Tristan Leigh (born April 28, 2003) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

Early life

Leigh was born on April 28, 2003, and grew up in

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

. He grew up playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, later starting to play

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

after his mother initially was unwilling to let him. He attended

Robinson Secondary School James W. Robinson, Jr. Secondary School, commonly known as Robinson Secondary School, is a six-year public school in the Fairfax, Virginia, a Northern Virginia suburb southwest of Washington, D.C. Opened in 1971, Robinson is located south o ...

in Fairfax where he played football and was a top

, receiving his first

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

offer in January 2019. He was named first-team All-DMV by

NBC Sports Washington Monumental Sports Network, formerly NBC Sports Washington, is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sport ...

and the Virginia High School Player of the Year. He was invited to the

Polynesian Bowl The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that honors the greatest players, coaches, and contributors of Polynesians, Polynesian descent in the sport of American football. It was established in 2013 by former National Football League ...

and the

All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...

. A five-star recruit and one of the top 15 overall players in the 2021 recruiting class, he committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

College career

As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

for the Tigers in 2021, Leigh

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

and appeared in two games. He appeared in five games the following season. He won a starting role in 2023, appearing in 13 games while starting 11. He then started 12 games during the 2024 season and helped Clemson win the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) Championship Game. He announced a return for a final season in 2025.

References

External links

Clemson Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh, Tristan 2003 births Living people Players of American football from Fairfax, Virginia American football offensive tackles Robinson Secondary School alumni Clemson Tigers football players