You can’t pronounce leader without ‘Lee.’
The Stamps are keeping one of their biggest leaders on the roster for 2026 as the club announced the re-signing of 30-year-old linebacker Marquel Lee last Friday.
He was named the starting middle linebacker for the Red and White last season and opened the 2025 campaign by racking up a whopping 10 tackles in the home-opener against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Unfortunately, his season was cut short early when he went down with a biceps injury in Week 2 against the Toronto Argonauts and he didn’t return to action until Week 18.
Although Lee couldn’t contribute on the field again until the end of the season, the former NFL linebacker made his presence felt amongst the team in other ways.
It’s not hard to spot him thanks to his 6-foot-3 234-lb. stature, but size aside, the former NFL-er could always be found around the team.
Whether he was climbing the McMahon Stadium steps with rookie defensive back Anton Haie, working out in the weight room with strength and conditioning coach Daryl Chambers or actively involved in team warmups and pacing the sideline during games, Lee remained a present piece.
“I think it’s just growing up in that position,” said Lee. “I’ve always played MIKE linebacker, and I’ve always had a presence and a voice for all the teams I’ve played on up to this point.
“Whether its football or off the field, just being that voice of encouragement, being positive and locked in with the guys as much as possible.”
The ‘quarterback of the defence’ leadership comes naturally to Lee, who credits his father, a Navy veteran, for instilling those qualities in him.
“I think that’s what my position breeds,” he said.
“At the end of the day just being that leader of the defence at that position. It helps make the guys want to play for each other when they see their leader wanting to go to bat for them. That’s my mindset.”
While 2025 ended in heartbreak as the BC Lions secured the Western Semi-Final victory with a last-second field goal, there’s plenty of accomplishments from last season of which to be proud.
Most notably, the team completely rebounded from a dismal 2024 season, wiping away a 5-12-1 record with an 11-7 performance, marking the biggest turnaround season for a CFL club in decades.
Lee is focused on continuing to build upon the foundation the team set last season.
“It’s a new year for us to grow from those strides that we made,” he said. “I think getting our core pieces back helps to keep that continuity.
“We’re looking to make a staple in this next season. It’s a whole new year.”
While Football Ops continues to round out the roster, including the signings of Dedrick Mills, Clark Barnes and Bryce Bell – Lee is using the winter to come back even stronger in June.
“I’m approaching it diligently with my off-season program and making sure that my body and my mind is in tip-top shape to perform,” he said. “I want to be the best contributor I can be for this team. I want to be a cornerstone piece.”
His ultimate goal remains the same – hoisting the Grey Cup trophy in mid-November and this year the Stamps get the chance to do it on home soil.
“I think it’s wonderful that the Grey Cup is being hosted in Calgary,” said Lee. “When we make it, we will play wherever they want us to play it but having it in Calgary and also seeing what the Stampede Bowl brought last year, I’m just trying to wrap my head around what playing in the Grey Cup would look like.
“Us being in it, that’s my visualization this whole off-season. Us hoisting that trophy up in Calgary for the city, for everybody to see and for everyone to be proud of what their team did, and they were able to keep it at home.”