SAN ANTONIO — Senior center Nate Leonard is back again this season with a blog that will give fans an inside glimpse into UTSA Football.
The Roadrunners (1-3) will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when they play their final non-conference game of the season against New Mexico (1-3). Kick off at the Alamodome is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in what will be the second all-time meeting between the two programs.
Through the first four games of the year, the 6-foot, 280-pounder leads the offensive line with 18 knockdown blocks while grading out at 76 percent.
A leader on and off the field, the McKinney native was instrumental in the team's success last fall, as the Roadrunners won their last five games en route to a 7-5 overall record and 6-2 mark in league play.
Leonard, a Senior CLASS Award candidate and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete nominee, also was a member of the preseason Dave Rimington Trophy watch list (nation’s top center) and he earned preseason second-team all-conference accolades from Athlon Sports. The only player to start all 38 games in program history was a 2013 second-team Capital One Academic All-American in addition to being named the 2013-14 Conference USA Scholar-Athlete of the Year for football.
He is coming off a junior season that saw him record a team-leading 70 pancakes and he also graded out at 82 percent. He was a key part of an offensive line that did not commit a holding penalty during the season while helping the offense average 25.6 points, 417.8 total yards (175.4 rush/242.4 pass), 21.9 first downs and 32:24 possession time per contest.
Below is his sixth entry of the fall.
Week 6: Turn to Family
I have played in more contests than I can remember.
It all started with soccer, then tee ball, followed by basketball, indoor soccer, coach pitch baseball, tackle football, select baseball, select basketball, arena football, tournament travel baseball, select football, school football, more baseball, more basketball, more football, track & field, wrestling, more football, more track & field, power-lifting, more football and, finally, I have found myself as a Division I football player.
For soccer, I went from the Tornados to the Stingers to the Troopers.
For baseball, I went from the Astros to the Red Sox to the Cardinals to the Tigers to the Muddawgs to the Freedom to the Redhawks to the Titans to the Copperheads.
For basketball, I went from the Sharks to the Heat to the Bulldawgs to the Lions.
For football, I went from the Rams to the Colts to the Patriots to the Vikings to the Desperados to the Raiders to the Lions to the Roadrunners.
These lists neglect to mention multiple seasons with the same team, all-star teams and tournaments and guest tournament appearances.
Many times, I was playing more than one sport at once or playing the same sport in more than one league.
A normal week in elementary and middle school included three or four baseball practices, two or three football practices, at least two baseball games and at least two football games.
My dad's suburban was a taxi with a dressing room in the back. The third row turned into a sports store stocked with everything from jock straps to catcher's mitts. I remember, as I would be struggling to change in time for the next practice or game, my mother would be reading a textbook or novel to me from the passenger seat. On many occasions, she would have to read to me on the way to practice and all the way back home, as I was just too preoccupied with changing clothes or cooling down and trying to stop the flow of the Nate Lake. More than a few times, I would respond to my mother's "Stop Light Quizzes" with a hollow snore, which hurled my mom into another universe.
I have taken many shots on goal and missed many times. I have had many at-bats and struck out many times. I have shot many basketballs and missed many times. I have had many opportunities to make tackles and missed many times. I have had many opportunities to make blocks and missed many times.
I have played hundreds of games and lost many times.
I used to lose without class.
It all started with a pinball game that my mom and I would play on the computer. I was good, but she was better. I remember when I finally set the high score and my mom immediately followed up with a flawless performance. Just as she was about to beat my high score, I shoved my angry finger in the computer's power button and shut it down. I blamed her for being older and practicing while I was at school. I blamed the computer program for making it easier for her to win. I blamed.
I remember when I would play my friends in video games. I was such a sore loser that the minute I began to lose the game, I would hit the start button, scroll down and quit the game. I blamed my virtual team for being bad players. I blamed my friends for cheating or knowing something that I didn't. I lost friends and I blamed.
When I would lose organized sports contests as a youngster, I would cry, pout and throw things. I wouldn't talk to anyone and stay in my own world blaming everything and everyone. I blamed.
Losers lay blame.
I hate it when people say, "Oh, don't worry about losing. It's just a game."
To me, a contest never is just a game. It is personal. A contest reflects life. Football reflects life. You face a challenge every day. You compete against someone else every day. You compete against the people who are working hard to take your job and those who wish you harm. You have to keep your head on a swivel. You have to rely on people next to you. You have brothers and father figures. You get knocked on your tail and you have to get up and move forward. You knock others on their tail. You push yourself to the limit for the others around you because you know that when it comes right down to it, they would do the same for you. You have fans that cheer you on and you have naysayers who want you to do nothing more than fail. You have people behind the scenes who look out for you. You have a goal, a family and a mission and you work every single day to protect those things.
Even when you think you got the house beat; when you have prepared to win at all costs; when you have stared your foe in the eye and let him know that you mean business; when the odds are in your favor; when it seems as though nothing can go wrong and there is no possible way you can lose; you still lose.
Sometimes, you just lose.
When I lose, I turn to my family. I turn to the people in my life who I have let down with my shortcomings because I know that they are there to pull me off the ground when I get knocked down, no matter how many times I fail.
I turn to my beautiful fiancée, Sam. I turn to teammates, past and present. I turn to my former and current coaches. I turn to my loving father who is my rock and the person that pulled me from the depths when my mother and his soul mate passed away from cancer.
When I talk about the loss of my mother, then yes, football is just a game. Because, even when she thought she had the house beat; when she had prepared to win at all costs; when she had stared her foe in the eye and let him know that she meant business; when she put the odds in her favor; when it seemed as though nothing could go wrong and there was no possible way she could lose; she still lost.
She lost the ultimate game.
Although football reflects life, a loss in football holds no candle to a loss in life.
Learning that at a young age has allowed me to become a better man, son, fiancé and teammate. It has allowed me to lose and win with class, humility and dignity.
I have become a better teammate for men like Seth Grubb, who is a member of the "Original 18" and someone who always stands tall when tested.
Seth is a good teammate and better man. Here is what UTSA Football means to him.
"To me, our football team is best described by our toughness. Coach Coker always talks about how our ‘calling card’ is that we are a tough football team that plays hard every single game. Toughness is a quality that our Original 18 have had from the start. It took a group of both mentally and physically tough young men to make it through that first practice year, especially after being a bunch of players that nobody really wanted. I'm very fortunate to be able to play this game with such a great group of guys and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else in the world than right here at UTSA."
So what happens when you lose? What happens when you have lost in life? What do you do? Do you lay blame like a child lays blame or do you learn from your losses, pick yourself up and move forward? Do you cry, pout and seclude yourself or do you turn to those special people around you?
What you did in times of loss should tell you a lot about yourself.
I head to meetings and practice this week and will figure out why we lost and what I can do to better help my team win. I will turn to those people who battle next to me on the field each and every week and those special people in my life who always have been there for me.
Simply, they are one and the same. I will turn to family.
Previous entries
· Sept. 22
· Sept. 15
· Sept. 8
· Aug. 31
· Aug. 25