Video: Jets at Oakland

Jim's interception is at about 1:20.

More Pictures from the Buffalo Game

Ed Yourdon was kind enough to send us these pictures after I saw his photos from the game on flickr. Thanks so much!! You can see the rest of his game pics at his flickr set: NY Jets vs. Buffalo - Oct 2009.




@ Oakland


from newyorkjets.com

from newyorkjets.com

Wisconsin High School Football Awards


Jim was honored to have the Wisconsin High School Football Defensive Back Award named after him.


Jim is number 16 in this pic... for friends who may be interested, number 65 is Cory!

This award along with individual awards for Quarterback, Running Back, Receiver/Tight End, Offensive Line, Defensive Line/Linebacker, and Kicker/Punter honors senior student-athletes from the state of Wisconsin for outstanding play at their position.

A pre-season watch list is trimmed to a list of semifinalists to a list of finalists which the winner will be selected from. You can keep up with the athletes as the lists are trimmed at the Wisconsin Sports Network.

We chose to promote Teammates for Kids through the award, a charity that we have donated to for the last two years. Garth Brooks started an amazing foundation that triples athletes donations and 100% of the money goes to kids, emphasizing their health, education and inner-city services. They also have a really cool website!

Thanks to the Wisconsin Sports Network for thinking of Jim in helping celebrate high school athletes!
Jets' Trust in Mark Sanchez Backfires
Posted Oct 18, 2009 10:53PM By Thomas George

...
"I've had some experience playing on the other side with that team and being in that locker room,'' Jets safety Jim Leonhard said. "That was definitely a crazy game. Those guys have lost their share but they are proud. They are sick of it. They were going to claw back. And we let them.''
...

vs. Buffalo

Bills notebook: Leonhard to reunite with old friends

By Mark Gaughan
NEWS SPORTS REPORTER


New York Jets safety Jim Leonhard will be facing his former team Sunday, and he's excited about it.

Leonhard played three seasons for the Buffalo Bills from 2005 through 2007 but left in free agency in 2008.

"It's one of those things like playing your brother or something," Leonhard said this week on the Jets' Web site. "You want to go in and do your best because I know a lot of guys still and am friends with a lot of guys there."

Leonhard admitted he was a little disappointed the Bills did not make an effort to re-sign him after 2007. Leonhard had started six games that season. But the Bills had to make a decision: Were they going to give him a chance to start or not? The Bills had two draft choices playing safety in first-rounder Donte Whitner and fourth-rounder Ko Simpson. They decided Leonhard was not going to vault either one of them on the depth chart and they did not want to give him a sizable pay raise to be a backup. (Simpson never panned out and was traded this summer.)

Leonhard signed a one-year deal to be a backup with Baltimore.

"I was surprised," Leonhard said of the Bills' stance. "I expected to have some conversation with them and they basically said, "We're moving on.' You don't forget something like that."

Leonhard was behind three draft choices in Baltimore last summer, but injuries forced him into the lineup. He excelled at free safety, starting 13 games and three playoff contests. He averaged a healthy 11.6 yards on punt returns.

After the Jets hired coach Rex Ryan from Baltimore, Ryan brought Leonhard to New York on a three-year deal worth about $2 million a season.

"He is a class person, a great athlete … a short, great athlete," Ryan told Buffalo reporters this week. "He won two slam dunk contests at the University of Wisconsin. He was a great pitcher in high school baseball. He's just a great athlete. I really wanted him when he came out of Wisconsin. As a free agent we tried to get him, but he chose Buffalo. ... He's smart, he's tough, he's durable and just a heck of a football player.

"When he came to our place in Baltimore, it was actually on a two-day tryout. And then I told Ozzie [Newsome, the Ravens GM] I really liked him and how much we really needed him. ... Ozzie said, "You can have him, but you've got to cut three players [laughing].' So we cut those three guys and Jim's now playing with me and the Jets and doing a great job."

A note from the mother-in-law...



In an email from my mom...

Katie
wow I'm glad this is football Jim and not son-in-law Jim. I don't think he looks like any accountant I've ever seen.
Love
Mom

true.

@ New Orleans








vs. Tennessee








vs. Patriots