Terzell Vonta Leach ( ; born November 6, 1981) 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 wi ...

fullback who played for ten seasons 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 majo ...

(NFL). He was signed by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

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 i ...

in 2004. 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...

. Leach also played for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

, and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Early years

Leach attended

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

, where he played for the

East Carolina Pirates football The East Carolina Pirates are a college football team that represents East Carolina University (variously "East Carolina" or "ECU"). The team is a member of the American Athletic Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (form ...

team from 2000 to 2003. He became a member of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty a ...

fraternity. Leach earned his degree in 2010 after completing his online classes.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Leach spent the first three years of his career with the

, and compiled 5 receptions for 19 yards. On October 9, 2005, he caught Aaron Rodgers' first completion. He was released by the Packers on September 13, 2006.

New Orleans Saints

The

claimed Leach off waivers one day after the Packers released him, but he was eventually released by the team.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans signed Leach on October 9, 2006. On March 19, 2007, Leach signed a four-year, $8 million

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 ...

offer sheet with 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 divisio ...

. However, the Texans matched the Giants' offer and Leach returned to Houston. Leach scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on December 13, 2007 in a 31–13 win over the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

. After helping pave the way for teammate Arian Foster's breakout 2010 campaign, Leach was voted into the

2011 Pro Bowl The 2011 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2010 season. It took place at 7:00 p.m. EST (2:00 p.m. local time) on Sunday, January 30, 2011 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The NFC won 55–41, despi ...

, his first Pro Bowl selection. On January 24, 2011, Leach was also selected to the

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's NFL All-Pro Team. Leach was announced as the 45th ranked player on the 2011 NFL Top 100, and was ranked higher than

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with ...

, on the 2012 NFL Top 100. Vonta Leach

Baltimore Ravens

Leach signed a three-year, $11 million contract with the

on July 31, 2011, making him the highest paid fullback in the NFL. While paving the way for Ray Rice, Leach also amassed 12 carries for 35 yards, plus 15 receptions for 69 yards. This performance earned him another

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

appearance in 2011. Leach was announced the fullback for the AFC in the

2013 Pro Bowl The 2013 Pro Bowl was the National Football League (NFL)'s sixty-third annual all-star game which featured players from the 2012 season. It took place at 2:30 pm Hawaii–Aleutian Time ( UTC−10:00; 7:30 pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, Ja ...

—his 3rd selection for the

—but was not able to play because the Ravens had qualified for

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

with their victory over the

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 ...

in the 2012

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

. Leach earned his first NFL Championship in Super Bowl XLVII when the Ravens defeated the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

34–31. On June 10, 2013, Leach announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he might be cut or traded because he could not reach a compromise on his reduced contract. On July 29, 2013, Leach re-signed with the Baltimore Ravens. On September 5, 2013, Leach scored the first touchdown of the 2013 NFL season on a 2-yard pass from

Joe Flacco Joseph Vincent Flacco (born January 16, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football, Delaware after transferring from Pi ...

in a game against 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 headquar ...

. Leach gradually saw his playing time decrease as the 2013 season progressed and he was only used in a dozen snaps over the last three games of the year. On February 27, 2014, the Ravens released Leach, making him an unrestricted free agent. On July 24, 2019, the Ravens announced that Leach would be signed to a one-day contract and retire as a Raven on July 26, 2019.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Vonta 1981 births Living people People from Lumberton, North Carolina American Conference Pro Bowl players American football fullbacks Players of American football from North Carolina East Carolina Pirates football players Green Bay Packers players New Orleans Saints players Houston Texans players Baltimore Ravens players