Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Leonard Joseph Fournette III was born on January 18, 1995, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a running back in the NFL. 

At high school, he was a four-year starting running back at St. Augustine who is touted as one of the most highly recruited players ever to come out of Louisiana, regarded as the No. 1 player in the nation, regardless of position, by the 247Sports composite rankings, and named the USA Today National Offensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-USA First Team. He was selected to the prestigious Parade All-America First Team, awarded the 2013 and 2014 Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year awards, the first player in Louisiana history to win it twice. He finished his high school career with 7,619 rushing yards and 88 rushing touchdowns, ran for 1,792 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior and added 45 receptions for 745 yards and six scores, producing 2,135 rushing yards and 31 TDs as a junior.

He led his team to a 9-2 record and an appearance in the Division I semifinal game as a senior. He was a unanimous five-star prospect by every recruiting site, listed as the No. 1 overall prospect in the nation by ESPN.com and Scout.com, ranked the No. 2 overall player by 247Sports.com and No. 4 by Rivals.com, unanimous No. 1 running back nationally by all recruiting sites, a participant in the Under Armour All-American game where he caught a 36-yard touchdown pass and rushed for 43 yards on nine carries, named 2013 Mr. Football by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, named the LFCA Class 5A Offensive Most Valuable Player as a senior, four-time All-District selection,  LFCA Class 4A First-Team All-State honoree as a junior, member of the Baton Rouge Advocate Super Dozen and listed as a MaxPreps First-Team All-American.

During college, as a freshman in 2014, Fournette played in all 13 games with six starts, ranked sixth in the SEC in rushing with 79.5 yards per game, was fourth in kickoff returns with a 26.0 average and led the league in all-purpose yards with 137.4 yards per game. He had five 100-yard rushing games which included a career-best 146 yards and 1 TD in the win over Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Night, and in the six games he started, he rushed for 100 yards or more four times and he averaged 98.5 yards and one TD in each of those games, scoring at least one rushing TD in seven games.

He caught seven passes for 127 yards, including a 40-yarder in win over Ole Miss, Dazzled college football fans with a series of head-shaking moves in 2014, which included bowling over a Texas A&M defender on his way to a 22-yard TD; leaping over a wall of Florida defenders from the 4-yard line to score a TD; a 360-degree spin move that left a would-be Florida tackler tackling air; or the shoulder-lowering boom that drove a Gator defender five yards deep into the endzone. Leonard took over as the starting running back for the Tigers against Florida and responded with 140 yards and a pair of TDs on 27 carries in the 30-27 win over the Gators.

The 140 rushing yards were the most by an LSU true freshman running back since Justin Vincent racked up 201 rushing yards on 18 carries versus Georgia at the 2003 SEC Championship Game, he added 85 yards on kickoff returns against Florida to finish with 225 all-purpose yards, followed that with 40 yards and a TD in win over Kentucky, rushed for 113 yards on 23 attempts in LSU's 10-7 win over No. 3-ranked Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium followed that with 79 yards on 21 carries in an overtime loss to Alabama, played sparingly in road loss at Arkansas with just nine yards on five carries, closed out the season with a flurry, rushing for 146 yards and a TD in the win over Texas A&M and followed that with 143 yards and a pair of scores, including an 89-yard TD run against Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl.

Fournette scored on a 22-yard run against Texas A&M where he ran over an Aggie defender, a play that was rated as a SportsCenter Top 10 play, he added a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD against Notre Dame as he finished with a career-best 264 all-purpose yards, he earned a spot on the ESPN.com All-Bowl Team as an all-purpose player for his performance against Notre Dame, had first 100-yard game of career against New Mexico State with 122 yards and a pair of TDs in the LSU win, he opened the season with 18 rushing yards on eight carries in comeback win over 14th-ranked Wisconsin in Houston, followed that with 92 yards and a TD in Tiger Stadium debut against Sam Houston State and added 52 yards on the ground and a TD a week later in a win over Louisiana-Monroe. Leonard was one of 17 true freshmen to see action for LSU in 2014.

At the sophomore season in 2015, he won Consensus First Team All-American, he led the SEC and nation in rushing with 162.8 yards a contest, finished the season with 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns – both LSU single-season records, averaged a staggering 6.5 yards a carry, tied the school record with 10 games of at least 100 rushing yards and set LSU mark with four 200-yard games and added 19 receptions for 253 yards and a TD.  Fournette capped the season with an NCAA bowl record-tying five touchdowns (4 rushing, 1 receiving) to go along with 212 rushing yards in LSU's 56-27 win over Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl and broke LSU single-season rushing record when he ran for 159 yards against Texas A&M, surpassing Charles Alexander's 1,686 yards in 1977.

He became the fastest player in LSU history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a season as he did it in five games and became only the 10th player in FBS history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in the fifth game of a season. On his 87-yard TD run vs. South Carolina, Fournette not only crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, but he also surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards. He is the fastest player in LSU history to reach the 2,000 rushing yard milestone, accomplishing the feat in only 303 carries and 18 career games. Fournette's 834 rushing yards were the most by an LSU player through four games in school history and the most by any FBS player through four games since at least 2000. He is the first player in SEC history to rush for 200-plus yards in three consecutive games doing so in wins over Auburn (244 yards, 3 TDs), Syracuse (244 yards, 2 TDs), and Eastern Michigan (233 yards, 3 TDs).

He rushed for 150-plus yards in seven straight games in 2015, becoming the first FBS player to do so since UCF's Kevin Smith in 2007, his streak of 11 straight games with at least one rushing touchdown is a school record. Fournette's 12 rushing touchdowns were the most through the first five games of a season by any player in LSU history (as were his 11 TDs thru 4 games), Fournette's 631 rushing yards were the most by an LSU player through three games in school history and the most by any FBS player through three games since at least 2000 and is the first player in LSU history to record eight rushing TDs in the first three games of the season and only the second to reach at least eight TDs thru three games (Dalton Hilliard had 4 rush, 4 rec. TDs in 1982). He is the first LSU player to rush for 200-plus yards in back-to-back games and became the fastest player in LSU history to reach the 500-yard and 600-yard rushing mark, doing it in three games.

He became the third LSU player to rush for at least 100 yards in the first three games of a season, joining Charles Alexander (1977, 1978) and Charles Scott (2008) and became the first LSU player with at least 100 rushing yards in the first five games of a season. LSU is 13-2 when Fournette rushes for 100-plus yards, owns three of the Top 10 spots on LSU's single-game rushing yards record list, his 387 rushing yards was the most by an LSU player thru 2 games, rushed for 233 yards and 3 TDs on 26 carries vs. Eastern Michigan with TD runs of 3, 75 and 11 yards, shattered his career-high for the second straight week with 244 rushing yards and 2 TDs at Syracuse, his 244 rushing yards at Syracuse were the most rushing yards by an LSU player on the road and the third-most in a game of all time, rushed for a career-high 228 yards and tied a career-best with 3 rushing TDs on 19 carries in LSU's 45-21 win over No. 18 Auburn, opened a game with a 71-yard run that set the tone for a contest that saw LSU rushed for 411 yards, its second-highest total in a conference game.

Leonard scored on runs of 40, 29, and 1 yards in helping LSU build a 38-7 lead late in the third quarter, all of his rushing yards came in three-quarters of action as he was just 23 yards shy of breaking the school record despite sitting out the fourth quarter. He averaged 12.0 yards per carry, a school record for a back with at least 15 attempts in a game, set then-career highs with 28 carries, 159 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs in the opener at Mississippi State, averaged 5.7 yards a carry vs. MSU, his 28 carries were the most by an LSU player in a season-opener since 1985 when Dalton Hilliard had 31 carries for 148 yards in win over North Carolina, 99 of his 159 yards came in the second half, scored on runs of 1, 26 and 18 yards to account of all of LSU's offensive points, led SEC and ranked among the top five in the nation in all-purpose yards (183.8 yards per game) and tied for first in the league in scoring with 11.5 points a contest, being the recipient of the 2015 SEC Sportsmanship Award for his actions in support of the people of South Carolina after unprecedented flooding in that state.

During his junior season in 2016, Leonard slowed for most of the year by an ankle injury suffered in training camp, playing in seven games, starting six times, and finished with 843 yards rushing and eight touchdowns, he caught 15 passes for 146 yards and rushed for 100 or more yards in first four games that he played in 2017. He broke LSU's single-game rushing record with 284 yards and three touchdowns in 38-21 win over Ole Miss on Oct. 22 in Tiger Stadium, earned second-team All-SEC honors from both the SEC Coaches and the Associated Press in 2016, opened the season with 138 yards vs. Wisconsin, missed Jacksonville State game (ankle) and returned to action with 147 yards and a pair of TDs in win over Mississippi State, followed that with 101 yards in road loss to Auburn, sat out LSU wins over Missouri and Southern Miss before returning to action against Ole Miss, where he broke the school's single-game rushing mark with 284 yards and 3 TDs on just 16 carries.

He scored on runs of 59, 76, and 78 yards against Ole Miss, had 98 rushing yards and 3 TDs win road win over Arkansas and his last LSU game came against Florida, where despite suffering from an ankle injury, managed to rush for 40 yards on 12 carries. His 284 yards against Ole Miss broke the previous school record of 250 set by Alley Broussard against Ole Miss in 2004, it was also the fifth 200-yard game of his career, a school record surpassing Kevin Faulk's previous mark of four set from 1995-98, also set single-game per carry average with 17.8 yards on 16 carries in the win over Ole Miss and scored multiple touchdowns 12 times during his career.

Coming out of college, Fournette was highly touted as a top ten pick in the upcoming draft and was ranked as the third-best prospect going into the NFL Combine. He was ranked the top overall running back prospect by NFLDraftScout.com but was ranked the second-best running back behind Florida State's Dalvin Cook by Pro Football Focus and Sports Illustrated.

The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Fournette in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the first running back taken in that year's draft. On May 17, 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Fournette to a four-year, $27 million contract with an $18 million signing bonus.

Fournette played his first regular-season game on September 10, 2017, against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. He rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries as the Jaguars won 29–7. In Week 4, against the New York Jets, Fournette recorded a 10-yard reception in the first quarter for his first career receiving touchdown. In Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Fournette posted an impressive performance with 181 rushing yards, including a Jaguars franchise-record 90-yard run in the fourth quarter, and two touchdowns as the Jaguars won 30–9. In Week 6 against the Los Angeles Rams, Fournette carried 21 times for 130 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown run on the Jaguars' first play from scrimmage. He left the game in the fourth quarter with a minor ankle injury as the Jaguars lost to the Rams, 17–27. Because of the ankle injury, he was ruled out for Week 7.

In 13 games and starts, Fournette finished his rookie year with 1,040 rushing yards, 302 receiving yards, and 10 total touchdowns. He was ranked 58th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.

Fournette injured his hamstring during the 2018 regular-season opener against the New York Giants. He missed the next two games before returning against the New York Jets, where he aggravated the injury and was ruled out indefinitely. After missing four more games, he returned against the division rival Indianapolis Colts, rushing for 53 yards and a touchdown with 56 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown as the Jaguars lost 29–26. Overall, he finished the 2018 season with 439 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to go along with 22 receptions for 185 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

He holds an NFL record being the youngest player with a rushing touchdown of at least 90 yards (22 years, 263 days), and on Jaguars franchise records: The first player to score a scrimmage touchdown in each of his first six career games, first player to rush for at least 100 yards in his NFL debut, and longest rushing play: 90 yards.

On May 1, 2020, the Jaguars declined the fifth-year option on Fournette's contract, which would have made him a free agent in 2021. On September 6, 2020, Fournette signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In March of 2022, he signed a three-year extension with the Buccaneers.