Cecil Leonard (July 20, 1946August 5, 2020) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for two seasons with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Jets in the eighth round of the

1969 NFL Draft The 1969 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969. The draft beg ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Tuskegee University and attended East Highland High School in Sylacauga, Alabama. Leonard was also a member of the Birmingham Americans of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

(WFL).

Professional career

Leonard was selected by the

of the AFL with the 208th pick in the 1969 AFL Draft. He played for the Jets during the 1969 and 1970 seasons. He played for the Birmingham Americans of the WFL during the 1974 season.

Coaching career

Leonard was head coach of the

A. H. Parker High School A.H. Parker High School is a four-year public high school in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of seven high schools in the Birmingham City School System and is named for longtime Birmingham educator Arthur Harold Parker. School colors are purple an ...

Thundering Herd from 1973 to 1974, compiling a record of 9–10. He was head coach of the Carol W. Hayes High School Pacesetters from 1975 to 1979, helping the team advance to the state playoffs in 1976. He returned as head coach of the A. H. Parker High School Thundering Herd from 1980 to 1992, reaching the playoffs six times. Leonard was head coach of the Miles Golden Bears of Miles College from 1994 to 2000, compiling a record of 27–41–1.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Cecil 2020 deaths 1946 births American football defensive backs American Football League players Birmingham Americans players Miles Golden Bears football coaches New York Jets players Tuskegee Golden Tigers football players High school football coaches in Alabama People from Sylacauga, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people