Difference between revisions of "Mervin Leonard"

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Latest revision as of 02:13, 4 March 2021

Mervin Leonard
Mervin .jpg
No. 7 – Yellowknife Wraiths
Position:Corner Back
Personal information
Born: (2003-12-18)December 18, 2003 (aged 57)
Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, Canada
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Tuktoyaktuk High School
ISFL Draft:S17 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6
DSFL Draft:S16 / Round: 2 / Pick: 12
Career history
Portland Pythons
Roster status:Active

Mervin Leonard (born January 18, 2003) is an American football corner back who starred for the Portland Pythons before being drafted to the Yellowknife Wraiths of the NSFL.

Early years

Mervin Leonard was born in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territory, Canada. From a very young age Mervin was locally celebrated for his unique ability to be able to catch arctic hares with his bare hands. Mervin's ability to capture these creatures became something of a spectacle for locals as Arctic hares are commonly known for their unbelievable quickness and agility which has been evolved over hundreds of years to evade predators. At the age of 12 Mervin's ability to capture hares was featured in an issue of ""National Geographic"" highlighting the lack of legitimate entertainment in the desolate Canadian North.

Mervin was first introduced to the sport of American Football at the age of 16 when then CFL Wide Receiver, Milt Stegall, attended Tuktoyaktuk during a CFL initiative to attempt to grow the CFL’s fanbase. Like many newcomers to Tuktoyaktuk ,Stegall was shocked to learn that the population of the community was less than 800 people and nearly no one in the community had ever heard of American Football due to the communities isolation from the rest of the country. Word of Mervin’s hare catching ability was quickly shared with Stegall who became incredibly impressed with the teenagers speed, agility and hand eye coordination displayed while capturing an arctic hare. Based on this interaction Stegall invited Mervin to visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp the following spring where Mervin was first formally introduced to the sport of American Football. Unfortunately for Mervin Stegall was only willing to pay for a one way ticket to Winnipeg and so Mervin never returned to Tuktoyaktuk becoming the thirteenth member of his family to dropout of high school prior to completion.

At 18 Mervin moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a Subway Sandwich Artist but quickly had his dreams dashed when his job application was rejected by three separate Subway franchises. Mervin then returned to Canada where he walked on to to play Corner Back for the Kamloops Broncos, a Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) team.

College career

Mervin Leonard made an immediate impact on the Kamloops Broncos during his first year with the CJFL team by becoming the team’s Waterboy. Although Leonard did not appear in any regular season games with the team during his first year he quickly became a legend on the Broncos practice field often outperforming the first string cornerbacks. The Broncos went on to finish the season 0-10 and at the end of the season the team’s headcoch, Bud Wingnut, was subsequently fired.

During his second year with the team the Broncos hired retired NFL Head Coach, Don Shula. Leonard flourished under Shula and after a 7 interception performance during the teams second preseason game against the Okanagan Sun Leonard was officially promoted to starting Corner Back. Leonard went on to set a CJFL record for most interceptions in a season with 23. The Broncos went on to finish the season 7-3 but were blown out in their first round playoff game. At the end of the season Head Coach Don Shula was quoted as saying, “Merv is dumber than a bag of hammers but by gawd can he play football”. Word of Shula’s remark quickly spread and Leonard became an internet sensation.

Although he was eligible to play two more seasons in the CJFL Leonard decided that he would take the next two years off to train with retired NFL hall of fame Deion Sanders to prepare himself for the NSFL.

DSFL Career

Mervin Leonard entered the DSFL among little fanfare during the Season 16 DSFL draft. He decided to attend the draft with his family and waited in the green room until the mid point of the second round when he was selected 12th overall to the Portland Pythons.

Entering his first DSFL season Leonard came into the league with a chip on his shoulder knowing he had something to prove. In his first season with the Pythons Leonard was spectacular captaining the league leading Pythons defence to an 11-3 season record and taking home DSFL DB of the Year as well as DSFL Defensive player of the year. Although the team went on to lose in the Ulitimi game to Tijuana it was a successful campaign for Leonard. This outstanding season captured the attention of NSFL scouts and Leonard entered the following seasons NSFL with a lot more buzz than he had entering the previous seasons DSFL Draft.

Leonard went on to be the 6th overall draft pick to the Yellowknife Wraiths in that seasons NSFL draft but due to a loaded Wraiths roster Leonard was asked to stay down in the DSFL an additional season.

During his second season in the DSFL Leonard remained a steady for on a Pythons defence that once again dominated the DSFL. The Pythons would go on to once again finish the season with an 11-3 record but would once again succumb to the mighty Luchadores in another Ulitimini final.

Professional career

Season 18: Leonard was called up to his NSFL club, the Yellowknife Wraiths during Season 18. He stepped into a starting role on a star studded defense. The Wraiths went on to finish the season with an 11-2 record with Leonard making a strong contribution on the defensive side of the ball. The Wraiths would battle their way to the Ultimus final only to lose to the visiting Orange County Otters 16-10.

Season 19: The Wraiths came into Season 19 once again as heavy Ultimus favorites led by a once again formidable defense. The defense would go on to struggle this season but still secured the number one seed with a 9-4 season record. The Wraiths once again made it to the Ultimius game once again matched up with the Otters. Unfortunately the Franklin Armstrong led offence were once again too much for the Wraiths as they fell to the Otters 30-27 in another nail-biter.

Season 20: Coming into Season 20 expectations were higher than ever for the Yellowknife Wraiths. Coming off yet another loss in the Ultimus game during Season 19 all eyes were on the Wraiths. This also happened to be a contract year for the budding young star Cornerback. The season opened with a devastating 48-20 loss to the Colorado Yeti. Although the team struggled overall Leonard was a lone bright star in the performance deflecting 3 passes and essentially shutting his side of the field down. This was a sign of things to come as the team improved over the course of the season with Leonard becoming an increasingly important piece on an already loaded defense. By the end of the season the Wraiths once again finished first in the Conference and were once again poised to make an Ultimus run. Leonard had a number of huge performances during the season finishing the season as the teams leader in interceptions and pass deflections. The Wraiths made a huge playoff surge once again dominating their competition en route to the Ultimus game. Leading up the game much of the conversation in Yellowknife surrounded the dominance of their defense led by rising stars Mervin Leonard and Maurice Virtanen. In yet another barn burner the Wraiths and Austin Copperheads faced off in the Ultimus championship. The Copperheads were able to make a late fourth quarter surge to overtake the Wraiths and hand them yet another painful Ultimus defeat. In a spectacular moment of sportsmanship Leonard was captured entering the Copperheads locker room after the game, congratulating the team and partying with them at the local Yellowknife strip club.

Season 21: Season 21 was unlike previous seasons for Leonard in Yellowknife up until this point. The team limped out of the gate with a 3-3 record and morale was low within the team locker room. The veterans on the team were trying to keep everyone's head held high but the pain of numerous Ultimus losses combined with a struggling start to the season had everyone questioning the teams future. This mediocrity continued into a David versus Goliath match-up prior to Week 10 against the New Orleans Second Line. Coming into the week all eyes were on New Orleans as they had cruised to an undefeated start to their season. Leading into the game members of the media were discussing New Orleans as possibly the greatest team in NSFL history and questioned if they could go undefeated. Two days prior to the game Leonard took it upon himself to take the entire Wraiths team to the local Strip club which he frequents. He bought drinks for the whole team, bought each player a lap dance and even paid for Cooter Bigsby, the teams QB, to have one of the strippers go home with him for the night. The plan worked and the Wraiths managed to beat the undefeated Second Line with Bigsby leading the way as the games MVP. This began an unbelievable roll of momentum which carried the team into the playoffs as the 3rd seed in the conference. The team played inspired football and made it to yet another Ultimus championship only to once again lose. This time to the New Orleans Second Line.

Season 22: Entering training camp of Season 22 rumors began to swirl about whether Mervin Leonard would stay with the Yellowknife Wraiths or not. Sources inside the teams locker room leaked information that Leonard was devastated about yet another crushing Ultimus defeat the season prior and was considering dipping his toes in the free agency pool. After several hours of deliberation with upper management Leonard was convinced to stay with the club on a ridiculous incentive laden deal. This proved to be a smart move for Leonard as he had one of his absolute best statistical seasons in the league. The Yellowknife Wraiths became the toast of the league and played their way to a league bets record of 11-2 to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Leonard played particularly well earning himself a unanimous starting spot in the Pro Bowl (his second career Pro Bowl) and also earning himself a nomination for Defensive Player of the year. He remained a steady voice in the locker room throughout the season as some of the senior members of the team began to hand that responsibility to Leonard. The playoffs however were a grave disappointment as the team would lose to the eventual Ultimus champion Colorado Yeti. Leonard was quick to re-sign a three year deal with the Wraiths at the completion of the season and this one was a much friendlier team deal as he felt guilty about completing his incentive laden deal the season prior (9 Mil total). Off the field Leonard became the spokesman for the local Yellowknife Strip club with Cooter Bigsby getting too old to maintain the role.

Season 23:Coming off yet another Pro Bowl season and after being named the top DB in Season 22 of the NSFL Mervin Leonard had his sights set high coming into Season 23 of the newly re-named ISFL. Leonard was at the peak of his career in overall TPE entering this season and had his sights set on one thing and one thing only, an Ultimus victory. Prior to the season Leonard trained with NFL legend Darrelle Revis to help fine tune and master his craft. Season 23 was a frustrating one statically for Leonard who saw a drop in overall stats which was mainly due to the fact that opposing quarterbacks refused to throw toward the elite corner back. The Wraiths continued their NFSC domination throughout the season and rolled to a 10-6 record to once again win the conference. In Cooter Bigsby's final season at the controls in Yellowknife the team came together and rallied in an effort to finally win the legendary QB a ring. Behind the likes of a loaded offence featuring stars such a Nate Swift, Action Jackson and Mathia Hanyadi the offence once again flourished while the defence led by Leonard, Douglas Quaid and Maurice Virtanen snuffed opposing offences. The team would once again make an Ultimus run, culminating in a Championship re-match with the Austin Copperheads. The Wraiths would prevail with a convincing 38-13 rout of the Copperheads to finally get over the hump and capture an Ultimus victory. Although Leonard failed to be recognized with any awards for his season he finally received his ring.

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40‑yd dash 20‑ss 3‑cone Vert jump Broad BP Wonderlic
6 ft 2 in
(1.88 m)
195 lb
(88 kg)
4.36 s 6.07 s 4.33 s 39.0 in
(0.99 m)
119 in
(3.02 m)
27 reps 3

Professional career statistics

Career statistics Tackles Sacks Interceptions Other
Season Team Games Reg TFL Total Sack Int IntTD DefTD FFum FRec PD Safety
2033 (S18) Wraiths 13 40 1 41 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 0
2034 (S19) Wraiths 13 61 0 61 0 4 0 0 0 0 21 0
2035 (S20) Wraiths 13 55 0 55 0 4 0 0 0 0 18 0
2036 (S21) Wraiths 13 61 0 61 0 0 0 0 1 1 9 0
2037 (S22) Wraiths 13 61 0 61 0 5 1 0 1 1 17 0
2038 (S23) Wraiths 16 61 0 61 0 1 1 0 0 0 18 0
2039 (S24) Wraiths 16 72 0 72 0 1 0 0 0 0 20 0
2040 (S25) Wraiths 16 86 0 86 0 1 0 0 0 0 34 0
2041 (S26) Wraiths 16 60 0 60 0 4 0 0 0 0 17 0
2042 (S27) Wraiths 16 37 0 37 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 0

Achievements and records

S16 DSFL DB of the Year

S16 DSFL Defensive Player of the Year

S22 NSFL Cornerback of the Year

S19 NSFL Pro Bowl

S22 NSFL Pro Bowl

S25 ISFL Pro Bowl

S26 ISFL Pro Bowl

S23 Ultimus Champion

S26 Ultimus Champion