Playoff Lenny, meet Oracle Lenny: Resurgent Fournette makes H.S. prediction come true
On Feb. 2, Leonard Fournette sent out the following Tweet:
“Can’t wait until I play in that Super Bowl.”
What’s the big deal, you ask?
The game is this coming Sunday, and, of course, Fournette and every one of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates are excited to play the Kansas City Chiefs in the biggest game of their lives.
Here’s the big deal:
Fournette put that tweet out on Feb. 2, 2014 — when he was a senior at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans.
Seven years later, he has spoken that dream into existence.
Fournette, once the most feared and fearsome running back in the NFL, is a conference champion and set to play in his first Super Bowl as a pro.
A win Sunday would be a redemptive finish to a humbling 12 months, a year in which the former No. 4 overall pick was first dangled in trade talks by the Jaguars then ultimately cut outright.
What’s worse, all 31 teams decided to pass on him when he went through waivers. His most attractive offer? A bargain basement contract with the Buccaneers as a backup.
Now, here comes the redemption chapter of the story:
During pre-game warmups of Tampa Bay’s Wild Card round game against the Washington Football team, Buccaneers starter Ronald Jones II injured his quad and couldn’t play.
Enter Fournette. Or as he’s taken to calling himself, Playoff Lenny.
In the Tampa Bay’s three postseason wins, all on the road, Fournette has led the Buccaneers with 313 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns.
“Getting cut two weeks before the season, it was upsetting,” Fournette said Tuesday during a Zoom call with reporters ahead of Super Bowl 55. “This is how I feed my family, how I take care of them. ... [Being the backup in Tampa,] it didn’t matter. This season was a humbling season for me.
“When you’re used to participating in the wins as an athlete and a competitor, you want to help the team. ... Everything end up working out in my favor in the end. Me and RoJo make a helluva 1-2 punch in the backfield.”
They do. But Fournette is pretty obviously the No. 1 right now. Even with Jones back from injury, Fournette was the ground game’s driving force in Tampa Bay’s NFC Championship victory against the Packers.
“I was surprised [when the Jaguars cut Fournette], just looking at the situation down there,” Jones said. “When they make a move like that, you have to think they have someone in place. I was surprised.”
And his reaction when the Buccaneers signed him to a one-year deal, which will make Fournette again available to every team after this season?
“I was like, yeah, that’s great, another guy that can help take the load off and get us to the place we are right now,” Jones added.
That place — playing the Super Bowl in their home stadium — would have come as no surprise to a 19-year-old Fournette.
“I think it’s every athlete’s dream coming from high school,” Fournette said. “To play in the Super Bowl. I understand it’s difficult to get here, except for a guy like Tom [Brady] who’s been here 10 times. It’s amazing. I get to learn from a guy like that.
“Also, just understanding, don’t ever give up on your dream. Hard work pays off at the end of the day. After all the adversity I went through this year, I ended up helping my team get there.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Playoff Lenny, meet Oracle Lenny: Resurgent Fournette makes H.S. prediction come true."
