J Leman used to just be one of the guys, living in a typical college pad. And he liked it that way.

“Once upon a time at the corner of First and Chalmers (streets) there was a house called Fort Monk,” Leman said. “It was a great time living there with seven football players.

“Ask any random person on the University campus during the 2007 season, ‘What is Fort Monk?’ They would know.”

Leman, who was named a consensus All-American linebacker as a senior in 2007, has bounced around on various NFL practice squads since graduating from Illinois and even ended up on the Minnesota Vikings active roster late this year. But current Illini, like freshman defensive back Walt Aikens, still hear stories about him today.

“They talk about how enthusiastic he was going into each game,” Aikens said. “Our coaches tell us we have to have that same kind of intensity and love for the game.”

Leman’s accolades speak for themselves: two All-Big Ten teams, sixth in school history with 407 career tackles, including a ridiculous 152 in his junior season, and 38.5 career tackles for loss.

But out of all that, there’s still one day that stands out in Leman’s mind — a Nov. 10, 2007 win at No. 1 Ohio State. Leman’s 12-tackle performance led the defense in a victory that paved the way for an eventual Illinois Rose Bowl appearance.

“Going in there and beating the top team in the country at their place, making over 100,000 thousand fans go silent, it gives me shivers just talking about it.” Leman said. “It gives me shivers still.”

Yet Leman said he prided himself more on the attitude he brought to the Illinois locker room.

“You always want people to look at you when you’re playing and say, ‘You’re fun to watch,’” Leman said. “Football is an exciting game. If you can’t get jacked up to go out there and hit people, I don’t know what else could possibly get you excited.”

Despite his constant energy, Leman’s path to the top of college football was anything but easy.

Many players might not have kept their spirits up through everything the way he did. The Champaign native went virtually unrecruited out of Champaign Central High School, with Illinois being the only Division-I school to offer him a scholarship.

After redshirting in 2003, Leman played on Illini teams from 2004-06 that compiled a demoralizing 7-27 record and had to go through a coaching transition from Ron Turner to Ron Zook in 2005. But former Illinois safety Justin Harrison said Leman’s attitude and fire stayed consistent through it all.

“He looked at things in a positive way,” Harrison said. “Even in the struggling seasons, we always had J as a guy who could motivate us. He was always the rock in that defense, and he always had one way to do things— at full speed.”

Meanwhile, Zook, a heralded recruiter himself, said inheriting Leman from Turner’s final recruiting class was a big reason the program was able to return to the Rose Bowl in 2007.

“J Leman’s one of a kind,” Zook said. “You can coach a lot of years and never have the opportunity to coach a guy like J Leman.

“He leads by example and doesn’t worry what people think or say about him. He’s got a lot of self-confidence. He provided leadership while he was here and he’s a great, great human being.”

But Leman said his success was just one small part of why his Illinois career culminated with a Rose Bowl appearance.

“It’s not about me,” Leman said. “Any football player knows that. If I’m on this list, then that whole team should be on there, because my success had less to do about me than about the guys that were around me.”

And who knows? Maybe the accolades will continue to pile up.

Maybe one day, Leman will be just as famous for his accolades in pro football as for his time dominating the Big Ten.

“I think you’re selling yourself short if you don’t want to become a great player,” Leman said. “I want to be a starting linebacker in the NFL and to help lead a team to championships, and if I keep doing what I did during my time at Illinois, I’ll be OK.”