CALGARY – For the third straight season, former University of Calgary Dinos defensive back Deane Leonard has made the active 53-man roster of the Los Angeles Chargers.

The 24-year-old Leonard was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 National Football League Draft by the Chargers. He dressed for all 17 regular season games as rookie in 2022 and 11 games (starting three) in 2023 before suffering an injury. Last year, he recorded 22 tackles and four knockdowns. He also saw extensive action on special teams.  

Leonard had a solid 2024 preseason with the Chargers, dressing for three games and recording eight solo tackles, one interception and four deflected passes.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Leonard joined the Dinos in 2017 from Notre Dame High School in Calgary and was with the team from 2017 through 2019. He was the shutdown cornerback on the 2019 National Championship team. While with the Dinos, Leonard was a two-time Canada West all-star and a two-time U SPORTS All-Canadian. He also excelled in the classroom, earning U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian honors in the Haskayne School of Business. 

Leonard transferred to the University of Mississippi in 2020 as there was no U SPORTS athletics competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent two years at Ole Miss, earning academic honors graduating with a major in Finance.

Dinos head coach Ryan Sheahan had the opportunity to coach against Leonard while he was the Dinos offensive coordinator for two years in practice.

"Deane Leonard is a premier player," Sheahan stated. "He is one of the reasons we were such a good team. We competed against the nation's best every night."

-UC-