OFF THE WALL
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard wanted to make a fan happy by giving away a game-worn item, however, he never meant to be quite so generous, writes Des Bieler of The Washington Post.
Included in the gloves Leonard tossed into the Lucas Oil Stadium stands Sunday after a home win over the Minnesota Vikings was his wedding ring.
That might have had the 2018 NFL AP defensive rookie of the year asking around Monday, “Does anyone know where a certain symbol of my lifetime commitment is?” Fortunately for Leonard, he heard an “I do.”
The happy news came, at least publicly, from a sports journalist related to the young Colts fan who caught Leonard’s gloves.
shared a photo on Twitter of his stepnephew wearing Leonard’s No. 53 jersey while proudly holding the memorabilia, and he asked for help in reuniting the ring with its rightful owner.
Brooke got a reply from Leonard himself, who added several crying-with-laughter emoji in tweeting, “I need that.”
Brooke subsequently tweeted that he believed the matter was being handled, and NFL Network reported that the ring “is en route back to (Leonard) in Indianapolis.”
A spokesman for the Colts did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Leonard, 25, married his high school sweetheart, Kayla Leonard, a couple of weeks after the Colts made him a second-round pick out of South Carolina State in 2018. The two go back to their childhoods in a small South Carolina town, and of their first meeting, Leonard told the Colts’ website last year, “I was probably 5 or 6.” The team posted evidence, showing Darius and the then-taller Kayla standing side-by-side in a kindergarten class photo.
The romantic element took some time, though, with Leonard telling the Colts that Kayla “turned me down” in the sixth grade before warming to him in the 11th grade.
Leonard was attracted by her “beautiful eyes” and the fact that Kayla was “a baller” who excelled in softball, basketball and volleyball. Kayla wound up playing softball at Claflin University, the campus of which abuts S.C. State, allowing them to easily carry their relationship into their college years.
By his senior year, the two-time Mid-eastern Athletic Conference defensive player of the year was on his way to becoming the sixth Bulldogs player drafted in the second round or higher. He wanted Kayla with him on his journey, so he proposed to her in the middle of S.C. State’s field while he was being honored on Senior Day. Once he was a member of the Colts, they wasted no time tying the knot, doing so in a ceremony so informal that they were both in the clothes they wore at their jobs that day — she as a schoolteacher and he, of course, as a linebacker.
Trivia question
On this date in 1998, a player became only the second in the 20th century with 50 doubles and 50 steals in the same season, joining Tris Speaker (1912). Who was it?
He said it
Tweet from comedian Brad Dickson: “HUGE, BREAKING NEWS: after getting a look at the schedule, Nebraska parents are heading back to court seeking an injunction to stop the football season.”
Trivia answer
Houston Astros Hall of Famer Craig Biggio had 51 doubles and 50 steals in 1998. Speaker had 53 doubles and 52 steals. Interestingly, each player had multiple seasons in doubles, but each had just one season with 50 steals.