole season thing," said Lee.
Nobody knows better than a football player that reps make you better.
"Exactly. That's been the whole process. The more I do it, the better I get," Lee explained.
That is exactly how his football career has played out. Lee worked his way up playing all three linebacker positions while at Mizzou, developing into a starter as a fifth-year senior.
"He's an extremely smart player," Brian Odom said. "He's a guy that knows where everybody around him fits. He can get a defense lined up."
"The more you can do, the more you can play," Lee said. "The opportunities you have to be on the field to help your team. That's what I wanted to do, first and foremost, just be out there to contribute in any kind of way that I can. Blood sweat and tears all throughout the year. On the other side with my MBA, my academics have always been important to me."
Lee has a desire to grow and a finance degree already in his back pocket. He's working on his MBA, hoping to play in the NFL and he's always on the hunt for that perfect picture.
"By no means am I saying I'm a great photographer or anything like that, but I aspire to be one," says Lee. "The more time that I get to practice it the better I'll be. It's all like a puzzle and I don't know exactly how many people there are in the world, but I feel if I do my job and try to have an effect on others' lives, then that's my piece of the puzzle. The best I can do is have an effect on someone else."
