Charles Leno Jr. (born October 9, 1991) is an American professional

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 ...

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 ...

. He played

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

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mount ...

and was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the seventh round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. Leno was a seven-year starter for the Bears, making the

2019 Pro Bowl The 2019 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2018 NFL season, played on January 27, 2019, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. It was televised nationally by ESPN and its sister networks. Game format The 20 ...

with them, and also played three seasons with the Washington Football Team / Commanders.

Early life

Leno attended

San Leandro High School San Leandro High School (SLHS) is a four-year public high school in San Leandro, California, USA. Academics Academic courses include Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors courses. SLHS has specialized programs, including the Academy of Business & ...

San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish language, Spanish for "Leander of Seville, St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland, California, Oakland to the northwe ...

, where he played football and basketball, earning three varsity letters in each sport. He was named first-team all-conference as an offensive tackle and second-team all-conference as a defensive end as a senior. He was considered a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

''.

College career

Leno attended

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

, where he was a member of the

Boise State Broncos football The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games on ...

team from 2009 to 2013. He started 39 consecutive games at

for the Broncos during his career, with the final 26 at

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

. He earned All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

honors twice in his career: a second-team selection as a junior and a first-team selection as a senior.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Leno was selected by the

in the seventh round (246th overall) of the

. After being a backup as a rookie, Leno was named the full-time starting left tackle in Week 4 of the 2015 season. On August 23, 2017, Leno signed a four-year, $38 million contract extension with the Bears. He was named to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

in 2018, and was the first Bears offensive tackle to be named since James O. Williams in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. After seven seasons as the Bears starting left tackle, Leno was released on May 3, 2021 after the team selected

Teven Jenkins Teven Bradlee Jenkins (born March 3, 1998) is an American professional football guard for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys and was selected by the Chicago Bea ...

in the second round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

Washington Football Team / Commanders

Leno signed a one-year contract with the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

on May 15, 2021. He started all 17 games of the 2021 season and signed a three-year, $37.5 million contract extension on January 5, 2022. On December 30, 2023, the Commanders placed Leno on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

due to a calf injury before releasing him on March 1, 2024.

Personal life

On December 16, 2018, after the Bears defeated the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

to win the

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and toug ...

division title, Leno proposed to his girlfriend Jennifer Roth at midfield. Leno is a father of three daughters. Leno and his wife lost their fourth child due to a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

in October 2023.

References

External links

*
Boise State Broncos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leno, Charles 1991 births Living people Boise State Broncos football players American football offensive tackles Chicago Bears players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Oakland, California Washington Commanders players Washington Football Team players San Leandro High School alumni Sportspeople from San Leandro, California