INDIANAPOLIS — Darius Leonard was sure his name wouldn’t be on the Pro Bowl roster this year.
So sure, in fact, that the Colts linebacker decided he wouldn’t wait around for the rosters to be announced Tuesday night. Leonard headed up to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to watch the Pacers beat the Lakers instead.
Then he got a call from Indianapolis head coach Frank Reich.
“It means a lot,” Leonard said. “Especially coming from where I came from, all the adversity I had to go through. Coming here, proving everybody wrong, it feels good.”
Leonard, who was a first-team All-Pro selection and the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2018but was left off of the Pro Bowl roster, was shocked.