Harry Leons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Personal information | |
| Born | December 20, 1974 |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 211 lb (96 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Olympia (Olympia, Washington) |
| College | Eastern Washington (1993–1997) |
| NFL draft | 1998: undrafted |
| Career history | |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Stats at ArenaFan.com | |
Harry Leons (born December 20, 1974) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Portland Forest Dragons and Los Angeles Avengers. He played college football and basketball for the Eastern Washington Eagles. He joined the Eagles football team as a walk-on sixth-string quarterback but eventually became the team's starter. Leons led the Eagles to the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, earning Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Burger King Division I-AA first-team All-American honors. After his college career, Leons played three seasons in the AFL. Primarily a backup during his AFL career, he started one game for the Los Angeles Avengers in 2001.
Harry Leons was born on December 20, 1974.[1] He played high school football, basketball, and baseball at Olympia High School in Olympia, Washington.[2][3][4][5] He started his first football game at quarterback as a sophomore.[6] He took over as the full-time starter his junior year but suffered a season-ending knee injury after a 3–0 start.[6] As a senior, Leons broke his thumb in late October, missing the rest of the season.[7] He graduated from Olympia High in 1993.[3]
College career
Leons walked on to the Eastern Washington Eagles football program in 1993.[3] At the time he joined the team, he had lost 30 pounds (14 kg) due to mononucleosis.[3] Head coach Mike Kramer said, "The first time I saw him in person, I wondered what had befallen the coach that had recruited him to think he could even walk on to our program. Here was this scrawny little guy, who only weighed 154 pounds, and I’m wondering what the heck happened to his arm."[3] Leons temporarily left the football team during fall 1993 to walk on to the basketball team, where he played guard.[3][8] He took a redshirt in both football and basketball for the 1993 season.[8] He returned to the football team full-time in spring 1994.[3] Through his first two seasons, he practiced at wide receiver on the scout team and played kickoff coverage on the junior varsity team.[9][10] Leons also had tendinitis in his arm.[3] Kramer later said, "He was so far down the depth chart he never really even got a look. In fact, we used to laugh about him because even though he wasn’t getting any playing time, he’d show up on the injury list with a sore arm."[3] Leons later said that he was the sixth-string quarterback at one point, with Kramer stating, "There was no chance, I mean NO chance, that he would ever be our quarterback. His drill work was so bad" and "He’d always get to play at the end of scrimmages, and I mean at the very end of scrimmages – when it was kind of an afterthought. He’d be out there with the most rag-tag assortment of players you’ve ever seen and they'd just be going up and down the field."[3]
In 1995, Leons beat out Scott Bond for the second-string quarterback job behind starter Brian Sherick.[3] After Sherick was suspended for disciplinary reasons, Leons made his first career start but threw five interceptions.[3][9] After Sherick suffered a season-ending injury a few weeks later, Leons threw for 227 yards and one touchdown in a 28–10 victory over Montana State.[3] Leons remained the starter for the remainder of the year.[3] He returned as starter in 1996, helping the Eagles win four out of their first five games before suffering a season-ending torn ACL.[10][11][3] In 1997, he completed 159 of 257 passes (61.9%) for 2,588 yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions, earning Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Burger King Division I-AA first-team All-American honors.[10][9] Leons' 169.5 passer rating also set the school's single-season record.[12] The 1997 Eastern Washington Eagles finished the season with a 12–2 record, and lost to Youngstown State in the NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal.[9] The 1997 team was inducted into the Eastern Washington Hall of Fame in 2012.[9] Leons finished his college career with totals of 4,964 passing yards and 36 passing touchdowns while also setting Eastern Washington's career passer rating record (140.8).[12]