Javon Leake (born August 1, 1998) is a professional

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''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

running back and return specialist for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He initially signed as an undrafted free agent with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in 2020 and was also a member of the Washington Football Team and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He played

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at Maryland.

Early life and high school

Leake was born in The Bronx, New York and moved to Greensboro, North Carolina while in middle school and attended Walter Hines Page Senior High School. He became the Pirates' starting running back as a sophomore and rushed for 456 yards and five touchdowns. He was named first-team All-Area by the '' Greensboro News & Record'' after rushing 277 times for 2,048 yards and 30 touchdowns while gaining 356 yards and scoring four touchdowns on 21 receptions as a junior. As a senior, Leake gained 1,679 yards and scored 29 touchdowns on 216 carries despite missing time due to an ankle injury and was again named first-team All-Area and first-team All-State by '' USA Today''. Rated a three-star recruit, Leake committed to play college football at Maryland over offers from Louisville, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.

College career

Leake served as a kick returner and backup running back as a true freshman, rushing nine times for 99 yards and two touchdowns and returning 13 kicks for 274 yards. He rushed 34 times for 309 yards and a team-leading seven rushing touchdowns and lead the team with 409 kickoff return yards and one kick returned for a touchdown during his sophomore year. Leake became the first player in Big Ten Conference history to be named the Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week for the same game after he rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns and returned a kick 97 yards for a fourth score against Illinois. Leake had an expanded role on offense as a junior, sharing primary running back duties with

Anthony McFarland Jr. Anthony McFarland Jr. (born March 4, 1998) is an American football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Maryland, and was selected by the Steelers in the fourth round of th ...

, and rushed 102 times for 736 yards and eight touchdowns while also leading the Big Ten and finishing third in the nation with 804 kickoff return yards on 30 returns with two touchdowns and was named first-team All-Big Ten as a return specialist and the Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year. He was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week two times after returning a kick 100 yards for a touchdown against Rutgers on October 4, 2019 and for a 97-yard return touchdown against Michigan on November 4, 2019. Following the end of the season Leake announced that he would be forgoing his final year of eligibility to enter the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Professional career

New York Giants

Leake signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 25, 2020, but was waived on August 29, 2020.

Washington Football Team

Leake signed with the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the Washington Football Team on November 19, 2020. He was placed on the practice squad/ COVID-19 list by the team on November 23, and restored to the practice squad on December 2. He was elevated to the active roster on December 12 for the team's week 14 game against the San Francisco 49ers, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was released on December 31, 2020, but rejoined their practice squad on January 7, 2021. Leake signed a reserve/futures contract with Washington on January 11, 2021, and was waived on April 9, 2021.

Detroit Lions

On August 11, 2021, Leake signed with the

. He was waived on August 23, 2021.

Toronto Argonauts

On April 26, 2022, it was announced that Leake had signed with the Toronto Argonauts. He played in his first CFL game in the team's season opener on June 16, 2022, against the Montreal Alouettes where he was used primarily as a kick returner.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bioMaryland Terrapins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leake, Javon 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Greensboro, North Carolina American football return specialists American football running backs Maryland Terrapins football players New York Giants players Washington Football Team players Detroit Lions players Toronto Argonauts players