HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College senior quarterback Jay Leonard (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) has accepted an offer to continue his football career in Europe, playing for a professional team in Budapest, Hungary.
Leonard will be playing for the Budapest Cowboys of the Central European Football League, a seven-team league with teams in Austria, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Croatia, in addition to Hungary. He leaves March 2 for Budapest, to prepare for the team's first game on April 4.
"It's been pretty exciting, and I'm looking forward to playing," said Leonard. "At first I was entertaining the idea, but as I began talking to other coaches, I realized this was something I could really do."
Leonard was first approached back in November about playing in Europe through associate athletic director Darrell Alt, who had been contacted by a team in Germany looking for a quarterback.
"I contacted some players who've played over in Europe, and they had nothing but good things to say about the experience," said Leonard. "I talked to a former player from Wesley College in Delaware who practically talked my ear off about how great an experience it was."
Leonard will be coached by Wally English, who previously coached in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions, and at the collegiate level at the University of Pittsburgh and Brigham Young University. Part of the lure, Leonard admitted, was the opportunity to play and learn from a coach with the experience and connections of someone like English.
"Once I told him that I was interested in getting into coaching, he said he'd help me out as much as he could," said Leonard.
Leonard will be one of three North American "import" players for Budapest, with most of the remaining players on the roster coming from Hungary. The team practices three times per week and the entire league takes a month-long break in July, which will give Leonard plenty of opportunities to travel around Europe.
"I've never been out of the country before, so that part of the experience is going to be awesome," said Leonard.
Leonard finished his Juniata career as the school's all-time career passing leader with 7,610 yards passing. In his final game in a Juniata uniform, Leonard completed 38 passes for 477 yards in a loss to Dickinson College, setting new Centennial Conference and Juniata College records.
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