SPORTS SCENE
NFL STAR LEONARD FOURNETTE: BIG RB, BIGGER HEART
RUNNING BACK’S LIFE MARKED BY HUMILITY AND GENEROSITY BY CARTER BROOKS
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acksonville’s Leonard Fournette is a monstrous individual. The Jaguars’ lead running back has demonstrated time and time again that his power comes from within. Whether it is plowing through a field laced with football-hungry, 350-pound linebackers, hurdling the odd safety, or providing motivational locker room speeches, the man-child from New Orleans is a class act, on and off the gridiron. Fournette’s name absolutely covers the record books of his alma mater Louisiana State University (LSU), as he currently holds or shares 15 school records, including total rushing yards in a season (1,953), rushing touchdowns in a season (22), and career 200+ yard rushing games (5). If that’s not enough, the rugged power back from the south had already become a household name in northeastern Florida, even before his first National Football League game with the Jaguars, at the tender age of 22.
30 SEVEN NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2017
Interestingly enough, Leonard Fournette was actually banned from football at age 12, as the New Orleans football registrars felt that the burly preteen was far older than his birth certificate indicated. Luckily the ban didn’t last long and Fournette was declared eligible to return to middle school football. He may be one of the most physically intimidating 22-year-old rookie specimens to ever walk into the locker room of an NFL team, but it doesn’t take much digging to get past his sculpted six-foot, 235-pound frame, and access the many dispositions of Leonard Fournette’s loving heart. Immediately following the Jacksonville Jaguars’ week-one victory over the highly favoured Houston Texans, CBS reporter Steve Tasker caught up with Fournette on the sidelines. Fournette, who had put up a touchdown and 100 yards rushing on 26 carries on top of 24 receiving yards in his NFL debut, humbly stood next to Tasker with his hands folded and treated the former NFL wide receiverturned broadcaster with the utmost of respect. Fournette noticeably began each response to Tasker with a “Yes sir”, a “No sir”, or an “I am unsure sir”—A trained mannerism quite uncommon in the typical mindset of a 22-yearold who had just fulfilled his childhood dream.
Growing up in the Seventh Ward district of New Orleans, Louisiana, Fournette was blessed with two loving Christian parents, Lori and Leonard Sr., who pushed their football-loving son to excel in all areas of his life— not just football. At the age of 10, Fournette and his family fearfully scurried to set up camp on the overpass of Interstate I-10, finding shelter after evacuating their house during the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina. After briefly vacating to Texas in the aftermath of Katrina, the Fournettes moved back to New Orleans, but this time to Crescent City—the urban municipality in the United States that holds the highest murder per capita rate. “I would have to attribute much of Leonard’s persona to his parents,” said LSU running back coach Frank Wilson, in a 2015 interview with The Advocate. “They are very grounded people. They’ve raised him and insulated him, but at the same time prepared him for how to handle success. That is the side that’s not always popular and talked about, but his spirituality has helped him stay humble.” It was through the teachings of his parents and his extreme life experiences that prompted Leonard Fournette to recently donate $50,000 to J.J. Watt’s Hurricane Harvey Relief
