Leon Neal (born September 11, 1972) was a

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He was selected by the

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

in the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

, but played for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

High school

Neal attended

Paramount High School Paramount High School is a comprehensive public high school in Paramount, California, USA. It is part of the Paramount Unified School District. The school serves students in grades 9–12 on two campuses, West Campus for 9th grade students and Se ...

Paramount, California Paramount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 54,098, down from 55,266 at the 2000 census. Paramount is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area and is borde ...

College

Neal played for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

from 1991 to 1995 for coaches Don James and Jim Lambright. Neal and six teammates, "The Medford Seven," were severely injured in an automobile accident while travelling home to California during winter break in 1991. Neal primarily served as a backup to

Napoleon Kaufman Napoleon "Nip" Kaufman (born June 7, 1973) is a former American football player and currently an ordained minister and head football coach at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. He is a former NFL running back, playing for the ...

, until starting his senior season in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Leon 1972 births Living people Players of American football from Saint Paul, Minnesota American football running backs Washington Huskies football players Indianapolis Colts players