Forgive Matt Leonard if he believes there’s a bigger rush
out there than sacking a quarterback.
Try walking along a sidewalk as a car driven by Bruce Willis
jumps over the wall to the right and comes crashing down on the
street to the left.
On the football field, Stanford senior defensive tackle Matt
Leonard spends a good part of his time in the opposing team’s
backfield. Off the football field, however, he’s a stuntman
in the movies.
“I find stunt work very interesting,” Leonard said.
“I like that they work half the year and still make a decent
living. I love it because it’s physical, and it’s not a
desk job.”
Leonard got his start through his parents. His stepfather is a
director and former stuntman himself, and his mother, in an attempt
to spend more time with her husband, became a stuntwoman. It was
only a matter of time before Leonard and his older brother, Malosi,
got involved, and the brothers saw their first work in middle
school. Since then, the family has had appearances in “Rush
Hour,” “Mighty Joe Young” and “Die Hard
with a Vengeance.”
Even as Stanford’s date with UCLA approaches, the rest of
the Leonard family is in Miami, Florida, to do stunt work and
filming for the movie “Fast and the Furious 2.”
“My dad’s the stunt director,” Leonard said.
“He has Malosi hanging off a helicopter and shooting a
machine gun.”
As exciting as stunt work is, Leonard says he’s concerned
about the lack of job security, and, for that reason, he believes
that his immediate future is in the NFL.
“I was always a really big kid while still being one of
the fastest,” Leonard said. “I always knew that
I’d be really good at football, and I plan on playing in the
NFL.”
Apparently, athletic ability runs in the Leonard family. Malosi
is a former wide receiver for University of Arizona. When Stanford
took on Arizona two years ago, Malosi tried to block his younger
brother.
“He hit me from the side and I just grabbed him and threw
him out of the way,” said Leonard, who, at 6 feet, 4 inches,
299 pounds, holds a decided size advantage over the 6-foot-2-inch,
212-pound Malosi.
“I didn’t even know it was him. When I saw it on
film, I couldn’t stop laughing. “˜My God, you’re
huge,’ he said to me,” Leonard said.
It’s a quandary for his mother, but her solution is to sew
one-half of each team’s jersey together in support of either
Ariford or Stanzona. It’s a close knit family, and they have
had to be for the past three years when Leonard’s football
career was often halted because of injuries.
Highly touted out of high school, Leonard has yet to play a
complete season in college. His past three years have been marred
by back pain, and he has leaned on his family for additional
support. Now, Leonard says that he is completely pain-free and able
to play to his full potential. Nevertheless, Leonard has been quiet
this season up until last week’s game against Arizona.
“Matt had a really good breakout contest against
Arizona,” Stanford head coach Buddy Teevens said.
“He pressured the quarterback more than prior weeks.
We’d like to see him maintain that level and play like that
every week.”
“I had been trying to help everyone else on the field as
well as doing my responsibilities,” added Leonard, who also
has two interceptions on the season.
“Against Arizona, I finally had confidence in my teammates
and the opportunity to do my job. My energy was more focused, and I
was able to rush the passer. As a result, I had a great
game.”
All of which spells bad news for UCLA. Aside from an offensive
line that has been largely inconsistent, the Bruins will be
starting a freshman quarterback against Stanford. Leonard says he
relishes the opportunity.
“A young guy like that can easily be rattled,”
Leonard said. “You can practice as much as you want, but as
soon as you see a 300-pound guy running down your back, it’s
a different story. We want to make UCLA one-dimensional.”
As for Leonard’s stuntman career, it has been put on hold
as he tries to navigate his way through college to the NFL. His
favorite stunt scene ““ the one where Bruce Willis jumps a car
over Leonard’s head as Leonard walks on a sidewalk ““
didn’t even make the final cut. In “Die Hard with a
Vengeance,” it looked from the camera angles as if the car
actually hit Leonard.
“I still have a picture to remind me,” Leonard said.
“It’s an outrageous picture, and I’ll always
remember the rush I got.”
For Leonard, there is no better rush.