Shaquille Leonard

BIOGRAPHY

Darius Leonard was born on July 27th, 1995 in Nichols, South Carolina. He is a linebacker in the NFL.  

Leonard attended Lake View High School where he played football and basketball. He played as a running back and defensive back. He grew up as a huge Clemson fan, and Leonard's older stepbrother had played for the Tigers' football team. Leonard worked hard to be recruited by Clemson but was only offered priority walk-on status. He decided to accept the only scholarship offered to him to play football at South Carolina State University. 

Leonard played college football at South Carolina State University for four years from 2014 to 2017. He started in all 43 games of his career and led his team in tackles in three of his four seasons. Leonard set the all-time school record with 394 tackles, 274 of which were solo, and logged 53 tackles for loss, 21.5 sacks, six interceptions, eight forced fumbles, and two blocked kicks. He earned First Team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference honors in three consecutive seasons from 2015-2017 and was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons in 2016 & 2017. 

Darius Leonard was selected in the second round by the Indianapolis Colts with the 36th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Leonard impressed in training camp and quickly earned himself the starting job in addition to being assigned the helmet headset to relay the calls by the end of the preseason. When the regular season started, he exploded with 19 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble in coverage against the Washington Redskins. In total for the 2018 Season, Leonard logged 163 combined tackles with 111 solo tackles, seven sacks, two interceptions, and 12 tackles for loss. He helped lead the Colts' defensive unit to a 10-6 record and a playoff birth. On January 5th, 2019, Leonard started in his first career playoff game and recorded 13 combined tackles including five solo tackles, and broke up a pass attempt during a 21–7 victory at the Houston Texans in the AFC Wildcard Game. In 2018, Leonard was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team, and First-Team All-Pro. Leonard led the NFL in tackles as a rookie in 2018. In 2020 Leonard had multiple games where he led the team in tackles and was rewarded AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in week 17.