Meet the Bulls

Being named MAC Freshman of the Year is not a bad thing to accomplish. To Aaron Leeper, it is just one of many accomplishments. USA Today New York State Player of the Year, Buffalo News Player of the Year, an MVP award for the state championship game, and a Connolly Cup for being the best player in Western New York.

You can definitely say that the man has quite the impressive collection of hardware.

The 5 foot 10 inch, 194-pound running back for the UB Bulls tallied some pretty impressive numbers in his freshman campaign. His 1,267 all purpose yards were the third most by a freshman in MAC history.

Going into his sophomore year though, he is not a happy camper.

"1-11 sucks. It's horrible," Leeper said. "We just have to go out and put 100 percent into it. I have to do whatever I can do to help the team win."

Leeper is not ungrateful for what he has been given, but clearly he is focused on the task at hand, and that is winning football games. The football program is young, which means there is much room to improve. Every game is like a class and a job in one-you have to learn while executing.

"Game experience is everything, which helps a lot," Leeper said.

Leeper has a year of experience behind him now, and his offensive line has a year of experience with him behind them.

"I love those guys," Leeper said. "I'm tight with the whole team, you know, a whole month we've been around each other, so we get to know each other. Everyone's tight."

Aaron is from Jamestown, New York. He amassed all of his high school hardware playing for the Jamestown Red Raiders. Many of the Bulls hail from around the Western New York area. For Aaron, that helps make the team gel.

"It does help. My roommate right now is Dallas Pelz, and he's from St. Francis. You know a lot of people from around here, Western New York and New York State players."

The life of a student athlete is two different worlds, especially with football. The rewards are high, and the opportunity for greatness exists, but the work is hard. Leeper has decided to major in history with an eye towards law.

"I love history. I'm taking my general education classes now. I always loved history. It was the one class that I liked in grade school and in high school."

His attitude and his hard work on the field are what have impressed his coaches.

"He's a wonderful kid, with a bright personality. He's an intelligent guy and an intelligent football player," UB football head coach Jim Hofher said of Leeper. "He's a good teammate."

There are a lot of choices to make in college, the most important being what to do after it.

"Definitely, I'd love the life of an NFL player," Leeper said. "I mean, those guys make a lot of money to play football, plus it's a fun game. If it comes, it comes, but there are bunch of other things I'd like to do."

Some of those other things are being one of the President's men.

"I think I'd like to get into the secret service when I get out of school," Leeper said. "My uncle is an FBI agent, so that was a big influence on me. All the stories he told me got me interested."

Not many students have an opportunity to play a video game that has them in it.

There are numerous college games on the market, and the Buffalo Bulls are included in those games. Nothing is perfect, however.

"I don't play video games, but I watch some of the other guys play. It's funny sometimes," Leeper chuckled. "The numbers are all screwed up. I mean, in the game I'm a white guy wearing number 34. It's hilarious."

"It's cool though. I can tell my little niece and my cousins that I'm in a video game. They get a kick out of it."

UB's first game will be at Rutgers. Last season, Rutgers was their only win, and it was a game that Leeper had personal highs in yardage and receptions in. Behind the stats though, Leeper says there were problems.

"I don't think I had a great Rutgers game. I mean I dropped the ball a couple of times, and I had a fumble on the one-yard line. That stuff is in the back of my head. This upcoming game is very important to me in that respect."

"When the game comes, you just get this feeling inside," Leeper said with enthusiasm. "You just want to get out there and give it your all."

Following the game at Rutgers, UB plays on the big stage of college football at Iowa.

"I'm definitely excited about the Iowa game. All the way across the country, I'm really looking forward to that. It's a big opportunity for the whole team and the program."

Leeper has a bright future ahead of him. He knows his own potential and how much work he has to do to achieve it. For Leeper, he doesn't have time to think about sophomore jinxes.

"I never thought of it, actually, until you brought it up. I read one article at the beginning of the year like that," Leeper shook his head. "I never thought of it."