Former Florida State University football star Clarence Lee spoke to the Marine Military Academy Corps of Cadets on Oct. 23 and “wowed” the young men with his extraordinary strength and message.
The former Florida State lineman put his muscles to the test and first broke a baseball bat over his back. He then performed a push-up with a 385-pound coach standing on his back.
Lee demonstrated his brawn to show the cadets what is possible.
“I used to be 85 pounds in high school,” he said. “If I stood sideways and stuck my tongue out, I looked like a zipper.”
Because he was small, “Tiny” Lee was an easy target. At age 13 he was beat up on the school bus for 45 minutes.
Lee, however, had a vision to be like football player Deion Sanders, so he started eating more and working out his body. Though he never played football in high school, Lee grew into someone big, strong and fast.
“I used to do 4,000 push-ups every morning. It would take me three hours,” he said.
Lee became a National Champion Florida State football player by serendipity.
When Lee was in junior college, he reunited with his childhood friend “Tweety Bird” and moved with him to Tallahassee, Fla. Tweety worked for Florida State and held the keys to the football team’s weight room. Lee worked out in the weight room daily in the very early or late hours when no one was there.
From the surveillance cameras, the football coaches learned about the “trespasser” — and they noticed his incredible physical power and discipline. Assistant Head Coach Bill Sexton arranged a meeting with Lee and told him: “We’ve been watching you. We call you ‘Weight Room.’ I want you on the team.”
Lee told the cadets to work hard even when no one is watching and to use their vision, not sight, to guide them.
“You need vision because your vision becomes your reality,” Lee said.
During his time as a lineman with the Florida State Seminoles, Lee was the strongest player in the history of the university, bench pressing 650 pounds. He also set the bench press record at the NFL scouting camp in Dallas. His injuries caused his pursuit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to end abruptly, but he still remains one of the strongest men in the nation.
