Louis Apprecicio Leonard (born July 16, 1984) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

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 ...

in 2007. He played

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Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. Leonard has also played for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, and

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 ...

Early years

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and raised in nearby

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

, Leonard attended Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, where as a senior he made 106 tackles (18 for a loss), seven sacks, and four fumble recoveries. He was a first-team All-

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

and All-League selection, and was named to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

All-Central City first-team.

College career

Leonard played

. After

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

ing in 2002, Leonard played in nine games as a freshman in 2003, recording five tackles. In 2004, Leonard played in nine games, starting three, and had eight tackles. As a junior in 2005, he started all 13 games, finishing with 26 tackles and 2.5 sacks. In 2006, his final season, Leonard started all 12 games, recording 26 tackles and three sacks.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Leonard was originally signed by the

as an undrafted rookie free agent on May 4, 2007, was waived on September 1, 2007, and re-signed to the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

two days later.

St. Louis Rams

After spending the first week of the 2007 season on the Chargers' practice squad, Leonard was signed by the

to their active roster on September 12, 2007, but was waived on October 6, 2007, after being inactive for three games.

Cleveland Browns

Leonard was claimed by the

off waivers on October 8, 2007. He played in four games during his rookie season. With the Browns in 2008, Leonard played in all 16 games, starting four at defensive end in place of an injured Shaun Smith. He finished his second season with 25 tackles.

Carolina Panthers

Leonard was traded to the

in exchange for a sixth-round selection in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

on September 1, 2009. He played in two games for the Panthers, starting one, and recording six tackles before being placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a fractured ankle on September 22, 2009. Leonard was re-signed as a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

after the season but was waived on September 28, 2010, after playing in two games for the Panthers in 2010.

New England Patriots

Leonard was signed by the

on December 15, 2010. He was waived by the Patriots on December 21, 2010.

Denver Broncos

Leonard was signed by the

on December 27, 2010.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bioNew England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Louis 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Compton, California Players of American football from Los Angeles American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Fresno State Bulldogs football players San Diego Chargers players St. Louis Rams players Cleveland Browns players Carolina Panthers players New England Patriots players Denver Broncos players Verbum Dei High School alumni