Paul Lea was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and physician.

Lea played college football at Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

, where he was an offensive and defensive tackle. He was a first-team all-Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 selection from 1948–50, and was named to the 1948 College Football All-America Team

1948 College Football All-America Team

The 1948 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1948...

 as a sophomore.

Lea was drafted by the Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in the seventh round of the 1951 NFL Draft

1951 NFL Draft

The 1951 National Football League Draft was held on January 18–January 19, 1951. The Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season. The NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft.-Player selections:-Round one:...

. The Bears traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

, for whom he appeared in nine games in the 1951 season. He also played for the Calgary Stampeders

Calgary Stampeders

The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...

 of the Canadian Football League.

After his football career, Lea returned to New Orleans and graduated from Tulane Medical School. He became an anesthesiologist

Anesthesiologist

An anesthesiologist or anaesthetist is a physician trained in anesthesia and peri-operative medicine....

 and was director of anesthesia at Methodist Hospital in eastern New Orleans for 30 years. After Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 destroyed his New Orleans home in 2005, he moved to Gunnison, Colorado

Gunnison, Colorado

The historic City of Gunnison, a Home Rule Municipality, is the county seat and the most populous city of Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,854. It was named in honor of John W...

. He died on May 19, 2009, while traveling to Gunnison.