Long journey takes new direction for Leshoure

Illini running back accepts risk of turning pro

it's nothing like what he already has overcome

January 12, 2011|By David Haugh | In the Wake of the News
  • Illinois' Mikel Leshoure runs through a hole against Northwestern at Wrigley Field.
Illinois' Mikel Leshoure runs through a hole against Northwestern at Wrigley Field. (William DeShazer, Chicago Tribune)

Mikel Leshoure only looks like he was born to play running back.

But can you say that about a young man who came into this world at the Dwight Correctional Center in downstate Illinois? That's where Leshoure's mother, Jacqueline Jones, gave birth to him March 30, 1990, as she was serving a sentence for a second drug conviction.

"It has been a struggle at times for me and my mother,'' Leshoure reflected Tuesday. "But we overcame that. It has been a long journey. Words can't describe what I feel today.''

What a momentous week this has been for mother and son.

Leshoure, who broke five Illinois single-season rushing records in 2010, announced Tuesday at Centennial High School in Champaign that he would forego his senior year and enter the NFL draft. Jones, who goes by "Jazz'' and works two jobs so she can travel to see Mikel play, celebrated her 15th year of sobriety Sunday.

It's hard for either to imagine Leshoure planning on a bright future without his mom putting behind her regrettable past.

"It's not something I'm proud of having Mikel but I make no secret that I overcame an addiction to drugs and alcohol as he grew up and that's an accomplishment,'' Jones, 50, said in a phone interview. "I always had Mikel as the reason to keep me straight so I could raise him right. I told my son every day he grew up, send prayers up and blessings come down.''

Until Jones was released in 1996, Leshoure spent the first six years of his life living with Jones' sister and his step-mother. His father, Michael Leshoure, was incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center in '94 for selling drugs and drifted in and out of the picture during Mikel's childhood.

Father and son reconciled long ago and the elder Leshoure, a construction worker out on parole, attended Tuesday's announcement. When Leshoure maturely describes accepting his dad back into his life, it suggests the running back's vision isn't restricted to reading blocks.

"People make mistakes and with those mistakes there are consequences,'' Leshoure said. "I grew up with a mother who was my father too. It was tough. But I forgave my dad a long time ago. I was proud he was there today.''

It requires the full context of Leshoure's personal adversity to understand his professional ambition evident in entering the draft despite not being a first-round lock. Sure, returning to Illinois represented perhaps the best thing for Leshoure the player. But what if an unforeseen injury deprived Leshoure the person the opportunity to buy a home for a mother who never has owned one?

Ultimately Leshoure's choice had to do with walking 20 years in his shoes more than running for a single-season school-record 1,697 yards. Realizing that, Jones made her son promise only one thing as he considered his options.

"The only thing I told him was, 'Don't do it for me, do it for yourself,' '' Jones said.

Doing so can draw criticism from outsiders who presume to know what's best for student-athletes they know only by their jersey numbers. Leshoure couldn't help but notice the vitriol Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck generated for having the audacity to return to college rather than become the draft's No. 1 pick. Closer to home, Illini teammate Martez Wilson raised eyebrows for entering the draft despite many ranking him as a mid-round prospect.

Every NFL prospect has his reasons. Why people don't respect those reasons often says more about them than the prospects. Leshoure understands and accepts the gamble. He also might realize the Browns took running back Montario Hardesty with the 59th pick in the second round last year and signed him to a 4-year, $2.79 million deal with a signing bonus of $1 million.

Try telling Leshoure a bigger fortune could be there in 2012 when any struggling family could use that kind of money now.

"I leaned on my family and prayed on my decision,'' Leshoure said. "But it was mine regardless of what people thought. The Illinois football program and faculty made me better as a person and my strength and conditioning coach (Lou Hernandez) took a boy and turned me into a man. I'm ready.''

Is he? One NFL executive told me Leshoure "should be a third-round pick, maybe a second.'' Another worried about Leshoure's speed but believed his ability to run between the tackles might push him into the second round. Every GM will ask about Leshoure's scuffle with a teammate his freshman year that resulted in a broken jaw, the type of incident early in his career that Leshoure says helped him mature.

Howard Griffith, a CSN analyst who spent 11 years in the NFL as a fullback, called Leshoure a more powerful inside runner than former Illini and current Steeler Rashard Mendenhall at this stage of their respective careers.

"He has to work on his speed and make sure he keeps the weight off,'' said Griffith, an Illinois alum. "If he can get into a good situation, this can work for him. But, sure, there's always some risk.''

A kid born to a mother behind bars instinctively ignores high risk to pursue a higher reward in the NFL — the goal since Leshoure realized how football could change both their lives.

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