Football
Favorite athlete: LaDanian Tomlinson.
Favorite team: Baltimore Ravens.
Favorite memory competing in sports: This fall, beating North Penn for the first time in my career and rushing for a game-high. That was pretty cool.
Most embarrassing/funniest moment playing sports: During an in-house basketball game. I got crossed over and I fell to the ground.
Music on playlist: Pregame, I like to listen to artists like Polo G and J Cole to get me into the right mood.
Future Plans: Play football at the collegiate level and study criminal justice.
Words to live by: “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”
-Jerry Rice
One goal before turning 30: Travel and explore some other countries – Italy, Greece and places like that.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m half-Italian. That’s why I’d really love to go and see Italy.
By GORDON GLANTZ
There are those who play football and there are football players.
Anyone who has shared the same orbit as Central Bucks South running back/linebacker Anthony Leonardi knows which category he falls into.
He is all football, all the time.
And that’s in spite of measuring in at 5-10 ½ and 180 pounds.
“He’s football only,” said Tom Hetrick, the 10-year coach of the still-unbeaten Titans. “He works hard. That body doesn’t just happen because he wants it to happen. He works most of the year at it. Could he do other sports? He probably could, but he has been committed to just football for the last couple of years.”
The “body” to which the coach is referring was chiseled by Leonardi over the last few years in the weight room, as he transitioned to football from basketball.
Spurred on by his uncle, Dom Leonardi, and former teammate, Kevin Carrigan (now the punter at Bloomsburg), there were enviable results (270 bench press, 475 squat and 265 power cleaned while at 170 pounds body weight).
And it all translated to the gridiron.
“When I started working out and training, I got better and it felt rewarding,” said Leonardi. “I started consistently lifting around the age of 14. I was just naturally gifted with a nice physique and that was a motivator for me to see what I could do.”
Added Hetrick: “He was sprinkled with something different at birth. He is definitely a physical specimen. He is one of the strongest kids on the team. I’d say pound for pound he is probably the strongest. He is definitely a freaky kind of athlete.”
Leonardi explained it goes well beyond breaking and making tackles. There is, for example, the bond with his teammates and coaches.
“I just fell in love with football,” said Leonardi. “There is no feeling like being out on that field, and going out to war with your team every Friday. It’s a great feeling, that feeling you get before a game. I love it. I love the atmosphere. I love the trials and tribulations. I love all of it. It’s just great.”
Role Models
Looking back, it’s hard to believe Leonardi was once on the fence about the sport he now loves.
“My first year playing, I thought it was going to be a one- or two-year thing,” he said. “I didn’t really like it. I didn’t really enjoy going to practice. It just wasn’t my thing at first. I was more of a basketball guy, but I just fell in love with the game of football.”
It was really the influence of his Uncle Dom, whose own football career was derailed by an injury, that kept him on course.
“My dad, he’s into sports but he never played sports,” said Leonardi. “My uncle is the one who introduced me to sports. He’s like a brother to me. He’s like my best friend. We do everything together. We can talk about anything together.”
Even before he was playing running back on the varsity level, Uncle Dom had Leonardi watching film of LaDanian “L.T.” Tomlinson.
He modeled his game after the former Chargers’ great, right up to simply handing the ball to an official without any sort of touchdown celebration.
“That’s me, every single time (I score a touchdown),” said Leonardi, fresh off a two-touchdown game in a blowout win over Abington. “My uncle introduced me to sports at a young age, and he always wanted me to play the running back position. He would have me watch films on a couple of guys. L.T. was always one of his favorites. I just loved his game and the way he played. I tried to model my game after his.”
Leonardi has also drawn inspiration from Central Bucks South alum Josh Adams, who overcame a horrific knee injury in high school to star at Notre Dame and then led the Eagles in rushing as an undrafted rookie.
He is currently reading a book written by Adams’ mother about her son’s battles with adversity.
“It’s a great book,” said Leonardi. “My uncle grew up with him. Josh came around a few times. I talked to him personally. He’s a really good dude.”
First Impressions
Hetrick had been coaching long enough to know that Leonardi could become the game-breaker he now is, but it was work in progress at first.
“When he came to us as a freshman, he had some athleticism, but he was still pretty raw,” said the coach. “He was just a twitchy kind of an athlete. There is a learning curve for everyone, coming into the high school. You could tell he had a different kind twitch and burst from your regular high school player. You just kind of know it when you see it.”
However, halfway through last season, Leonardi was still playing as more of a wingback, getting his touches on screens and jet sweeps.
That changed about midseason.
“Unfortunately, somebody went down and got injured,” said Leonardi, the second of five children of Anthony and Jessica Leonardi. “Once I came back over to running back, I was really excited to show what I could do. The offensive line was amazing with their blocking, so I was able to make some plays. I guess coach realized where my spot is, which is in the backfield.”
Leonardi’s success ever since certainly had Hetrick second guessing himself.
“The first time he touched the ball, he took it like 60 yards to the house,” said the coach. “We started thinking to ourselves that we should have been doing this a little bit earlier.
“If you’re not sound, defensively, he can exploit it. He can take it.”
Looking Ahead
There is no doubt that Leonardi will play football at the next level.
It’s just a question of where.
At present, the PSAC schools at the Division II level seem the most intrigued with his speed-strength package.
“Obviously, the goal is to play at the highest level possible,” Leonardi said. “If it doesn’t happen, the Division II level is still a great opportunity to play football. Honestly, just as long as I’m playing football somewhere, that’s all I really care about.”
But that’s all down the road. There is still a season to be played, and Leonardi believes the sky is the limit.
“Oh, 100 percent … 100 percent,” he said. “We’re confident in what we do. We don’t talk. We just go out and play. We can go far. The sky is the limit.”
Leonardi, who wanted to thank his grandmother, Drina, for her support, added that his dedication to football has helped in the classroom as well.
“Everything is going up,” he said. “I love school. I like being at school. Math isn’t really my specialty, but I love English. I love writing stories and papers and that type of stuff. I like to read.
“Sophomore year is when I began to really dial it in and realize that my grades needed to be good to get to college, and that it’s more than just football. That’s really when I began to lock in.”
As for a major in college, he is thinking criminal justice.
“It’s a more recent thing,” he said. “I talked to my dad about it and he kind of got me into the idea of criminal justice. There are so many great jobs that can come out of it, and some many great benefits that go along with those jobs.”
Whatever he ends up doing, Hetrick has zero doubt that there will be success, on and off the field.
“I couldn’t love him anymore,” said the coach. “He has grown up a lot in the last couple of years. I’m proud of his growth and his resilience.
“He is a leader, and that’s because everybody just respects how he plays the game. He’s not the rah-rah guy. He’s not the guy who is going to rally people with his words. They rally around him because he wants to be good at this. He is that kind of a guy. He represents how we want the kids to play the game, and they rally around him because of that.”
