Lee Gissendaner enters his 26th season overall with the Packers and first as senior personnel executive/director of pro scouting after spending the past five seasons (2021-25) as senior personnel executive.
Gissendaner originally joined the franchise in 1998 as the team's representative in the National Scouting Service and authored preliminary evaluations of all prospective seniors in upcoming NFL drafts during his initial three seasons with the club. He was then promoted to area scout in 2001, a role he fulfilled for the Packers for 14 seasons (2001-14). From 2015-17, Gissendaner worked as a national scout for the N.Y. Jets with a focus on evaluating top-graded draft prospects. In 2018, he returned to Green Bay as player personnel executive (2018-2021).
Gissendaner began his post-football career by serving as a graduate assistant coach for Kent State University (1997) while working toward his master's degree. He subsequently was named to a scouting position with the Packers on July 8, 1998, by then-Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf.
A four-year letterman (1990-93) and three-year starter at wide receiver for Northwestern University, Gissendaner led the NCAA in punt return average (21.8 yards) in 1992. That year, he also was named Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten Conference, was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and was voted as Northwestern's team MVP. Gissendaner was named to the Big Ten's 100-Year Anniversary Team during the conference's centennial celebration in 1995 and served as an honorary game captain for the Wildcats when they hosted Michigan State in November 2013.
Gissendaner graduated from Northwestern in 1994 with a degree in organizational management, and earned his master's in sports administration from Kent State in 1998. In June 2026, he participated in the Ozzie Newsome General Manager Forum and QB Coaching Summit and in 2022, he was selected to represent the Packers at the Stanford-NFL League of Leaders executive education program.
Originally chosen in the sixth round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the then-Houston Oilers, Gissendaner was released that year at the conclusion of training camp. He then spent the 1995 season with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL and the summer of 1996 with the World League-champion Scottish Claymores.
In the fall of 1996, Gissendaner returned to the U.S. and went to training camp with the Vikings, eventually spending parts of the '96 season on Minnesota's practice squad.
A four-year letterman at Stow-Munroe Falls High School in Stow, Ohio, Gissendaner was selected All-Summit County, all-metro area and team MVP at wide receiver during his senior season. A two-time all-metro pole vaulter, he earned three additional varsity letters in track. Gissendaner was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2002.
In 1999, Gissendaner's accomplishments and community efforts were recognized as he was inducted into the City of Akron/Summit County Sports Hall of Fame.
Gissendaner was born in Akron, Ohio. He and his wife, Jamie, a registered nurse and dance instructor, reside in De Pere, Wis., with their daughter, Leah, 18, and their son, Tyler, 14.
