Jordan Leslie (born October 31, 1991) is a former

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 ...

wide receiver. 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 ...

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

in 2014 and for

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

in 2012 and 2013. He was signed by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

after going undrafted in the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

Early years

Leslie attended

Tomball High School Tomball High School is an accredited public high school in the city of Tomball, Texas. It was the only high school in the Tomball Independent School District before the construction of Tomball Memorial High School in 2011. The high school was rem ...

Tomball, Texas Tomball ( ) is a city in Harris County in the U.S. state of Texas, a part of the Houston metropolitan area. The population was 12,341 at the 2020 U.S. census. In 1907, the community of Peck was renamed Tomball for local congressman Thomas Henry Ba ...

, where he was a three-year varsity letterwinner for coach Tommy Kaiser. He switched from

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

to wide receiver for his sophomore year and responded by tallying 54 receptions for 770 yards and five touchdowns, earning All-Region Newcomer of the Year. He made 54 catches for 1,014 yards (18.9 avg.) with 10 TDs his junior season while also adding five punt returns for 49 yards (9.8 avg.) and seven kickoff returns for 186 yards (26.6 avg.). As a senior, he compiled 55 catches for 742 yards (13.5 avg.) with nine

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

, and also had eight punt returns for 113 yards (14.1 avg.) and seven kickoff returns for 132 yards (18.9 avg.). He was also a three-time Academic All-District pick and also made the Academic All-State team. Also a standout in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, Leslie was a multiple All-District choice in basketball and a runner-up finisher in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

at the 2009 regional meet with a leap of 2.03 meters (6 feet, 8 inches). He also had personal-best leaps of 6.47 meters (21 feet, 2.25 inches) in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and 13.37 meters (43 feet, 10.5 inches) in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. In his freshman year, Leslie befriended future professional basketball player

Jimmy Butler Jimmy Butler III (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Jimmy Buckets", he is a six-time NBA All-Star, a four-time All-NBA Team honore ...

. They played together on the basketball team. Since Butler was homeless at the time, Leslie's family allowed Butler to live with them.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Leslie was signed by the Minnesota Vikings on May 2, 2015, after going undrafted. He was cut by the Vikings on August 31, 2015.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Leslie signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

' practice squad on October 21, 2015.

Atlanta Falcons

Leslie signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

' practice squad on December 15, 2015. On August 27, 2016, Leslie was waived by the Falcons.

Tennessee Titans

Leslie was signed to the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

' practice squad on September 27, 2016. He was released by the team on October 3.

Cleveland Browns

On October 18, 2016, Leslie was signed to the Browns' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Browns on January 5, 2017. On September 2, 2017, Leslie was waived by the Browns. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 19, 2017. He was promoted to the active roster on September 22, 2017. He caught his first career pass in Week 3, a one-handed leaping grab for 26 yards. He was waived/injured on October 4, 2017 and placed on injured reserve. He was released on October 11, 2017.

Denver Broncos

On December 27, 2017, Leslie was signed to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Broncos on January 1, 2018. On August 31, 2018, Leslie was waived by the Broncos.

Salt Lake Stallions

On December 21, 2018, Leslie signed with the

Salt Lake Stallions The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team in ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

After the AAF ceased operations in April 2019, Leslie signed with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

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 ...

on May 23, 2019. He asked for his release on May 28.

References

External links

Brigham Young Cougars bio

Minnesota Vikings bioJacksonville Jaguars bioAtlanta Falcons bioCleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Jordan 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Houston Players of Canadian football from Houston UTEP Miners football players BYU Cougars football players Minnesota Vikings players Jacksonville Jaguars players Atlanta Falcons players Tennessee Titans players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Salt Lake Stallions players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players