Jump to content

Jim Leonhard: "I made the right decicison" - PFT.com


124

Recommended Posts

But he's only 5'8''

There douchebag Fin fans I said it so you don't need to.

well he does seem to be a bit small to be a strong safety....i was actually hoping we'd go after sean jones. but i'm trusting rex ryan in this one. if this is the guy he wanted then let's see where he takes us. i have alot more faith in ryan than i ever had in mantitty

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What does him being white have to do with anything?

Its not because he's just white, its because he's a white SAFETY whose actually good. How many white secondary and white wide receivers who actually are effective do we see in todays in NFL? Not many, and its fun to see, in my opinion.

Wayne Chrebet

Wes Welker

Brandon Stokely (Indy days)

John Lynch

Adam Archuleta (for like four years)

JIM LEONHARD!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What does him being white have to do with anything?

i dont get it either. I like him, because he was thrown on the streets after buffalo, and he returns to baltimore and tears it up.

inspiring football players are A-okay in my book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not because he's just white, its because he's a white SAFETY whose actually good. How many white secondary and white wide receivers who actually are effective do we see in todays in NFL? Not many, and its fun to see, in my opinion.

Wayne Chrebet

Wes Welker

Brandon Stokely (Indy days)

John Lynch

Adam Archuleta (for like four years)

JIM LEONHARD!!

Mike Astot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What does him being white have to do with anything?

Rooting for the white guys is fun just because most of them are pretty bad. Same can be done with most modern sports as they all lean to a particular ethnicity--in my opinion at least what that ethnicity is doesn't matter. In some ways it could be compared to rooting for the underdog if this makes any sense.

Something similar to rooting for the black punter or the kicker that looks like a linebacker just to break out of the norm. Ya dig?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not because he's just white, its because he's a white SAFETY whose actually good. How many white secondary and white wide receivers who actually are effective do we see in todays in NFL? Not many, and its fun to see, in my opinion.

Wayne Chrebet

Wes Welker

Brandon Stokely (Indy days)

John Lynch

Adam Archuleta (for like four years)

JIM LEONHARD!!

I would give you negitive rep right now for not adding Jon McGraw. :face:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would give you negitive rep right now for not adding Jon McGraw. :face:

Jon McGraw was my all time favorite white boy. I only wore his green & white jerseys all the years he was on the team. He was the f'ing man. Too bad he could only stay healthy for four games and then missed eight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing Jets' Leonhard does surprises Alvarez now

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

7:51 PM EST, March 5, 2009

Like most coaches, Barry Alvarez liked to have his teams engage in various team-building activities.

One of his favorites was basketball, and after the games, Alvarez -- then the Wisconsin football coach -- would ask for volunteers from the offense and the defense to compete in a dunk contest.

Alvarez was, to say the least, dubious when he saw 5-8 Jim Leonhard step forward.

"The first time we did it, Jimmy was one of the players representing the defense," Alvarez, now Wisconsin's athletic director, said early Thursday afternoon from his office. "I'm thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me. He can't stuff a basketball.'"

Alvarez, who won three Big Ten championships and three Rose Bowls at Wisconsin from 1990-2005, laughed.

"He stuffed it any way you wanted it stuffed," Alvarez said. "We had guys who were 6-7 out there, former basketball players ... and Jimmy wins the contest."

Jets coach Rex Ryan raved about the safety during a conference call last Friday, and that was after coaching Leonhard for only one season.

Alvarez coached him for four -- from 2001-04 -- and was just as enthusiastic in talking about the former Badger.

Leonhard was a three-sport star at Flambeau High School in Tony, Wis., and was a wishbone quarterback for the football team. The 186-pound Leonhard, who signed a three-year free-agent contract with the Jets on Tuesday, said Wednesday he had offers from several Division II colleges to play football and baseball. Instead, he chose to walk on at Wisconsin.

Alvarez said he was familiar with Leonhard because he had attended the Badgers' summer football camp, but that didn't prepare him for what he saw from the freshman during the first couple of practices.

"He caught our eye right away, as soon as he hit the practice field," Alvarez said. "I said to our secondary coach, 'That little guy out here is involved in every play.'"

Leonhard quickly worked his way into the lineup, starring mostly on special teams his freshman year.

"He was just, from then on, outstanding for us," Alvarez said. "A very intelligent player, always around the ball. And a ballhawk; his ball skills are excellent."

Leonhard recorded a Big Ten record-tying 11 interceptions his sophomore year, which earned him all-conference honors, a rarity for a sophomore. Alvarez laughed again, recalling this oddity.

"He was All-Big Ten before he was on scholarship," Alvarez said.

That was because Wisconsin didn't have an available scholarship until Leonhard's junior season, but the unfortunate circumstance endeared the safety/punt returner to his teammates even more.

"Everyone just really admired and respected him," Alvarez said.

Alvarez, who can count Troy Vincent, Chris Chambers and Lee Evans among the NFL players he coached at Wisconsin, said Leonhard's breakout 2008 season and subsequent big- money contract hasn't been a surprise. Leonhard hasn't created that kind of reaction in Alvarez since that early dunking contest.

"You knew that he had the ability," Alvarez said. "You just didn't know whether he'd get the opportunity because of his size."

Notes & quotes: Bill Callahan, hired before the 2008 season as the Jets' offensive line/assistant head coach and retained by Ryan, coached with Alvarez from 1990-94. Center Nick Mangold, in an appearance during Super Bowl week, specifically mentioned Callahan as helping him make his first Pro Bowl, and other Jets linemen spoke highly of their line coach throughout the season.

"Billy's a grinder," Alvarez said. "He's a student of the game, an excellent teacher. He was my first offensive line coach and, really, he's the one who started our tradition of good linemen. A very good football man, a good football mind. He's going to work tirelessly."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jon McGraw was my all time favorite white boy. I only wore his green & white jerseys all the years he was on the team. He was the f'ing man. Too bad he could only stay healthy for four games and then missed eight.

No **** bro! McGraw was my favorite Jet for his stay here. And it's about damn time we got another white boy safety in here that isn't named Eric Smith.

Awesome to see some McGraw love, rep to you good sir:cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...