BonnerSprings.com

David Leonard peered out of the tunnel as 100,000 fans filed into their seats at the University of Tennessee’s historic Neyland Stadium.

Leonard’s University of Wyoming squad was a heavy underdog that day as he gazed beyond the iconic orange and cream checkered end zone and into the stands — all three decks well on their way to reaching capacity.

He soaked it all in, and then trotted onto the field to practice catching punts.

Leonard, a former Shawnee Mission West standout, went on to help the Cowboys upset the Volunteers, 13-7, that November day.

“I will never forget that moment,” he recalled. “Who hasn’t seen that end zone before and not known where it is? And to get a win there was so great. It is a mental picture that I will always have.”

David’s father, Mike Leonard is the former band director for 17 years at Bonner Springs High School, but is now in his seventh year as the director at Clark Middle School. He made the career move to free up time so he and his wife, Lynn, could go see their son play in high school. Now, they travel to all of his college games.

“I think I made the correct choice,” said Mike, who notes that music is his love, but he is also a sports nut. “I never missed any of his games in high school if it was basketball or football. I really enjoy watching him play.”

Oftentimes the family flies to Denver, rents a car and drives the two hours north in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. That can get rather expensive, though, so sometimes they drive.

“It is exactly 10 hours from our house to the stadium,” Mike said.

David started playing football in third grade and was a standout throughout his prep career. He played football at Shawnee Mission West and helped lead the Vikings to a nearly undefeated season with their only loss coming in the Class 6A state championship game against Hutchinson in 2006. That year, David was named the Kansas Old Spice Player of the Year, the Metro Sports All-Purpose Player of the Year and was named to the All-State team at wide receiver.

Five of his high school teammates have gone on to play football in college, but for David it was unclear where he would end up. He had spent every summer in high school playing AAU basketball and missed football camps, so he remained under the radar for most schools. Wyoming had been one of the only schools to recruit him heavily. The Cowboys invited him up for an official visit.

“I fell in love with the coaches and teammates and the school immediately,” David said. “They offered a scholarship and I accepted.”

Soon after making a commitment to Wyoming, Kansas State offered David a scholarship. He declined, telling his dad that he could not go back on his word to the folks at Wyoming. He said he’d made a commitment and wanted to honor it.

“As a season-ticket holder at K-State, I cried a little that day when he told me he couldn’t go there,” Mike said. “He really liked it up (in Wyoming) and I had to appreciate the decision he was making was the best for him as a young man. To this day he has not regretted his choice one bit.”

For a young guy that likes to fish and hang out near the mountains, who can blame him? Wyoming’s campus sits 30 miles east of the Rockies and is littered with fresh-water fishing spots.

“When you first go away to school, you are a little trepidatious about a lot of things,” David said. “It was never like that here. I really like the school and I have made life-long friends.”

David plans on returning to the Kansas City area after he graduates and is hoping to use his communication studies degree to work in business. There also is a possibility that he will pursue a coaching career.

“It is all about family to me,” he said. “Coaching can keep you away from your family, and I really want to be close and have my dad around. I guess we will see.”

Mike traveled to eight regular-season games and then made the trip Dec. 19 to watch the Cowboys play Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl.

A heavy underdog, Wyoming erased an 11-point fourth quarter deficit. David caught a touchdown pass in the second overtime to give the Cowboys a 35-28 victory.

David said it makes a difference to see that his family supports his college playing career.

“It means everything to see them at games,” he said. “While you are playing college football you don’t have a whole lot of chances to go home — even in the offseason — so it is great to spend time with them when they come here. Win or lose, its nice to see family.”

When in Laramie, near the campus of the University of Wyoming, the family frequents a beloved burger joint in which they can catch up on all things family and home, but that is not the only topic of conversation.

“Dad is great. He always has something to tell me to work on,” David said. “Whenever they are around, though, it feels like home. Those moments are enough to get me through the tough times.”

The tough times have been few and far between this year for David. In addition to the bowl victory, his team (7-6) played the eighth toughest schedule in the nation with four losses coming to ranked opponents, including two BCS bowl qualifiers Texas and TCU.

“It was a good year,” David says. “We played a lot of tough teams, but you have to play the best to be the best.”

He led his team in catches (77), receiving yards (705) and punt return yards (207), earning him All-Mountain West Conference honorable mention status this season.

Former Missouri offensive coordinator Dave Christensen took over the head coaching duties after last season and implemented the spread offense. The passing attack has benefited David during his junior campaign, and he said he hopes he will be an even greater focus of the offense as a senior.

“Coming in, we did not have a lot of proven talent, but we saw some toughness in David,” Wyoming assistant head coach/wide receivers coach Dan Hammerschmidt said. “”He showed that he could make big catches, the tough catches, and showed leadership over the other receivers. We really like his work ethic. He is big and physical and he always gets what he can on the field. He was good enough to score seven or eight touchdowns this year, but only got in the end zone once. He could play for anybody in the nation in the spread offense.”

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