BOBCATS 125: Mike McLeod
5/14/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
Mike McLeod was a productive player
Mike McLeod, CB, 1976-79
ALL-TIME TEAM: None
HONORS: 2nd Team All-Big Sky in 1979
A CLOSER LOOK: Mike McLeod came to MSU from Cheyenne, Wyoming, but he arrived as a legacy. His father Jim was a tremendous player for the Cats (see below), and Mike also had a distinguished career. He intercepted three passes as a junior and another as a senior, and at the time his career ended he was considered arguably the best cornerback in program history. He returned an interception 89 yards for a touchdown against Idaho State in 1979, topping his father Jim's 82-yard interception return 20 years earlier, and picked off a pass in the end zone during a 21-13 win against North Dakota as a junior, and logged nine total tackles (one for a loss) in a 21-14 win over Weber State later that season. McLeod enjoyed a fine five-year career with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL, helping the team win three Grey Cup Championship teams, then played two seasons for the Green Bay Packers.
FROM TEAMMATE AND LONG-TIME COACH AND ADMINISTRATOR DAN DAVIES: "He was one of the fastest guys we had, if not the fastest. He and (teammate) Jeff Muri were on the (MSU track and field's) mile relay team, and they could really run. Mike was very unassuming and not flashy, but he just got things done on the field. He was a real classy guy."
BONUS - JIM McLEOD, HB, 1956-59: Jim McCleod was a tremendous Bobcat halfback who shines light on a couple facts about Montana State's late-1950s teams. First, it was an amazing group of players, with a core that played as freshman on the 1956 National Championship team and stayed together to roll up a 31-6-1 record over four seasons. The 1950s teams proved to be a true melting pot. Each Bobcat squad from the end of World War II through the '50s featured several men who served in the mililtary before joining the Bobcats. And while McLeod was one of 15 Montanans on the 1957 roster, that aggregation featured players from 11 different states, including 15 from states that touched one of the Great Lakes. McLeod came to Montana State after a starring in football, baketball and track at Havre. He rushed for 250 yards during the National Championship season as a freshman, then led the team in 1957 (494) before gaining 98 yards during an injury-plagued junior season and 188 as a senior. McLeod returned an interception 82 yards for a touchdown in the 1959 Cat-Griz game and scored 14 touchdowns as a Bobcat. Jim went on to an outstanding coaching career in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and his sons Mike and Pat became MSU standouts.
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