By Doug Huff, West Virginia Sports Writers Association
WHEELING, W.Va. — Two of the top defensive players in Minnesota Vikings’ history will be the 2017 inductees into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Lonnie Warwick and Carl Lee will be enshrined by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association at the 71st annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 21 at the Village Square Conference Center in Clarksburg.
“This is a great honor,” Warwick said, “and to have two old Vikings like Carl and myself recognized makes it very special.”
Lee noted he was “excited and proud” of the honor and “happy to be inducted with Lonnie. This honor would be high on my bucket list.”
Both Warwick and Lee have been named to various 50 Greatest All-Time Viking selections.
Warwick made his name as the middle linebacker, and four-time leading team tackler, on the legendary Vikings’ Purple People Eaters’ defensive unit of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, considered one of the NFL’s all-time top units.
He started in Super Bowl IV in 1970 against the winning Kansas City Chiefs, a game that featured 13 future NFL Pro Football Hall of Famers. Warwick played despite spraining his left ankle during the NFL’s Championship game against the Cleveland Browns the previous week.
Warwick played from 1965-72 with the Vikings after signing as a free agent in 1964. He played at Tennessee Tech from 1961-63 after a year at the University of Tennessee and is a Tech Hall of Famer.
With the Vikings in 1965, he returned a blocked punt for a touchdown which proved the winning margin in a 38-35 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Career-wise, he had 11 interceptions and six fumble recoveries and was named to the Pro Bowl in 1969 and 1970.
Warwick incurred knee problems in 1971 and 1972 and played only 10 games before being traded to Atlanta for a two-year stint. He then served on the Washington Redskins’ coaching staff for 1976-77. He coached the Charleston Rockets semi-pro team from 1980-82. In 1983-84, he was on the coaching staff of the Denver Gold of the U.S. Football League before wrapping up his coaching tenure in 1986 on the Salem College staff.
Warwick graduated from Mount Hope High School where he competed in football, basketball and track and also was a Golden Gloves’ boxing champion. He earned Class AA all-state football after the Mustangs shared the state title with Mullens following a scoreless playoff tie.
Lee, meanwhile, played 12 seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the seventh round, 186th overall, of the 1983 draft out of Marshall, where he competed in football and track. He was inducted in 1995 into the Herd Sports Hall of Fame.
From 1983-93, the cornerback started 144 of 169 games and had 779 tackles plus 31 pass interceptions, returning two for touchdowns, and had seven fumble recoveries.
He made three straight Pro Bowls from 1988-90 and was first team All-Pro in 1988.
Lee capped his NFL career, and started eight games, with the New Orleans Saints in 1994. He had 28 tackles with two interceptions.
He returned to the Mountain State and served as head football coach at W. Va. State in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1996-2005.
In 2014, the W. Va, Sports Writers Association named its new High School Football Defensive Back of the Year Award in his honor, the Lee Award.
Lee was an all-state football player at South Charleston High School, where he also ran track.
Both Lee and Warwick reside in West Virginia and plan to be present for the inductions.