Hello, my name is Leopold Ashley III and I was born in Kingston, Jamaica. My mom brought me to America at 1 years old and we lived in a couple of states but I was raised in MinneSnota or Minnesota. I've learned life from my mom and being raised in Minnesota. I went to all school levels here such as elementary, middle school, high school and I played college football at St Cloud State University. That was the best decision I've every made was to transfer that and walk on to the football team. The craziest thing when I transferred there, they had a try-out and were looking for a couple of players to add to the team. One thing I was not going to miss was the try-out. I was real strong, I was quick, I wanted to win and make the team and be apart of a great experience. So, the try-out was on a Saturday and it was around 100 people. Dudes were, huge, small, real strong, not that strong, fast and the list goes on. At that time, I tried out as a defensive lineman and in our group there was about 15 people. The trainers and coaches put us through a tough workout. I never worked that hard but I gave it my all, I was winning 1 on 1 vs guys bigger than me, I was one of the fastest/quickest defensive lineman out there. I was one of the strongest and on that field I was beyond focus. Before I arrived, I prayed to the creator and asked him to let me give it my all. After the try-out, I fell to the ground because I was sooooooooooo tired. I never gave something I love doing that much, I cried a little bit because I was going to be sad if they did not pick me, I did not care about who else was on the field. 2 days went by and my cell phone was ringing and the head coach said hi Leopold, I just wanted to give you call to let you know that YOU MADE THE TEAM. I'm not going to lie, during the call I screamed a little bit in passion and the head coach said he loved my energy and he could tell that I loved football. He also stated once to get onto the team and get your locker, uniform, you better show up to practice on time and GIVE IT YOUR ALL EVERYDAY and we will have a great relationship. I said, I will give you all of that and more. I got off the phone and started crying out of joy, no one helped me get there accept my mom, no family members or friends ever supported me. I did not care, they were never the reason I played college football and semi pro football.
Each position on our college football team had a specific coach and our defensive line coach "Steve Grimit" was one of the best people I ever met in my life. He was like 6'2 and at least 300 pounds and he was strong AF!! The funny part about him, when he meets you before you join the team, he had the biggest smile and in your mind, this big guy is really nice. Once you make the team and you get into the defensive line meeting, that smile goes into something scary looking. When I look back at him, I will laugh but during practice and meetings, he did not f-ing play around. He ONLY wanted defensive lineman who came to practice 10 minutes early, he only wanted players who are going to give it their all EVERYDAY, he only wanted players who worked hard in the weight room. On the field, the defensive lineman were always the best players because no one as a group outworked us.
