Leon "Pop" Bright, Jr. (born May 19, 1955 in

Starke, Florida Starke is a city in and the county seat of Bradford County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,796 at the 2020 census. The origin of the city's name is disputed. Starke may have been named in honor of local landowner George W. Cole's ...

) is a former

Gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

player in 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 ...

for four years and in 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 ...

for five years. He played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Merritt Island High School Merritt Island High School is a public high school located in Merritt Island, Florida. It was built in 1965. Principals #Robert Bruton: 1965 - 1983 #Hank Smith: 1983 - 1999 #David M. Piccolo: 2000 - 2002 #Gary Shiffrin: 2002 - 2013 #Dr. Karyle G ...

Merritt Island, Florida Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Floridian coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and sout ...

and was on the 1972 Merritt Island High, Florida Class AAAA state championship team. Bright was named to the

FHSAA's All-Century Team The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

which selected the Top 33 players in the 100-year history of high school football in the state of Florida's history. 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 ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

where he still holds the record for most yards on a kickoff return, which resulted in a touchdown. From 1977-1980, Bright played

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 ...

, wide receiver,

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, and

kickoff returner 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

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

."Move to Big Apple Pays off For Bright", ''

Star-Phoenix ''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out six editions each week and publishes one weekly, ''Bridges''. It is also part of the canada.com ...

'' (December 19, 1981). He also played for the

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

from 1981–1983 and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

from 1984-1985. Bright was selected to the Lions' 2004 50th Anniversary Dream Team. In 2006, he was the head coach for the

Daytona Beach Thunder The Daytona Beach ThunderBirds were an arena football team based in Daytona Beach, Florida. They were founded in 2005 as the Daytona Beach Hawgs playing in the National Indoor Football League. In 2006, they changed their name to the Daytona Thu ...

arena football team. Leon also runs the Leon Bright Charitable Foundation. His foundation works with under privileged kids and families. He is the eldest of 10 children and also the eldest of 23 paternal grandchildren. Bright and wife, Tammy, currently reside in

Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an incr ...

, Florida. He has four children and four grandchildren.

References

1955 births Living people American football return specialists American football running backs American players of Canadian football BC Lions players Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Canadian football return specialists Canadian football running backs Florida State Seminoles football players New York Giants players People from Starke, Florida Players of American football from Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers players {{runningback-1950s-stub

See also

References