Aaron Leeper

Forty-seven touchdowns. 2,276 rushing yards. 282 points scored. That’s a pretty good high school career, right? Well, those are the statistics from one season for Aaron Leeper, a Class of 2025 inductee of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.

Leeper amassed those incredible numbers in 2000, the year Jamestown High School won the New York state Class AA football championship under the guidance of coaches Wally Huckno, Joe DiMaio, Tom Phillips and Dave Currie. The undefeated 13-0 Red Raiders often had the games in control by halftime, meaning Aaron was not used very much on offense in the second half.

Leeper’s 47 touchdowns and 282 points were New York state single-season records at the time of his JHS graduation in 2001. His 2,276 rushing yards was a Western New York record. He was named NYS Class AA Player of the Year.

He was accorded the Buffalo News and Jamestown Post-Journal Player of the Year honors and won the prestigious Connolly Cup awarded to the most outstanding football player in Western New York. He was also named USA Today’s New York State Player of the Year.

A two-way player, Leeper was also an outstanding defensive back, making 38 tackles and 5 interceptions, including two pick-sixes. He received the Ron Pitts Award, symbolic of the top defensive back in WNY.

Aaron’s record-breaking senior season was foreshadowed by a solid junior campaign in which he rushed for 1,230 yards and nine TDs on offense and had 26 tackles, four fumble recoveries and an interception in defense. He was chosen as ECIC Division 1 South Defensive Player of the Year and a Post-Journal First Team All-Star.

Leeper was a 200-meter hurdler for the Chautauqua Striders and ran in national meets in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philadelphia for Coach Dave Reinhardt.

He earned a scholarship to D-1 University of Buffalo of the Mid-American Conference. He was named the MAC Rookie of the Year in 2002 after he rushed for 917 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Leeper suffered an injury during his sophomore season that brought an end to his football career. Focusing his energies on his future, he earned a bachelor’s at UB and a master’s degree at Canisius.

Leeper is employed by the Federal Air Marshal Service. FAMS is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Federal air marshals travel often. In Leeper’s case, over 5 million air miles. FAMs must be highly proficient marksmen. A FAM’s job is to blend in with other passengers on board aircraft and rely heavily on their training, including investigative techniques, criminal terrorist behavior recognition, firearms proficiency, aircraft-specific tactics, and close quarters self-defense measures to protect the flying public.

Leeper’s leadership skills were recognized and led to his promotion to an administrative position. He is the assistant federal security director for law enforcement.

Leeper and his family reside in Bayside.