Javon Leake (born August 1, 1998) is a professional gridiron football

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He initially signed as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the New York Giants in 2020 and was also a member of 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 ...

and Detroit Lions. He played college football at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Early life and high school

Leake was born in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

and moved to

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

while in middle school and attended Walter Hines Page Senior High School. He became the Pirates' starting running back as a sophomore and rushed for 456 yards and five touchdowns. He was named first-team All-Area by the ''

Greensboro News & Record The ''News & Record'' is an American, English language newspaper with the largest circulation serving Guilford County, North Carolina, and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and produces local sections for Greensb ...

'' after rushing 277 times for 2,048 yards and 30 touchdowns while gaining 356 yards and scoring four touchdowns on 21 receptions as a junior. As a senior, Leake gained 1,679 yards and scored 29 touchdowns on 216 carries despite missing time due to an ankle injury and was again named first-team All-Area and first-team All-State by ''

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''. Rated a three-star recruit, Leake committed to play college football at

over offers from

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

College career

Leake served as a kick returner and backup running back as a true freshman, rushing nine times for 99 yards and two touchdowns and returning 13 kicks for 274 yards. He rushed 34 times for 309 yards and a team-leading seven rushing touchdowns and lead the team with 409 kickoff return yards and one kick returned for a touchdown during his sophomore year. Leake became the first player in

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

history to be named the Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week for the same game after he rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns and returned a kick 97 yards for a fourth score against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Leake had an expanded role on offense as a junior, sharing primary running back duties with Anthony McFarland Jr., and rushed 102 times for 736 yards and eight touchdowns while also leading the Big Ten and finishing third in the nation with 804 kickoff return yards on 30 returns with two touchdowns and was named first-team All-Big Ten as a return specialist and the Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year. He was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week two times after returning a kick 100 yards for a touchdown against Rutgers on October 4, 2019 and for a 97-yard return touchdown against Michigan on November 4, 2019. Following the end of the season Leake announced that he would be forgoing his final year of eligibility to enter the 2020 NFL draft.

Professional career

New York Giants

Leake signed with the New York Giants as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on April 25, 2020, but was waived on August 29, 2020.

Washington Football Team

Leake signed with the practice squad of the

on November 19, 2020. He was placed on the practice squad/

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list by the team on November 23, and restored to the practice squad on December 2. He was elevated to the active roster on December 12 for the team's week 14 game against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was released on December 31, 2020, but rejoined their practice squad on January 7, 2021. Leake signed a reserve/futures contract with Washington on January 11, 2021, and was waived on April 9, 2021.

Detroit Lions

On August 11, 2021, Leake signed with the Detroit Lions. He was waived on August 23, 2021.

Toronto Argonauts

On April 26, 2022, it was announced that Leake had signed with the

. He played in his first CFL game in the team's season opener on June 16, 2022, against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

where he was used primarily as a kick returner.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bioMaryland Terrapins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leake, Javon 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Greensboro, North Carolina American football return specialists American football running backs Maryland Terrapins football players New York Giants players Washington Football Team players Detroit Lions players Toronto Argonauts players