"One-Season Wonder" Leads Division I-AA in Interceptions

By Nikki G. Bannister
Black College Wire

Let�s go back to 1999. That�s when Ahmad Treaudo played his first year of organized football as a defensive back for the Warren Easton High Eagles football team in New Orleans.

Photo credit: Ryan P. Knight/Southern Digest Ahmad Treaudo scrambles to secure a second interception in an October game against Alabama A&M. It led to a 33-24 win for Southern.

�One day, he came to me and said that he wanted to play,� said former Eagles defensive back coach Gerald Mallett. �In our first preseason game against Fontainebleau High, he picked off four passes and made prep player of the week.�

The rest is history -- at least for that season. Although basketball and football coaches at Easton had been chasing Treaudo since his sophomore year, Treaudo said it wasn�t until his senior year that he set foot onto a football field.

�I call him a one-season wonder. That year, he ended up with 13 picks,� Mallett said. �We had 30 interceptions that season and he had almost half. Even in our last game of the season, he dropped five potential picks because he had a bruised elbow.�

Mallett said his most talented player received an All-State District 5-A nod, along with an honorable mention for USA Today's 2000 all-USA team, after being exposed to only one year of high school football.

�I waited so long to play because I really didn�t want to go to practice,� Treaudo said. �I was laid back and lazy. I just wanted to go to school, go home and then play football with my friends.�

This season Treaudo, now a defensive back at Southern University, has experienced a sense of deja vu. After three years of waiting, including a semester at Division II Delta State University, he has once again emerged from the sidelines.

�It�s weird because I stood out in my senior year in high school and now I am standing out,� he said. �I always wanted to play in the Bayou Classic and I thought that Southern was the route I needed. Since I had such a good year in high school, it couldn�t hurt to try a repeat performance in college.�

But success did not come quickly. Due to nagging injuries early in his college career, Treaudo had played in a total of five games and recorded a mere four tackles, and only one of those was a solo effort. This season, he leads NCAA Division I-AA with nine interceptions for 114 yards, one touchdown and 23 total tackles.

Now that Treaudo is on the field for good, his mother, Sybil Treaudo, leads a group of no less than 20 family members to watch him play at every game. Sybil Treaudo said she had purchased more than 25 tickets for family members to attend this year�s Bayou Classic, where Grambling defeated Southern, 24-13 on Nov. 27.

Her son�s success is complemented by how his name originated, Sybil Treaudo said. He was named after four-time NFL Pro Bowl veteran Ahmad Rashad.

�As I was watching the Minnesota Vikings play, I saw him catch a pass and I said that if I ever have a little boy, I would name him Ahmad. So I named my first-born just that: Ahmad Rashad Treaudo.�

Former Jaguars teammate Ezra Landry has been Treaudo�s friend since the two were in preschool. Now Landry plays for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, and has been a role model.

�I honestly think that he is the most talented guy that I know,� Landry said. �But I tell him that he has to stay alert and focused, because in college, a lot of other guys will have other things on their minds that don�t pertain to the field.�

Distractions are not an option, Treaudo said.

�Staying focused won�t be hard,� he said. �I had to be focused in high school and the same applies to my college career. I have my starting position and now I am starting in front of my hometown. Hopefully, next is a ring. What else would I want to focus on?�

Nikki G. Bannister, a student at Southern University, is managing editor of The Southern Digest.

Posted Nov. 29, 2004