Leobardo Jaime Araguz (born January 18, 1970) is a former

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 ...

punter in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

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) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. He also was a member of the

Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...

New York/New Jersey Hitmen The New York/New Jersey Hitmen were an American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Hitmen were the members of the Eastern Division of the XFL. The team played their home games in Giants Stadium of the Meadowlands Sports Com ...

and

Rio Grande Valley Sol The Rio Valley Grande Sol were a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Hidalgo, Texas. They were members of the X-League Indoor Football (XLIF) in their final season. The Sol played their home games at the State Far ...

. 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 ...

Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU or SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas, in the United States. Named after Stephen F. Austin, one of the founders of Texas, SFA was founded as a teachers college in 1923 and built on part ...

Early years

Araguz attended

Harlingen High School Harlingen High School is a public high school located in Harlingen, Texas, United States. It is part of the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District and was the first of five HCISD high schools established. HHS was the sole high schoo ...

Harlingen, Texas Harlingen ( ) is a city in Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County in the central region of the Rio Grande Valley (Texas), Rio Grande Valley of the southern part of the U.S. state of Texas, about from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city co ...

, where he began playing

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 ...

and was a four-year starter at kicker and punter. As a senior, he contributed to the team winning a Class 5A Championship. He also competed in

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 ...

College career

Araguz accepted a football scholarship from

NCAA Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

, where he was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

. As a junior, he led the conference in average yards per punt (42.6).

Professional career

In July 1993, he had a two-day tryout with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, but the team didn't sign him to a contract. On March 28, 1994, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

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

. He was released on July 11. On April 29, 1995, he signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He was released on August 21. In the meantime, he worked as a substitute teacher at Coakley Middle School in his hometown, where he earned $50 a day. In 1996, he was drafted in the 17th round (103rd overall) by the

of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

(WLAF), based on the recommendation of kicking coordinator Doug Blevins, who had seen Araguz during his tryouts with the Dolphins and Chargers. He had 41 punts for a 42.3-yard average (second in the league). He also was the kicker for the field goals (8-of-15 for a 53.3%), while international player

Manfred Burgsmüller Manfred "Manni" Burgsmüller (22 December 1949 – 18 May 2019) was a German professional footballer who played mainly as a striker; he also occasionally operated as a midfielder. He appeared in 447 Bundesliga games over the course of 17 sea ...

kicked the extra points. In 1996, the

stalwart punter Jeff Gossett was lost for the season with four broken ribs he suffered in the twelfth game against the

. Araguz was tried out along with other punters, but lost out to Rich Camarillo, who pulled a groin muscle during warm-ups for his first game against the

, which gave Araguz the opportunity to punt in the final three games of the season. His first punt went for 52 yards against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. His production of 13 punts for 534 yards (41-yard avg.) gave the Raiders confidence to release Gossett on February 14, 1997. In 1997, he finished fifth in the league with 4,189 punting yards, and his 45-yards average ranked second in franchise history, behind the 45.3-yards per punt average set by

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

Ray Guy William Ray Guy (December 22, 1949 – November 3, 2022) was an American professional football punter who played for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Guy was a first-team All-American selection in 1972 ...

in 1973. In 1998, he set the NFL record for the most punts in a single-game (16), in a 7–6 win over the

on October 11. In that game, Araguz made a solo tackle of Chargers punt returner Latario Rachal, preventing a likely touchdown on a sequence where the Chargers instead settled for a field goal. In 2000, the Raiders drafted punter

Shane Lechler Edward Shane Lechler (; born August 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player who played as a punter for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M University and was selected by ...

in the fifth round and released Araguz on August 27. In 2001, he played for the

in the XFL, posting 44 punts for 1,788 yards (40.6-yard avg.). On June 14, 2001, he signed with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. On August 27, he was released before the start of the season, after losing the punter job to

John Baker John Baker or Jon Baker may refer to: Military figures *John Baker (American Revolutionary War) (1731–1787), American Revolutionary War hero, for whom Baker County, Georgia was named *John Baker (general) (1936–2007), Australian Chief of the ...

. On November 27, 2001, he was signed by the

to replace an injured

John Jett John Jett (born November 11, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. He played college football for East Carolina University. ...

. He averaged 41.9 yards per punt in 3 games. He was released after Jett recovered on December 18, 2001. On May 12, 2003, he signed with the

. He was released before the start of the season, after losing the punter job to Jason Baker. On December 16, 2003, he was signed by the

to replace rookie Eddie Johnson. He played in 2 games, registering 7 punts with a 38.7-yard average. On February 23, 2005, he signed with the

. He beat out

Chris Kluwe Christopher James Kluwe ( ; born December 24, 1981) is an American writer, social activist and former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins before si ...

for the punting job during the preseason, but after averaging 46 yards per punt in the season opener, his numbers dropped. On October 5, he was released after the fourth game and replaced with Tom Rouen. On April 13, 2006, he signed with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. He was released before the start of the season on September 1. He played for the

of the

X-League Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football (X-League) was a professional indoor American football minor league that began play in 2014 in the United States. The league was co-chaired by Michael Mink and Kacee Smith. On September 19, 2015, the league announced a mer ...

from 2011 to 2015.

Personal life

Araguz owns a construction company. He has three children: Alek, Noelle, and Nia.

References

External links

Leo Araguz' statistics in the XFL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Araguz, Leo 1970 births Living people People from Pharr, Texas Players of American football from Hidalgo County, Texas Sportspeople from Harlingen, Texas Players of American football from Cameron County, Texas American football punters Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football players Oakland Raiders players Detroit Lions players Minnesota Vikings players Seattle Seahawks players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Rhein Fire players Baltimore Ravens players Rio Grande Valley Sol players New York/New Jersey Hitmen players