David Leroy McLeod (born August 15, 1971) is an American former 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 ...

player who played seven seasons in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) with the

Albany Firebirds The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana ...

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena ...

Carolina Cobras The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but moved to Charlotte followin ...

and

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

. McLeod 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 ...

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

. In 1996, he was the first recipient of the AFL Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Early life

David Leroy McLeod was born on August 15, 1971, in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. He attended

Highland Springs High School Highland Springs High School is a public high school located in the East End of Henrico County, Virginia. It was one of the first high schools established in the Greater Richmond Region. Replacement school After 70 years in its Oak Avenue fa ...

Highland Springs, Virginia Highland Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Henrico County, Virginia, United States, east of Richmond. The population was 16,604 at the 2020 census. History Edmund Sewell Read founded the community of Highland Springs in t ...

College career

McLeod was a four-year

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for the

James Madison Dukes The James Madison Dukes are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's se ...

from 1990 to 1993 as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He set the school's single-season receiving yards record with 1,207 his senior year in 1993, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and consensus first-team All-State honors. He also set the James Madison single-game receiving yards record with 192. McLeod finished his college career as the school's all-time leader in receptions with 158, receiving yards with 2,899, and receiving touchdowns with 21. He was inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

, McLeod signed with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in April 1994 as a wide receiver. He was later waived and then signed by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. He was waived by the Jets on August 22, 1994. McLeod played in six games for the

of the

(AFL) in 1995, catching 21 passes for 378 yards and nine touchdowns while also recording 16 solo tackles, three assisted tackles, three interceptions, and two pass breakups. He was a wide receiver/

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

during his time in the AFL as the league played under

ironman rules The one-platoon system, also known as "iron man football", is a platoon system, rule-driven substitution pattern in American football whereby the same players were expected to stay on the field for the entire game, playing both offense and defense ...

. McLeod appeared in all 14 games for the Firebirds during the 1996 season, totaling 35 receptions for 761 yards and 16 touchdowns, two kick returns for 56 yards and one touchdown, 67 solo tackles, eight assisted tackles, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, seven pass breakups, and 11 interceptions for 79 yards and one touchdown. His 11 interceptions were tied for the most in a single season in AFL history at the time. He was named second-team

All-Arena An All-Arena Team, an all-star team consisting of the best players of their position was selected every season in the Arena Football League (AFL). Teams * 1987 All-Arena Team, 1987 * 1988 All-Arena Team, 1988 * 1989 All-Arena Team, 1989 * 1990 Al ...

and the first-ever AFL Defensive Player of the Year for his performance during the 1996 season. The Firebirds finished the year with a 10–4 record and eventually lost to the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well". Sever ...

in the semifinal round of the playoffs. McLeod played in seven games in 1997, accumulating 21 receptions for 368 yards and six touchdowns, 20 solo tackles, three assisted tackles, one interception, and one pass breakup. On December 17, 1997, McLeod was selected by the AFL's

in a dispersal draft. He was placed on injured reserve on April 27, 1998, before the start of the

1998 AFL season The 1998 AFL season was the 102nd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

, and did not play in any games that year. He appeared in 12 games during the 1999 season, accumulating 45 receptions for 526 yards and 13 touchdowns, 24 solo tackles, 12 assisted tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and seven pass breakups. McLeod was released by the Rampage in April 2000. McLeod then played in nine games for the

of the AFL in 2000, totaling 32 receptions for 430 yards and ten touchdowns, 26 solo tackles, five assisted tackles, one interception, and one pass breakup. He appeared in six games in 2001, recording 24 catches for 249 yards and five touchdowns, four solo tackles, one assisted tackle, and one pass breakup. He was waived by the Cobras in January 2002. McLeod played in two games, both starts, for the AFL's

during the 2002 season, catching nine passes for 97 yards and one touchdown while also posting two solo tackles, three assisted tackles, and one pass breakup. He became a free agent after the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLeod, David Living people 1971 births Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia American football wide receivers American football defensive backs James Madison Dukes football players Albany Firebirds players Grand Rapids Rampage players Carolina Cobras players Tampa Bay Storm players New York Jets players Arizona Cardinals players