SAN ANTONIO — Senior center Nate Leonard is back again this season with a blog that will give fans an inside glimpse into UTSA Football.
Senior center Nate Leonard is back again this season with a blog that will give fans an inside glimpse into UTSA Football.
The Roadrunners (4-8, 3-5 C-USA) closed out their fourth season of play last Saturday with a 34-27 victory against North Texas.
The 6-foot, 280-pounder was second among the squad’s offensive linemen this year with 41 knockdown blocks and he also graded out at 80 percent.
Leonard, who was named a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete on Oct. 30, 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 46 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.
Below is his 14th and final entry of the fall.
Week 14: Curtain Closing
I no longer am a football player.
The clock is at zeroes and the final grain of sand has fallen through the hourglass of my career.
I knew this time would come. I could see the clock tick down and the sand fall from the moment my career started, but I never thought the end actually would get here.
Here it is.
What an incredible ride it has been. I have learned and seen so much.
I have seen parts of the country that I never would have seen had it not been for UTSA Football. I have met thousands of people and impacted their lives in one form or another and they have done the exact same for me. I met my future wife and cherished her love throughout my collegiate career. I have become better at the roles of being a man, teammate and friend. In May, I will graduate with a degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio, a degree that I earned with my sacrifices on the field. I have gained hundreds of brothers and family members during my time as a Roadrunner.
On the other hand, I have seen people's dreams dashed in the blink of an eye. I have seen injuries end careers. I have sat in front of doctors on two occasions and held my breath as they told me whether or not I could continue my career. I have seen many things that the outside world does not, things that the average fan does not. Perhaps most disheartening, I have seen what business does to the game of football.
Through the good and the bad, I leave here better off than when I arrived.
I am blessed to be able to take what I have learned from this profound experience into my next phase of life as a husband, teacher and coach.
I am blessed to be able to take the relationships I have built into my next phase of life, as well. Maybe none as strong as the relationships I have made with the other two offensive linemen of the "Original 18" — Cody Harris and Scott Inskeep.
Cody Harris is a good teammate and a better man. Here is what UTSA Football means to him.
"UTSA Football is something truly special. I have seen many changes throughout the years, but the brotherhood always stayed the same. This has been an experience that I will take with me and that I will always remember and talk about for years to come. I will never forget the guys that came to UTSA and shared the same dream as me. We put in the work to create an epic experience that will go down in history. I love them as my family and I will forever be a Roadrunner."
The first time I ever saw Cody was at the first-ever UTSA Football camp for high school seniors at the Alamodome. I saw Cody in line next to me and thought to myself that if he was the type of offensive lineman that the coaches were looking for, then my chances were slim. Cody is a big guy and always put up impressive stats in the weight room and on the field. His presence undoubtedly will be missed at the tackle spot.
Scott Inskeep is a good teammate and a better man. Here is what UTSA Football means to him.
"UTSA Football really means a lot to me. From the hard-fought games to the brotherhood bonds, this program has had a huge impact on my life. I will never forget the memories that I made and the relationships that I built with the people of this program. I can look back on this experience later in life and know that I helped make history."
Scott was our brawler. He was our go-to guard for pulling situations because we knew he was going to get the job done. By playing next to him, he made my job easier when it came to double teams and zone blocking. In many ways, Scott was one of our most important offensive assets.
As I collected all 17 of the write-ups from my fellow members of the "Original 18," it became more and more clear to me that what we did here was unfathomable.
We were a group of guys that nobody wanted and we did something that nobody ever has.
I believe that one of man's greatest fears is to be forgotten, to leave this earth without leaving an impact.
The "Original 18" always will be the foundation of something that will last forever. People may not remember our names, but our legacy never will be forgotten.
I guess it is time to reveal the final piece of the "Original 18" write-ups … mine.
I hope that I am a good man and that I was a better teammate. Here is what UTSA Football means to me.
UTSA Football was the realization of my life dream. I want you to think about that for a moment. The realization of my life dream. From the time I realized what college football was until the time I signed my National Letter of Intent, my dream was to be a Division I college football player. I never dreamed of playing in the NFL and I never dreamed of having my career end at the high school varsity level. I put absolutely every ounce of my soul into accomplishing my dream. I had everything that I needed: a loving family, a huge support system and coaches that cared about my future. All I was missing was a passing grade on the "eye-test" and a school that was willing to take a chance on an undersized center from a Dallas suburb. UTSA became that school and I did more than realize my life dream. I gained family members for life.
I have given my final bow and the curtain has closed. I still can feel the breeze and hear it rustle. The lights have dimmed and the people that watched my career are slowly filing out. I take a deep breath, remove my jersey, place it neatly at my feet, and walk away.
For as long as I can remember, I have been Nate Leonard the football player.
It's going to be nice to just be Nate Leonard.
This isn't a goodbye but rather a see you later. Until then, keep your head down and feet moving and, from time to time, look up and cherish being you.
Previous entries
· Nov. 24
· Nov. 17
· Nov. 10
· Oct. 27
· Oct. 20
· Oct. 13
· Oct. 6
· Sept. 29
· Sept. 22
· Sept. 15
· Sept. 8
· Aug. 31
· Aug. 25