Mervin Leonard

Mervin Leonard

No. 7
Position:	Corner Back
Personal information
Born:	(2003-12-18)December 18, 2003 (aged 59) 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 defence. 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 favourites led by a once again formidable defence. The defence 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 defence. 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 defence 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 Yelloknife 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 everyones 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 matchup 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.

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	0	0	9	0

Achievements and records

S16 DSFL DB of the Year S16 DSFL Defensive Player of the Year