Roosevelt Leaks

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Roosevelt Leaks
Leaks-Roosevelt-1977.jpg
Leaks in 1977
No. 46, 48
Position: Running back
Personal information
Born: (1953-01-31) January 31, 1953 (age 71)
Brenham, Texas, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High school: Brenham
College: Texas
NFL draft: 1975  / Round:  5  / Pick: 105
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:107
Starts:58
Carries:663
Rushing yards:2,406
Rushing TDs:28
Receptions:71
Receiving yards:590
Receiving TDs:4
Player stats at PFR

Roosevelt Leaks Jr. (born January 31, 1953) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns. A consensus All-American in 1973, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005. Leaks was the first black All-American player in University of Texas at Austin history and went on to play in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills.

Contents

Early life

Born and raised in Brenham, Texas, between Houston and Austin, Leaks grew up on his family's farm, where they raised, among other things, cotton and corn. His father was a farmer and day laborer. Leaks was an all-state running back and linebacker for Brenham High School in 1969 and 1970, [1] scoring a total of 56 touchdowns during his high school career. [2] He was also the clean-up-hitting outfielder for the school's baseball team, helping Brenham win its first Class AAA state championship in that sport in 1970. [3]

Heavily recruited, he had his mind set on the University of Houston, until he realized that the Cougars had three other running backs in his recruiting class. Instead, he signed with his second choice, the University of Texas in Austin. [4]

College career

Leaks arrived at UT in 1971, only one year after the Longhorns football team had their first black letterman. Freshmen weren't eligible to play on the varsity until the following year, but he soon emerged as one of the country's top running backs.

In 1972, he was the team's leading rusher, running for 1,099 yards and eight touchdowns, making him only the second Longhorn to rush for a thousand yards in a season. He earned All-Southwest Conference honors as a running back and helped Texas to a 10–1 regular season record and a #7 ranking, then a win over #4 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. In that game, he rushed for 120 yards, which, at the time, was the third-best performance by a Texas running back in the Cotton Bowl. Quarterback Alan Lowry ran for 117 yards, [5] making it the first time Texas had two 100-yard rushers in the same bowl game. Down 13–3 at the half the Longhorns shut out the Tide in the second half and finished third in the final AP poll. [6]

As well as Leaks did in 1972, he was even better in 1973 as a junior. He was again the team's leading rusher and set a school and Southwest Conference rushing records with 1,415 yards. He also set or tied 7 other school records that season, including the conference record for most yards in a game when he ran for 342 yards in a 42–14 win over SMU. This was only eight yards short of Eric Allen's NCAA record of 350 yards, set two years earlier in 1971. [7] Leaks was again named All-SWC, as well as a consensus All-American. He finished third in the Heisman balloting, which made him only the fifth Longhorn Heisman finalist and tied him with James Saxton's 1961 performance for the best Longhorn Heisman finish. Texas went 8–3 in 1973 and won another Southwest Conference title and were ranked eighth, but lost the Cotton Bowl 19–3 to #12 Nebraska and finished fourteenth.

Following his success, Leaks was an early Heisman favorite for the 1974 season, but suffered a serious injury in spring drills when he leaped into the air and another player's helmet hit his knee. It required surgery and Leaks was given the option to take a redshirt season. He chose to play, but missed the first game and was hobbled by injuries all season. Freshman Earl Campbell was given the majority of carries and was the team's leading rusher and bowl MVP that year. [4] Leaks carried the ball 96 times for 409 yards and 4 touchdowns. Texas was 8–3 in the regular season but were runner-up to Baylor in the Southwest Conference. The #11 Longhorns lost 27–3 to #6 Auburn in the Gator Bowl, in which Leaks did not play, and fell to seventeenth in the final poll.

Records

Candidate for Heisman

1973 Heisman Trophy Finalist Voting
FinalistFirst place votes
(3 pts. each)		Second place votes
(2 pts. each)		Third place votes
(1 pt. each)		Total points
John Cappelletti 229142861,057
John Hicks 1146454524
Roosevelt Leaks7480100482
David Jaynes 656863394
Archie Griffin 456365326
Randy Gradishar 475335282
Source: [8]

NFL career

Leaks was selected in the fifth round of the 1975 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts. He played five years for the Colts, putting up 1,268 yards and 14 touchdowns, but he spent most of his fifth season on the sidelines after the Colts added former first-round choice Don Hardeman. After the 1979 season, he was waived by Baltimore and picked up by the Buffalo Bills, where he spent four years carrying the ball and blocking for Joe Cribbs. He was considered one of the best blocking backs in the NFL, with his teams making it to the playoffs in 5 out of his 9 seasons. [9]

At training camp of his tenth year he was cut by the Bills in August 1984. [10] At that time, only one running back from his class, Walter Payton, was still playing. [4]

NFL career statistics

Legend
BoldCareer high

Regular season

YearTeamGamesRushingReceiving
GPGSAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsAvgLngTD
1975 BAL 110411754.3171155.050
1976 BAL 13131184453.84278435.4100
1977 BAL 1110592374.039333913.0261
1978 BAL 1212832663.2112911112.3272
1979 BAL 75491453.0171141198.5150
1980 BUF 160672193.31528577.1181
1981 BUF 165913573.93167517.3130
1982 BUF 99974054.217513917.0110
1983 BUF 124581572.71218749.3120
107586632,4063.64228715908.3274

Playoffs

YearTeamGamesRushingReceiving
GPGSAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsAvgLngTD
1976 BAL 114123.061000.000
1977 BAL 118354.4110000.000
1980 BUF 10461.52111717.0170
1981 BUF 229242.7605397.8110
5425773.11126569.3170

Personal life

Leaks and his wife had been working in the real estate business for several years before his football career ended and he transitioned into it full-time. [4] In 1987, he began working with Texas General Land Office in Austin, eventually becoming the Director of Veterans Land Board Appraisals. He retired from that job in 2013. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ "tshof.org: Inductees". tshof.org. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ Wilt Browning (ed.), Baltimore Colts 1977 Media Guide. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Colts Football Club, 1977, pp. 27–28.
  3. ↑ "Cubs Club Demons, Garner AAA Crown," Austin American-Statesman, June 13, 1970, pp. 17, 19.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Canning, Whit (2005). Texas Longhorns: Where Have You Gone. Sports Publishing. pp. 92–93. ISBN   1582619522 . Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Texas final finds emotion - and a win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1973. p. 3B.
  6. ↑ Nissenson, Herschel (January 3, 1973). "It's official: Trojans No. 1 grid team". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. p. 48.
  7. ↑ "Leaks gains 342 as SMU buried". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 4, 1973. p. 7C.
  8. ↑ "1973 Heisman Trophy Voting".
  9. ↑ Jon Anderson, "Former Colts to Be Inducted," Colts News, coltsnews.9f.com/, May 19, 2005.
  10. ↑ "Bills cut Leaks as teams cut rosters to 60". Gadsden Times. (Alabama). Associated Press. August 22, 1984. p. D3.
  11. ↑ "Texas Football Legend Roosevelt Leaks Retires" (PDF).
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