Tuesday, March 3, 2009

From Tiny Tony Wisconsin to New York City

Goldy will be thrilled with this story. Rex Ryan has brought his safety, Jim Leonhard, to New York with him to play safety for the Jets.

A couple of solid quotes from Ryan:

"Jim Leonhard is special," Ryan said. "No. 1, he looks like the guy delivering papers. He really is a smart player. He has a lot of poise. He's very sure of himself."

And:

"For some reason he gets saddled because he's short, but this guy's an outstanding athlete. He won two slam-dunk contests at the University of Wisconsin. He's an outstanding punt returner. I've always said he could catch a punt in a hurricane."

I didn't know the slam dunk contest story made it all the way to the NFL coaching circles. Not sure how we missed that one last week when we were recounting the cliches that announcers like to throw out on broadcasts when discussing UW athletes.

And it seems like Rex is contributing to the "he gets saddled because he's short" issue when he calls him a paperboy. But congratulations, Jim. We'll see how good you are in the NFL now that Ed Reed isn't lining up next to you.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love Jim Leonhard. As I mentioned earlier, I lost a $50 bet with a friend saying he would get drafted in the 4th round or higher. Now that he's like a legit player, i feel like I should get my money back.

Panos used to talk about Joe Thomas' dunks on the radio as well. The football team dunks better than the basketball team apparently.

Anonymous said...

Did you see the vid of his interception. It was thrown right to him.

Anonymous said...

The bottom line is that when I was a senior in college, I was billups of the week b/c I pissed on Jim Leonards floor b/c I was so drunk, and passed out there.

Goldy said...

I think greatone's story should replace the slam dunk and Tiny Tony stories when announcers talk about Leonhard.

Anonymous said...

Clarification needed - You passed out "there" as in 1) in your piss or 2) at Jim Leonards house?

Also, were your teeth orange?