[JAFF]

https://www.wthr.com/article/kravitz...f-star-waiting

Darius Leonard wore orange. Wore it all the time, representing his beloved team from down the road, the Clemson (S.C.) Tigers. He loved everything about the program, from head coach Dabo Swinney to the team's mad dash down the hill before the game. His brother, Anthony, had gone there and played. His cousin had gone there and played. Every weekend, he would make his way to Death Valley and hang out with family and friends – wearing Clemson orange, always

Surely, Leonard would end up with paw-prints on the side of his helmet. Granted, he was a little bit light, weighing just 180-pounds as a high school senior, but his brother was exactly the same way, 180-pounds on the way to 230. The genetics were there. The tape was there. The production was there.

But there was no call from Clemson.

"I just KNEW that was where I was going to land,'' Leonard said. "I knew it, and then it didn't happen. So that's why I have this huge chip on my shoulder, just wanting to prove everybody wrong.''

I asked him, how badly did you want to end up at Clemson?

"As bad as I want to breathe,'' he said.

In sports, it seems, everybody has something to prove to someone – the media, the teams that passed them over, the third-grade teacher who told them they weren't going to amount to much. It's always something, sometimes real and sometimes imagined. Either way, it's emotional fuel, as we learned during all those years with Robert Mathis, another small-school wonder who made it big out of Alabama A&M. When you've spent your formative years being dismissed or ignored, the emotional tank is always full.

Leonard, who ended up at South Carolina State, has fuel to burn.

With him, that fury is real, and it has manifested itself in such a way that it's fair to say, and easy to see, that Leonard has star potential. Keep in mind, he missed the entire offseason training program because of a quadriceps injury, but you'd never have noticed. Since Day One, the second-round pick has been a revelation. First day of training camp, he intercepted Andrew Luck, and he hasn't looked back. If he can stay healthy, he will be the Colts' WILL linebacker for several years to come.

Know who he reminds me of? Antoine Bethea, another draftee from a Historically Black College and University, who showed up to camp and grabbed the starting safety spot almost immediately. Which is funny, because I mentioned Bethea to Leonard, thinking he'd have no idea who I was referencing, and his face lit up.

"He grew up right down the road from me,'' Leonard said. "When my brother was in his football camp, he (Bethea) talked to me when I was younger. I guess we're cousins by a long shot.''

It's an ageless and sometimes annoying trope, this story of an underdog who makes it big, but it truly applies to Leonard. It started in high school, a tiny, Division 1A school, where Leonard told me he graduated with roughly 40 other seniors. "Graduation took like 23 minutes,'' he said.

"Without a doubt, you see it all the time, 1A schools get looked down upon. But to be honest, 1A is where you get your best athletes. At 1A, you don't play just one position. You've got to play five or six positions and never come off the field. And then playing other sports, I used to play baseball for my hand-eye coordination and I played basketball and used that for my movement.

I asked him, what positions did you play?

"Running back, safety, punter…''

I interrupted. Punter? Were you any good?

"I don't remember my average,'' he said with a smile.

Maybe you don't want to remember, I replied.

"No, no, no, I did OK,'' he said. "I've also told them (the Colts) that I was a long snapper, so I'm our third-team snapper.''

Leonard was still dreaming of Clemson when he was told his grades might limit his college options. That may partially explain why Swinney never called, no matter how often Leonard checked his phone his senior year.

"Ninth and 10th grade, I was kind of the class clown,'' he said. "So that's what I tell kids now when I speak to them - `Don't wait until the last minute to get your grades up.' I took my last test to qualify and my scores came back two weeks after signing day, so everybody fell back except South Carolina State. But after I got my scores, I was still waiting for Clemson. But nothing. Nobody called.''

Except South Carolina State, where Leonard dominated his conference, the MEAC, and put himself in a position where he was universally viewed at a top-3-rounds NFL draft choice. One game especially stood out; when in September of 2016, South Carolina State was sent to the gallows to play Clemson. They lost 59-0, as you'd expect, but Leonard made 19 tackles and blocked a field goal.

"I wanted to show them what they could have had,'' Leonard said. "It was great for exposure. I knew I had to put my best foot forward. I played angry. Some games, I still have to prove a point.''

He's still proving it, and there's no sense Leonard will get fat and happy with early success. There's a reason why head coach Frank Reich stuck him at WILL linebacker the first day and why he has never looked back with regret.

"Instinctive, speed, long – you know, I mean looong,'' Reich said. "That position is a key position in this scheme, to be able to run and hit, to play both the run and the pass. He just shows that combination of instincts, speed and play-making ability. I mean, he is hard to throw the ball over. He has made some really nice plays in preseason and camp and practices.''

Remember, he's done all of this after missing the entire off-season training program. But as Leonard has shown, you can stay engaged and can improve even if you're not in a helmet and shells. Leonard became a student of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' defense.

"It's a credit to him and a credit to his coaches, just him buying in and listening,'' Reich said. "It just goes to show you that even when you are missing practices, if you can dial it and pay attention to the details…you can still get better.''

Leonard conceded, there are times when the speed of the game can feel overwhelming, but with every preseason game – and the Colts finish off their preseason Thursday night in Cincinnati – it has gradually slowed down.

I love this guy. Robert Mathis, Gary Brackett, Antione Bethea are the examples of a guy over looked and busting loose in the NFL.