Four years after UW's favorite walk-on joined the Badgers, Jim Leonhard has officially made his mark on UW football-so maybe now it's time to stop referring to him as a walk-on.
\It gets a little old, but it's a good story, so people want to hear about it,"" Leonhard shrugs when asked if he gets sick of telling the story about how a kid from Tony, Wis., became a scholarship player for UW football.
In his first year, Leonhard played in all 12 of the Badgers' games in 2001, but it was at the start of his sophomore year that he became noticed, leading the Big Ten in interceptions (11) and pass break-ups (25), along with ranking second in the Big Ten in punt returns.
Along with the rest of the team, Leonhard set his sights on a Rose Bowl appearance this year, the last chance for the senior class. He stated personal goals, such as breaking the punt return yardage record last weekend, usually come as a result of accomplishing team goals.
""I don't really set goals for myself because I figure if the team is doing what it's supposed to, and we're playing well, then all of the individual stuff will come,"" Leonhard said.
Besides breaking the punt return record, the season has brought early accolades to the defense, which has shut down the running games of the University of Central Florida and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and kept both teams out of the end zone. All of this comes under new defensive coordinator Bret Bielema.
""I think a lot of [the reason for the early success] is communication,"" Leonhard said. ""We're lining up right now, they're not catching us off-guard on anything, so we're making the team beat us. We started off well last year as well. With it being this early in the season it's hard to say, but we seem to have more guys having fun.""
After freshman linebacker Reggie Cribbs blocked a field goal late in the first half of Saturday's 18-3 win over UNLV, Leonhard recovered the ball and took it 86 yards for a touchdown. He also returned three punts for 58 yards, making him UW's career leader in punt return yardage. Leonhard currently has 1,030 career punt return yards, passing the previous record of 1,007 held by Nick Davis. The total is the sixth-highest career total in Big Ten history. With 142 more punt return yards, he would break the Big Ten record set by Bruce Branch (1998-2001) of Penn State.
""The ability to see the entire field makes Leonhard the type of player he is,"" Head Coach Barry Alvarez said.
""Jimmy has deceiving speed ... He sees things very well,"" Alvarez said. ""So even though it's not real flashy, he's productive and he can pick out his blockers ... he's not afraid to come out and make that play.""
Last week against UNLV, the one lone blemish in Leonhard's game was a missed interception when the ball slipped through his fingers.
""He was probably the most upset person in the stadium when the ball went off his hands,"" Bielema said. ""He's a guy who brings excitement every time he touches the ball.""
But one more time-how does Leonhard feel about being a former walk-on?
""If there are people out there who think they can follow in my footsteps, and do the same thing, I like the story being out there.\
