Charles Leno Jr. (born October 9, 1991) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). 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 ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

and was drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in the seventh round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. Leno was a seven-year starter for the Bears, making the

2019 Pro Bowl The 2019 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2018 NFL season, played on January 27, 2019, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. It was televised nationally by ESPN and its sister networks. Game format The 201 ...

with them, until being released in 2021 and signing with Washington.

High school career

Leno attended

San Leandro High School San Leandro High School (SLHS) is a four-year public high school in San Leandro, California, USA. It is often cited as the only comprehensive high school in the San Leandro Unified School District (SLUSD). Academics Academic courses include ...

San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sou ...

, where he played football and basketball, earning three varsity letters in each sport. He was named first-team all-conference as an offensive tackle and second-team all-conference as a defensive end as a senior. He was considered a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

''.

College career

Leno attended

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

, where he was a member of the

Boise State Broncos football The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games on ...

team from 2009 to 2013. He started 39 consecutive games at

for the Broncos during his career, with the final 26 at

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

. He earned All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

honors twice in his career: a second-team selection as a junior and a first-team selection as a senior.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Leno was drafted by the

in the seventh round (246th overall) of the

. After being a backup as a rookie, Leno was named the full-time starting left tackle in Week 4 of the 2015 season. On August 23, 2017, Leno signed a four-year, $38 million contract extension with the Bears. He was named to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 2018, and was the first Bears offensive tackle to be named since James O. Williams in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. After seven seasons as the Bears starting left tackle, Leno was released on May 3, 2021 after the team selected

Teven Jenkins Teven Bradlee Jenkins (born March 3, 1998) is an American football guard for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma State and was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2021 NFL Dr ...

in the second round of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

Washington Football Team / Commanders

Leno signed a one-year contract with the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

on May 15, 2021. He started all 17 games of the 2021 season and signed a three-year, $37.5 million contract extension on January 5, 2022.

Personal life

On December 16, 2018, after the Bears defeated the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

to win the

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and tough ri ...

division title, Leno proposed to his girlfriend Jennifer Roth at midfield. Leno is a father of three daughters.

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bioBoise State Broncos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leno, Charles 1991 births Living people Boise State Broncos football players American football offensive tackles Chicago Bears players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Oakland, California Washington Commanders players Washington Football Team players