Overlooked.
It’s how to sum up the career of former Cleveland Brown and New England Patriots cornerback Leigh Bodden.
“There were a lot of guys who got paid more than me, that I felt weren’t as good as me,” Bodden said. “I would get a lot of interceptions but my name wasn’t big enough to be in the Pro Bowl as a defender.”
Bodden’s parents immigrated from Jamaica and soccer was the main sport in their household.
“My Dad played soccer a lot,” Bodden said. “From what I’m told he was a good soccer player, he used to play pickup soccer and I would go with him and just watch him play soccer and I would dribble the ball and just wanted to do whatever the grown ups was doing.”
Growing up in Washington D.C., Bodden played soccer and basketball. He watched football and would play catch with himself.
“I lived in a small apartment in D.C. and I used to throw the ball, catch it, tackle myself, get first downs, and do crazy stuff that kids do,” Bodden said. “But I never played it.”
Bodden and his family moved to a new place in Maryland. Right up stairs in his apartment was his first head coach.
“[The coach] met my stepdad and my mom and was like, ‘Man you got a son? Bring him out for football’ and so I went to go play football.'”
His unfamiliarity with organized football came when the team met after practice and required all players to wear cups. Bodden thought of the generic cup rather than the protective one.
“Before pads the coaches were like ‘You’re gonna need a cup,'” Bodden said. “I called my mom and was like ‘Why do I need a cup to play football’ I thought it was a drinking cup and not a supportive cup.”
Bodden played every position from quarterback to kicker to challenge himself and fell in love with the game, more so the challenges it brought.
He attended DeMatha Catholic High School for a year and a half before transferring to Northwestern High School. After a strong high school career, Bodden set his sights on colleges.
Bodden had to build his own stock however. He and his parents lugged around video cassettes of his play at Northwestern High School to get schools interested in him.
“I drove to different colleges with VHS tapes and sent them out to a few colleges too,” Bodden said. “My aunt, my mom helped me with colleges I thought were good because at this point my dream was dwindling because people think you have go to the Maryland’s or the Georgia Tech big schools to make it.”
Big-time schools didn’t knock, but Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania did and he settled in there. At Duquesne, he broke every school interception record in the book.
“Everyday I used to walk to campus and just thinking I was gonna make it,” Bodden said. “I looked up who was the interception leader in the NCAA 1-AA and it was on my mind all the time.”
He made it to 28 interceptions which were at that time second in the Nation and his coaches were convinced Bodden could make it to the NFL.
In his senior season, scouts came to Bodden’s practices in preparation to possibly draft the cornerback.
All seven rounds went by, none of the players pickedwere named Leigh Bodden surprising the Duquesne alum because of the initial interest he received.
“I was surprised because teams were calling me during the draft and saying they would draft me,” Bodden said. “San Diego flew me out there to meet the [general manager], a lot of teams were interested and it just didn’t happen.”
The label of a player everyone passed on in the draft was stuck to him, even with his resume.
“People still looked at me as the undrafted guy out of Duquesne,” Bodden said. “It [sticks with you] and some free agents go on to propel and do amazing things but it’s difficult.”
Bodden signed with the Browns and proved himself to earn a 53-man roster spot and recorded his first NFL interception off of quarterback Josh McCown. His first of 18 career picks.
“I’ve intercepted the ball a lot and that wanted it to be one of many,” Bodden said. “They’re tough to come by one of my good friends and good teammates [former NFL safety] Brian Russell used to always say ‘The good quarterbacks, they’re not gonna throw it to you when you want them, they’re gonna throw it to you when you make the mistake.'”
Bodden found a niche on special teams, which made him a versatile threat with the Browns.
“Special teams really put the stamp on me in Cleveland period,” Bodden said. “Obviously on defense, we had our cornerbacks and special teams was my defense and I knew I had to show them how important I was because I [had] seen how it was a revolving door in the league with guys leaving and I was like ‘Man I need to find a place because they could do without me on defense.'”
Bodden recorded 12 total interceptions in Cleveland with six coming in 2007. However, despite the success, he continued to struggle to make a name for himself.
“That label goes with you and people are talking and say, ‘Hey you didn’t make any Pro Bowls’ and that’s all they talk about,'” Bodden said. “I did fly under the radar and that is why they could underpay me, because I know guys who got paid a lot more money who I thought weren’t as good as me, it’s easier to go to the owner and say ‘We’re going to pay this guy $50 million when he was a first round pick.'”
Bodden was traded to the Detroit Lions which could not have been at a worse time. In 2008, Bodden started every game but the Lions went winless and would go down as one of the worst teams in NFL history.
“From the get-go honestly when I walked in that locker room, the energy and the aura just didn’t feel right,” Bodden said. “It wasn’t until Week 12 where I thought ‘Man we’re in trouble’ Because I was trying to keep a positive mindset but it was then when I knew we were in trouble.”
Bodden’s fortunes changed when the Patriots knocked at his door and offered him a one-year contract. The cornerback who went 0-16 the previous season, racked up 55 tackles and five interceptions in 14 starts.
His best came against then-rookie Mark Sanchez. After not looking at Bodden once in their first matchup, the USC alum rolled the dice and came up short throwing three picks to Bodden with one taken to the house.
“Maybe he was feeling lucky [this time] I don’t know,” Bodden said. “I came down with all three of them, I was excited because I got the game ball.”
Bodden keeps the game ball in his office as a reminder of arguably the greatest game of his professional career.
Today, Bodden is enjoying retirement and is an owner of a Retro Fitness gym with over 150 franchises. Bodden also talks to kids and sums up his life with a poem he created as motivation to the next generation.
Figurin’ out what you want to be in life is a struggle,
For me it all changed when I stepped inside the huddle.
As a kid I never did it for the fortune and fame
I did it for respect and love for the game
The love got a little tainted once I hit the 10th grade
A sophomore at DeMatha where your boy barely played
They threw me in, in the fourth quarter as the final whistle blew
Had me questionin’ myself like ‘This what you wanna do?’
I was unhappy and my grades went down
I knew it wouldn’t get better until another school was found
Northwestern came in the picture and gave me every opportunity
Around the same time I started speaking to God fluently
And He gave me two rules,
Believe in yourself and let everything be fuel
I went onto be MVP in both respective sports
I thought it didn’t matter because I was in no sportswriter’s thoughts
They didn’t recognize me as one of the best at my position
So listenin’ to God’s No.2 rule I’ll make that my mission
Landed at Duquesne where I broke every record
Football, track, even in the NCAA section
No.1 and No.2 are all of those lists
So there was no way the NFL could pass up on this
But Draft Day came, name wasn’t even selected
I had so much faith, ego not affected
I signed with the Browns as a free agent and spent two years as the starters’ replacement
The third year came and I thought it was the charm
I started opening day I could’ve sworn I was on
But two weeks later and three games straight, I sat on the sideline and didn’t even dress
Outside I didn’t care but inside I was a mess
I respoke to God and He said it was a test
He said ‘be strong don’t stop you the best’
I started the last 10 games I can’t believe that he was right
I signed million dollar deals man my future lookin’ bright
The next six years, I started for every team
Retired opened a gym now I’m startin’ another dream
I know to be successful I have to keep the same tools
And always rememberin’ His two golden rules
Believe in yourself and let everything be fuel
