First link is not working for me. Second one looks like a travel site. Pretty cut and dry as far as by brief skim could tell.
He sells Florida seminoles stuffs now? and travel? ... i think these are just companies that paid leon so that they can use his name for thier website ... just a thought
There are just reseller sites, nothing big. What makes you think they belong to the NYJs Leon Washington and not any of the other hundreds or thousands of people named Leon Washington?
the second one is from the same network as Calvin Brock's (heavyweight boxer) website http://www.calvinbrocktravel.com/ I think it's just one travel company pays certain athletes to carry their names.
Leon washington isn't the most unique name in the world - I'd guess there could be another leon washington who may be using the name
I recently obtained two web Domain Names and established my own website using Dreamweaver 8, so I think I can shed some light on this. Site # 1 looks like the Florida Seminoles made a deal with Leon and probably dozens of other recogizable sports figures. Essentially, they probably told Leon, "Let us secure your Domain Name for you and pay the registration and fees in return for us being able to direct anyone trying to log on to your site (or name) to our retail site." They probably have a contract with Leon to also pay him $XXXX.00 annually in return for the use of the name. It does NOT look like Leon has his own website. They're just using the name for now. Site #2 just looks like mistaken identity, i.e., it's not OUR Leon Washington.
In fact, it IS OUR Leon Washington!!! I had spoken with him today and he had told me about the site. I told him that I would pimp his site on OUR fan site!!! Initially, he had his direct phone number on the site, when I told him about it, he changed it and put his business number. Leon knows that OUR site exists and that we support him 100%. He even told me what he thought about the Jones trade.
Interesting. It would seem I am wrong about the 2nd website then. I just can't get the connection with Leon and a travel agency, and if he truly is a principle, why wouldn't he want his picture front and center on the home page? If you're going to use your name to promote a website business, then go ahead and go all the way with it. You might want to tell him that. He doesn't need to forfeit his personal identity (phone numbers, etc.), but just making himself more visible on the home page would promote the business immensely. Lots of Jets fans would go there and perhaps book their reservations because of the connection. But without really knowing it's his site and without seeing a trace of Leon on the site, it's kind of a waste, IMO.
He said that he does not mind the competition; more importantly, he also said that he is going to get his touches. The most telling thing for me was him saying that he does not mind sharing the load because he wants to play for 10 years. Obviously, he knows as well as we do that you just can't take a beating in the league and be around for 10 years. Sharing the load is no big deal, it's a matter of what you do with your touches. I believe that Leon has more big play ability than Thomas Jones. I had asked him what was the difference between him and Emmitt Smith, in terms of being able to shoulder the load long term; he said, "Good point". At the same time, I acknowledged that Emmitt's line was one of the best in league history when Emmitt was at his best. Conversely, before the great line became a reality, he averaged less than 4 yards per carry and had less than 1000 yards in his rookie season. Leon may be in the same position while averaging more yards per carry, but under 1000 yards as well. He's in New York right now; he's coming down to Jacksonville this weekend to take part in a charity event (as a judge) called "Guns & Hoses". Firemen versus Police in 3 one minute rounds of "fighting".
Leon is my main man. I love the guy. Even my wife, who, on a football scale of knowledge of 1-10, registers a -3, noticed Leon the first time he ran the ball. She goes, "Who IS that guy?" I said, "That's Leon Washington, out new #4 pick!" and she said, "Look at him run!" There was a great article on Leon in The Star-Ledger last fall, Trey... don't know if you caught it, but it was a really nice article about where Leon came from in Jacksonville, how he came up the hard way and all the things he had to overcome. A cop was driving around the "hood" and, since he was starting up a PAL football league, he stops a bunch of youths near the stadiuma nd he asks, "Who around here can run pretty fast?" And a couple of kids said, "That would be Leon!" So he gets Leon to join the league and he starts his juking and everybody freaked out. Later, when he dropped out of high school and was headed for trouble, the same cop spotted his and said, "Hey, what you doin? Get back in school and play some football... you can run the ball and I'll talk to the coach, etc." So that's how he got back into sports and the rest was history. It was a great article.
Actually, that was coach John Mike (Who's also a sergeant on the police force). Leon did not drop out of high school, he attended University Christian High School in his sophomore year at first and did not play football. Leon eventually transferred to Andrew Jackson High School where coach Mike is still the running backs coach. While he was at Jackson, he was one of the best high school football players that I had ever seen! Incidentally, he ended up winning Mr. Football here in Florida. In addition, he was a hell of a baseball player and ran track. I remember him getting an inside the park homer once. In Leon's senior season, he ran for over 2,400 yards had over 80 tackles from his safety spot; he had also run punts, kick-offs and was the punter. His high school coach timed him at 4.27 in the forty when he was 185 pounds. You would not believe how much Leon would run the ball in practice in live action. As a side note, his biggest adversary on the high school scene was Ciatrick Fason (Formerly of the Florida Gators; currently, with the Minnesota Vikings)
Great story, Trey. I stand corrected about him dropping out of high school, but I know he had a rough upbringing, which is a great story. His mother still lives (or at the time of the article, still lived) in the house where Leon grew up. He offered to help his mom with some money and so forth, but at the time of the article, she was still choosing to live in the same house and work at the same job. This is a really humbling success story. Only in America! It's the kind of story you love to hear about. I used to root for "Lil' Ray," (Ray Mickens), probably one of my favorite Jets of late because of his size and his heart on the field, but now, with his having left the team, I've switched my undying devotion to "Neon Leon," my main man. This is a story you gotta love, man....
The sites are not his property. Look at the copyrights at the bottom. They appear to be domains that use his name and automatically direct hits to a certain site.
When section 227, row 5 told me that it would be a better idea if he had his face on the site, I called Leon up and told him!!! So, props to section 227, row 5 for the heads up. He made the change as soon as I told him about what section 227, row 5 suggested.
