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FSU's Washington is no longer great unknown

By Randy Beard
Tallahassee Democrat

The element of surprise will be missing for Leon Washington when he ventures into "The Swamp" next Saturday.

He's not the least bit worried about it, either.

How could he be? It's his own fault.

The Florida State sophomore said his dad received a telling phone call in Jacksonville a couple of days after the Seminoles' 31-14 victory over the Gators last season. It was one of the Florida assistants on the line, and before he hung up he had all but applied for a chapter in the Leon Washington Fan Club.

"He told my dad, at that point, that they didn't think I was going to do what I did," said Washington, speaking of his 134-yard performance.

"I guess I caught them by surprise."

You'd think the word would have gotten out.

Washington has been turning heads since shortly after learning to tie the laces on his cleats, according to his first Pop Warner football coach, John Mike.

"After he started playing, a lot of officials would come up to me after games and say, 'Can I be Leon's agent when he grows up?' He was just 9 or 10 years old, but he was phenomenal," said Mike, who is still an assistant coach at Andrew Jackson, where Washington was named the state's Mr.Football in 2002. "He had moves and cutback ability that were just natural."

Hey, if that wasn't enough advance warning for the Florida coaching staff, Washington did rush for 2,437 yards his senior year of high school.

Greg Jones - whose torn right anterior cruciate ligament last season led to Washington starting the final three games as a freshman - said he knew that his successor had arrived as soon as two-a-days began. "You can tell by watching someone practice, when they run the ball, that they have a certain thing about them," Jones said. "He had it from that first day."

And yet, four years ago, Washington wasn't that convinced he was good enough to play college football. So when he arrived in Tallahassee, he fully expected he would have to wait his turn.

If one learns anything growing up in a crowded household with five other siblings, it's patience. With that as a reminder, a crowded backfield this season has been a snap.

Besides, he learned firsthand during the season opener against North Carolina when he suffered an elbow injury - serious enough for a possible medical redshirt to be considered - that nothing is promised.

Washington said that watching the way Jones has handled his adversity since last November only reinforced the selfless lessons he was taught growing up.

"He's handled his situation with class and honor. There's no better guy on the team."

At 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, Washington is five inches shorter and some 50 pounds lighter than Jones. Even so, you could still debate which player has made the biggest hits on the field. The difference is that Washington has plotted most of his collisions while on special-teams duty.

From a tailback's perspective, he'll take a hole "big enough to drive a semi-truck through" like the one he had on his 12-yard touchdown run in overtime to beat N.C. State 50-44 last weekend.

He was asked if the holes were that big last November.

"I had 134 yards rushing, so I assume we did," he said, smiling.

All of his Jacksonville friends in Gainesville should consider that a timely reminder.