7 words that define ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt: 'How great do you want to be?'
ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt during a game against Oklahoma State on Nov. 2. ASU photo
On a small whiteboard affixed to the outside of Sam Leavitt’s refrigerator are seven words:
“How great do you want to be?”
They are more than a question to Leavitt. They are a challenge. And they are why Arizona State University’s redshirt freshman quarterback has become one of college football’s best stories this season.
Leavitt’s physical talent is obvious. The strong, accurate right arm that has produced 2,663 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. The mobility that has accounted for 543 rushing yards.
Those numbers are a reflection, though. Of whom Leavitt is. Of how hard he works. Of the confidence he has in himself.
How great do you want to be? Those seven words are Leavitt’s commandments.
“That’s the thing he always talks about,” said Leavitt’s cousin, Caleb Hirst, who has known Leavitt since they were toddlers growing up in Oregon. “He always has goals that he wants to accomplish. And he always exceeds those goals.”
So while ASU’s College Football Playoff berth and quarterfinal game against the University of Texas on Jan. 1 has surprised, well, almost everyone, the Sun Devils’ starting quarterback just shrugs his shoulders, as if this was expected all along.
“My plan from the jump was to go to the College Football Playoff,” Leavitt said. “It’s not like I was openly saying that to everybody … but I had that broad perspective from the jump.”
It’s the kind of proclamation that causes eyes to roll — sure, Sam — but those who have known Leavitt most of his life are not shocked at all. In their eyes — and in their memories — he’s always been an overachiever.
Laura Manning was Leavitt’s first- and second-grade teacher at Springville Elementary School in Portland, Oregon. Manning said that after more than 20 years of teaching, it’s hard to distinguish one child from another.
But Leavitt stood out. He always — always — was the first one in class to turn in their assignment. And the work wasn’t rushed or filled with errors.
“He had that competitive drive, and he wanted to get things done, but he also wanted to do them well,” Manning said. “I’ve taught a lot of kids through the years, and some of them will put anything on paper and call it done; they’re good. That wasn’t Sam. He was self-driven.”
Once Leavitt was finished, he didn’t sit at his desk, quietly basking in the quality and speed of his work. He asked other students in the class if they needed some help.
“He was very helpful and kind and considerate,” Manning said. “I remember he had a quiet leadership. He wasn’t a disruptive kid. He wasn’t a know-it-all kind of kid. He was the kind of kid that was like, ‘OK, I’m done. What else needs to be done? How can I support others?’”
Sounds like the young man who recently contacted Arby’s to get a name, image and likeness deal for eight of his offensive linemen, doesn’t it?
Leavitt grew up in an athletic household. His father, Jared, played linebacker for Brigham Young University in the 1990s, and his older brother, Dallin, is a safety for the Green Bay Packers.
Because of their age difference — Dallin is 10 years older — the two brothers didn’t have the sort of athletic rivalry that some siblings do. But when they did compete, Dallin refused to let Leavitt win.
“He got used to losing a fair amount,” said Leavitt’s mother, Tania.
Used to it, maybe. Accepting of it? Never.
Leavitt’s competitiveness became a hallmark of his childhood. Tania said that a group of children would meet at their house every morning because it was close to the bus stop for school. The Leavitt’s had a Nerf basketball hoop hanging on one of the doors, and the kids would engage in friendly competition.
Except for Sam. He had to win every game.
One year, in Pop Warner, Leavitt’s team (coached by his father) reached the championship game and lost. Leavitt threw his medal away in disgust.
Hirst said the cousins often played a game called “Cover Your Assets,” where the objective was to steal cards from people. Leavitt, Hirst said, would “get so mad if people were targeting him and going after his cards.”
“He’s still like that,” Tania said. “I love Bananagrams and word games, and he’ll do whatever it takes to beat me.”
Jon Eagle coached Leavitt in his senior season at West Linn High School in Oregon, where Leavitt was named Gatorade Football Player of the Year after throwing for 3,184 yards and 36 touchdowns.
Whether it was a game, a practice or a drill, Eagle said, Leavitt was “super competitive.” But what truly set Leavitt apart, Eagle said, was his confidence and football IQ.
“Sometimes, a quarterback makes mistakes and they become more cautious,” Eagle said. “But that wasn’t Sam. He was supremely confident. It didn’t matter what happened before. He was going to come back stronger.”
That self-belief extends beyond the football field. Tania said her family has a running competition to determine who is the funniest person. Sam, she said, always places himself at the top.
“To be fair, he gets other votes, too,” Tania said. “He has a really sharp wit.”
Some have mistaken Leavitt’s confidence for cockiness. In reality, Hirst said, it’s born from the work he puts in.
“Sam and his brother are the two hardest-working people I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Hirst said. “It’s not cockiness. It’s because he’s putting in all the work to feel that way.”
That work, Eagle said, also pays off in terms of Leavitt’s poise on the field. Rarely this season has the redshirt freshman seemed overwhelmed or even flustered.
“I would meet with Sam before practice, we’d watch film and I’d say, ‘How do you feel about this play? I think it might be better if we did it this way,'" Eagle recalled. “He would say, ‘Let’s try it.’ And then he’d do it. I’ve never met a kid that could just walk onto the field after a conversation and execute it flawlessly. He just has a very intuitive feel for the game.”
How great do you want to be?
Seven words that challenge Sam Leavitt.
And define him.
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