The son of a former Fairfield Eagles football standout, Michael Leaks of Winnsboro, signed a letter of intent to play football for the Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks.

Leaks, 17, is the son of the Shenika Leaks and the late David Leaks, Jr.

He inked the letter of intent to play college football last Wednesday, following in the footsteps of his father who played for Baylor University.

Attending the signing ceremony were his mother and former National Football League linebacker and Fairfield Eagle Winfred Tubbs, who played high school football with the senior Leaks.

The Winnsboro high school senior student played defensive end for the Red Raiders, earning unanimous first team All-District honors three consecutive years.

During his high school career he made 253 tackles, sacked quarterbacks 10 times and made 62 tackles for loss of yardage.

The gridder notes that he is the first Winnsboro player to ever sign a letter of intent to play for a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I school, but because he was from a small school he did not get the notice he would have at a bigger high school.

"I was extremely under recruited," he says.

His father helped him on the recruiting path—-the player was contacted by SFA, Southern Methodist University, Baylor, Texas Christian University, Kansas University, Oklahoma State University and Montana State, among others—-until the death of the senior Leaks in August 2008.

"When he died, I lost that recruiting effort I had," the SFA recruit says.

Leaks attended football games at SMU and Baylor, but felt that SFA offered the best fit for him, and the coaches seemed more interested in adding him to their roster.

SFA coaches contacted the 17-year-old by telephone, or made personal visits, several times starting last summer and listed the player at the top of their recruiting list.

In addition, when SFA recruiters visited players and coaches in towns near Winnsboro, those players and coaches directed them to Leaks.

"I could have gone to other schools if I wanted to push it hard, but I didn't want to," he says.

When recruiting was nearing a close, the only school the player made an official visit to was SFA.

Leaks is six feet, two inches tall and weighs 253 pounds.

His father played for FHS at six feet, four inches and weighed 315 pounds. The senior Leaks was a unanimous first team All- District choice as an offensive lineman and defensive noseguard, and played on the Baylor Bears offensive line.

The Winnsboro Red Raiders advanced to the 2008 Class AA quarterfinals playoff game where they lost a close 27-24 decision to Pilot Point.

Leaks is one of three offensive lineman signed by the SFA Lumberjacks last week, out of a recruiting list of 24 players. The Lumberjacks, which play in the Southland Conference, posted a 4-8 record for the 2008 season.

The SFA recruit has a 15-year-old brother, Tristan, and 13-year-old sister, and is active in youth activities at Pine Street Baptist Church of Winnsboro.

Leaks also competes on the Winnsboro track team in discus, 200-meter dash and 800-meter relay, and is a member of the student council, Spanish Club and FCCLA.

A goal he plans to reach before graduating high school is breaking the Winnsboro school bench press record of 410 pounds—-Leaks already has bench pressed 405 pounds.

He is the grandson of Lou Henry of Butler and of David and Sue Leaks, Sr., of Winnsboro, formerly of Fairfield.