Lea graduated from St. Paul's School in the 1892, and entered the scientific department of Princeton University in the fall of 1892. He first became famous as a football player in 1893 when he played a brilliant game against Winters of Yale on Thanksgiving. He played tackle for Princeton and became recognized as one of the best tackles ever to play the game. He was selected as a first-team All-American in 1894, 1895 and 1896. In 1901, Lea was selected to be the first "official" football coach of Princeton. A newspaper reported as follows on Lea's return to Princeton: