Leder commits to McMaster
Isaac Leder was beyond thrilled Wednesday at a signing ceremony at Eden in honour of the 19-year-old St. Catharines resident committing to play football for the McMaster Marauders.
“My nerves are pumped, I am excited and I cannot believe it is happening,” he said. “I was in ninth grade and I didn’t start and I was a fourth-string defensive lineman. Now I am being recruited to play university while all the guys I played with (there) are not doing anything and I love that.”
There is lots to love about the Edmonton native’s game.
“Isaac was a pivotal player on our offence,” Eden head coach Bob Krzeczkowski said. “The bottom line is when Isaac was on the field playing we would win games and when he wasn’t we didn’t. That is how much he meant to our offence and our team this year. And he is not only a great player, he is a great person too.”
McMaster head coach Stefan Ptaszek certainly agrees with that sentiment.
“He is a great kid, a solid human being, he has all the intangibles you could ever hope for and young men who are that big shouldn’t move the way he moves,” he said. “The combination of speed and power is instantly going to make him one of our better special teams players and his ceiling is very high because he’s big and strong and they don’t grow on trees.”
The 6-foot-2, 245 pounds fullback started playing football in Grade 8 in Greenwich, Conn., and was named rookie of the year for his play at the centre position. When his family moved to St. Catharines, he started working out in the gym and in Grade 11 at Eden he was named rookie of the year for his play on the defensive line. He played defensive line in Grade 12 when Eden took their lumps at the Tier 1 level and this past season was a fullback for the Flyers.
Leder credits highlight videos for the scholarship interest he received.
“It got me a lot more attention than I’m sure I deserved.”
His path to McMaster started with the Niagara Spears when he was approached by Mike Solanki.
“He came up to me at practice and the first words out of his mouth were ‘Please be one of my linebackers’ as I am in a defensive line huddle. From that point forward, I played linebacker for him and he gave me a shot to come out to McMaster to a prospect camp and the rest is history. I just fell in love with the program.”
Leder, who will play for the Spears this summer as a fullback and a defensive lineman, also had interest from Queen’s and Laurier but McMaster was his top choice.
“Their academics are off the chart. It is a very academically focused school and that paired with a very successful, historical football program. Everything about McMaster was everything that I wanted.”
He admits there was one specific thing that put McMaster over the top.
“It was when I learned that they had won eight Vanier Cups. That was a bit of an incentive to join the program.”
He is working hard to make an immediate impact at McMaster.
“I am going to work out every day. I work at Walters Steel in Hamilton and I come back home and go to the gym. That is about it.”
His goals are twofold.
“I want to play as much as possible, hopefully win a championship and see what happens.”
Winning is what he is most excited about.
He plans to study humanities in his first year as he figures out what major he plans to pursue.
“I have a lot of opportunities to explore what I want to do.”
Ptaszek envisions Leder’s running back skills and his ability to block and protect quarterbacks will fit in well at the tight end/running back/fullback/hybrid-type position.
“He has all the skills to do all of those things.”
McMaster has one returning tailback and three returning fullbacks in first or second year.
“Isaac is going to be competing and competitive with all of them and he has athletic trump cards that some of my current kids don’t possess,” he said. “We will see. Everything has to be earned and there are no guarantees but he tracks really well and special teams should be his ticket to being on the dress roster very early in his career.”
