Former Chargers DE Lee dies at 44

A sixth member of the San Diego Chargers' 1994 AFC Championship team has passed away.

Shawn Lee, a defensive end who played in the NFL for 11 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and Chargers, died Saturday in Raleigh, N.C., at the age of 44.

The cause of death was cardiac arrest brought on by double pneumonia, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Lee had been dealing with diabetes in recent years.

Five other members of that 1994 Chargers team have passed away at relatively young ages in a variety of circumstances, the Union-Tribune reported. Linebacker David Griggs died in a car crash in 1995 at age 28; running back Rodney Culver died in a plane crash in 1996 at 26; linebacker Doug Miller was struck by lightning twice and died in 1998 at 28; center Curtis Whitley died from a drug overdose in 2008 at 39; and defensive lineman Chris Mims died of heart failure in 2008 at 38.

Former Chargers running back Natrone Means told the Union-Tribune in reference to Lee's death: “Not again. It’s crazy, just crazy, that we’ve had so many guys who have fallen. I can’t make any sense of it. I’ve given up trying. You just hope you quit getting these random messages out of nowhere that another teammate has passed away.”

Lee, whose playing weight was listed at 300 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame, was part of an imposing defensive line that helped lead the Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance. San Diego lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 49-26, in Super Bowl XXIX in January 1995 in Miami.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Oct. 24, 1966, Lee played collegiately at North Alabama and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1988 NFL draft by Tampa Bay. He is survived by a daughter, Satori; his father, Earnest; and two sisters, Pamyula Harrison and Tanya Lee-Riley, the Union-Tribune reported.