Matthew Leo (born 8 May 1992) is an Australian professional

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 wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

of 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 ...

(NFL). He played college football at Iowa State and joined the Eagles as a part of the

International Player Pathway Program The International Player Pathway Program (IPPP) is a program run by the National Football League (NFL) to increase the number of non-Americans, American and Canadians, Canadian players in the NFL. The program was formed as part of the NFL's strateg ...

in 2020.

Early life and education

Matt Leo was born on 8 May 1992 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. He was raised in

Semaphore, South Australia Semaphore is a northwestern suburb of Adelaide in the Australian state of South Australia. It is located on the Gulf St Vincent coastline of the Lefevre Peninsula about from the Adelaide city centre. History Semaphore was first surveyed for ...

. He played Australian rules football for St Michael's College, Adelaide in year 10. However his passion was

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

and he played for a club in Adelaide. He worked as a plumber before playing American football professionally. He went to college at

Arizona Western College Arizona Western College (AWC) is a public community college in Yuma, Arizona. It offers associate degrees, occupational certificates, and transfer degrees. AWC also offers classes in Dateland, La Paz, San Luis, Somerton, and Wellton. Aca ...

before going to Iowa State, making his debut at the age of 26. He was a medical redshirt in 2017. He had 33 tackles and 3 sacks in his college football career. He was named first-team Academic All-Big 12 in 2019.

Professional career

On 27 April 2020, Leo was allocated to the

as part of the

. He was waived during final roster cuts on 4 September 2020, and signed to the practice squad under an international player exemption two days later. He signed a reserve/future contract with the team after the season on 4 January 2021. Leo was selected by the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

in the fourth round (35th overall) of the

2021 CFL Global Draft The 2021 CFL Global Draft took place on April 15, 2021 and was the first CFL Draft that pooled all of the global players together after previously having separate drafts for Mexican players and European players in 2019. 36 players were chosen fr ...

in April 2021. On 4 May 2021, he was given an NFL roster exemption as an international player for a second season. On August 31, 2021, Leo was waived by the Eagles and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles on January 18, 2022. On August 30, 2022, Leo was waived by the Eagles and signed to the practice squad the next day.

References

External links

Matt Leo Discusses His Journey from Australia to the NFL , Eagles Press ConferenceFrom Plumbing to the NFL: The Matt Leo Story , NFL Undiscovered – YoutubeMatt Leo Talks Fulfilling His Dream of Being in the NFL , Eagles One-On-One – YoutubeIowa State bioPhiladelphia Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo, Matt 1992 births Living people Australian emigrants to the United States Australian players of American football American football defensive ends Iowa State Cyclones football players International Player Pathway Program participants Philadelphia Eagles players Arizona Western Matadors football players Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate players of American football Australian plumbers Sportsmen from South Australia Sportspeople from Adelaide