THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280580
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FROSTBURG, MD. LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
He is a free-agent receiver with the Washington Redskins, toiling in his third NFL camp in as many years, but here's how Leslie Sheperd says his life should have turned out:
Neck and neck with Ragib ``Rocket'' Ismail as the best high school receivers in the country, Sheperd would be the next big storm for Jimmy Johnson at the University of Miami. When done there, he'd rival Ismail, Tennessee's Carl Pickens and Notre Dame's Derek Brown as pass-catching phenoms. Might even take the Heisman.
Some NFL team would make him its No. 1 draft pick and his mother would have to adopt a hundred kids to staff the family business he'd start with all his money.
The only thing that got in the way was a three-hour test.
Truth is, Leslie Sheperd was considered the second-best receiver in the country behind Ismail his senior year at Forrestville (Md.) High School. USA Today and Street & Smith's magazine said so, after seeing him play offense, defense and special teams as a kicker and kick returner. Notre Dame, Sheperd says, promised not to sign Ismail if he would accept their scholarship offer first.
But Sheperd had Miami on his mind, and vice versa.
That's where he says his life ``took a wrong turn'' down a path full of deceit.
Sheperd says then-Hurricane coach Johnson told him it didn't matter if he passed his SAT. Miami would take him as a Prop 48 case; he'd be ineligible his first year, but poppin' to go the next.
But when Sheperd didn't pass the SAT, he says Johnson changed his mind and told Sheperd to attend a prep school or a junior college, and then come back. Attempts to reach Johnson for comment were unsuccessful.
Sheperd refused, but by then the other major schools had used their scholarships. Temple University, he says, offered an athletic grant and promised to hire his high school coach as an assistant if he signed. Sheperd signed, but the Owls didn't offer his coach a job, something Sheperd never forgave.
``My career there didn't go well,'' he said following a Thursday morning weightlifting session at Frostburg State. ``They said I had an attitude, and I did. I questioned why I didn't play more, why we ran certain plays and not others. There were things I could have done differently.''
He got a tryout offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1992 after running a 4.26-second 40-yard dash in the rain. He was the last player cut.
He got a tryout offer from the Pittsburgh Steelers after he ran a 4.28 40-yard dash for them. He spent 18 months there, never catching one pass, but he was a player that coach Bill Cowher liked enough to groom.
Last Sept. 4, not long after Sheperd had caught his first pro touchdown pass in an exhibition against the Redskins, Cowher waived him. The next day, he was a Redskin.
With top draft pick Michael Westbrook holding out, Sheperd is getting more chances than he ordinarily might have - and he is taking advantage.
Practically every day, coach Norv Turner mentions Sheperd for one play or another. Clearly, the coaches are impressed with him.
``He's a survivor,'' Redskins receivers coach Terry Robiskie said. ``His route-running is tremendously better. He has very good hands - almost excellent hands. He's improved completely.''
Sheperd felt alone and insignificant in Pittsburgh. But the Redskins made him feel at home. He and Turner bonded. And Washington is closer to his family and friends.
``The first two times I got cut, it was like a grain of salt,'' he said. ``But the last time in Pittsburgh was tough, because I knew I'd done everything I could.
``When I saw how Washington accepted me and how excited my family was to have me here, I thought it had worked out OK. Then I saw the passing game they run, and I knew it could be right. . . . I knew it was possible here that I could be a starter no matter who they drafted.''
No one on the Redskins will go that far. Westbrook and veteran Henry Ellard still sit atop their depth chart. But Turner loves the way Sheperd runs the crossing patterns that are crucial to Washington's passing attack. And before Tuesday's practice against the Steelers, Turner was telling Cowher that Sheperd was one of the three most impressive players in camp.
``My father always told me that it wasn't the start that counted, but how you finished,'' Sheperd said. ``I've been there, one of the top high school players in the nation. If I'd have gone to Miami, I'd have been the No. 1 college receiver. But I'm happy the way it happened. I'm home. And if I keep doing what I'm doing, I'll have no regrets.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BILL ABOURJILIE/Staff
Redskins coach Norv Turner has been impressed with receiver Leslie
Sheperd's improvement since last season.
by CNB