Football season is almost here, and all eyes will no doubt be on LSU’s Heisman candidate—running back Leonard Fournette.
Despite his youth, many regard him as one of the nation’s best players. NFL.com even listed him among the 15 “scariest players” in college football. Earlier this year, betting outlet Bovada gave him the second-highest odds (15-2) to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy.
The pressure is as high as ever this season. But as Fournette tells 225 in the cover story of this month’s issue, there was once a time when he didn’t want to play football. He was about 5 years old, and his dislike for running laps caused him to quit the sport.
“I told my dad it wasn’t for me,” he says.
Two years later, Fournette’s father, Leonard Jr., saw him keeping up with his older cousins during a pickup football game in a church lot. His father asked him if he was ready to play football again, prompting him to return.
Fournette isn’t sure why he had the sudden change in attitude, but since that moment, football has been a part of him.
“Football became damn near the love of my life,” he says.
Read the full story. Send your comments to editor@225batonrouge.com.
