Darron Lee

Did You Know?

• Lee played in two games as a true freshman in 2013 before suffering an injury, which caused him to receive a medical redshirt.
• After his redshirt freshman season in 2014, Lee switched to linebacker and became a starter.
• He was named the Defensive MVP of the 2015 Sugar Bowl after he recorded seven tackles and two sacks.

Early life

Darron Lee was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and moved to New Albany, Ohio, when he was in sixth grade. He attended New Albany High School, where he played quarterback, wide receiver, safety, and return specialist. As a junior, Lee helped the Eagles post a 9–3 record and win the Ohio Capital Conference title while reaching the regional semifinals. During his senior season, he focused on quarterback and defensive back duties, guiding the team to an 11–3 record and a 7–0 mark in conference play.

The Eagles captured both the regional and Ohio Capital Conference championships and advanced to the Division II state semifinals, where they lost 33–32 to Trotwood-Madison. Lee was named first-team Associated Press Division II All-state after accounting for more than 1,700 yards of offense and 21 touchdowns, along with five interceptions. He also competed in track and field for New Albany. In the 2012 indoor season, he posted a personal-best 7.23 seconds in the 60-meter dash and cleared 5 feet 10 inches in the high jump at the OSU Buckeye Qualifier Meet.

Outdoors that year, he won the 200-meter title in 22.21 seconds and ran on the gold-medal 4x400 relay team (3:24.53) at the District Running Event. He also ran a season-best 43.52 seconds on the 4x100 relay team that placed third at the Stingel Invitational. To focus on football training, he was limited during the 2013 indoor season. That spring, he finished third in the 100 meters with a personal-best 11.06 seconds at the Central District III Meet.

Recruiting services rated Lee a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and a four-star recruit by Scout.com, which ranked him the 29th-best safety nationally. ESPN rated him the 28th-best overall player in Ohio. On May 26, Lee committed to Ohio State University to play college football.

Professional career

Darron Lee decided to skip his final college season and enter the 2016 NFL draft, announcing the move on Twitter on January 2, 2016. Before the NFL Combine, most draft analysts and scouts thought he would go in the mid-to-late first round. At the combine, Lee boosted his first-round stock with strong drill results. He led all linebackers in the 40-yard dash and broad jump, placed third in the short shuttle, and fifth in the vertical jump.

His 4.43-second 40 was the fastest by a linebacker in nine years and even beat Ohio State teammates Ezekiel Elliott and Braxton Miller. His 11-foot-1-inch broad jump was the third-best among linebackers since 2006. At Ohio State’s pro day on March 11, 2016, Lee did not redo his combine tests, only running positional drills. He visited several teams before the draft, including the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings.

By the end of the pre-draft process, experts still saw him as a first-round pick. DraftScout.com ranked him the second-best outside linebacker, Mike Mayock had him third among linebackers, and Sports Illustrated, Bucky Brooks, and ESPN each ranked him fourth. The Jets took Lee with the 20th overall pick in the first round, making him the second linebacker selected, after Leonard Floyd at ninth overall. On July 27, 2016, he signed a four-year contract worth $10.22 million, with $7.92 million guaranteed and a $5.63 million signing bonus.

During training camp, Lee competed with veteran Erin Henderson for a starting inside linebacker job. Head coach Todd Bowles started the season with Lee as a backup, behind David Harris and Erin Henderson.

Personal life

In 2017, Lee got into a shouting match with a woman at the Governors Ball Music Festival on Randall's Island, and teammate Leonard Williams stepped in to pull him away and hold him back. Six years later, in June 2023, a warrant was issued for his arrest after he skipped a court date. Then, on February 6, 2026, Lee was taken into custody for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Gabriella Perpetuo. At the time, he was on probation in both Ohio and Florida. Perpetuo had multiple injuries, and the autopsy listed blunt force trauma as the cause of death. Investigators used Lee’s ChatGPT conversations, where he asked the chatbot about injuries, as evidence for the grand jury. On June 11, 2026, a Hamilton County, Tennessee grand jury indicted him on the first-degree murder charge.