Tony LeZotte (2019) - JMU Athletics Hall of Fame - James Madison University Athletics

Tony LeZotte

Induction:
2019
Class:
2007

The only player in Colonial Athletic Association football history, as well as the first JMU athlete in any sport, to be a four-time All-American and to earn four First Team All-CAA recognitions, Tony LeZotte was a defensive force during an era of JMU football that forever changed the trajectory of the program.

JMU went 37-13 in his four years (19-27 the previous four) with LeZotte starting all 50 games and captured the program's first national title in his freshman campaign in 2004 (13-2). LeZotte ranks seventh overall in program history with 416 tackles but first among defensive backs for a player labeled by Head Coach Mickey Matthews as "the best run defender I've ever coached."

As a senior, he was a consensus First Team All-American by five organizations after compiling 95 tackles to lead the Dukes. He had 51 solo stops, 4.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and eight pass deflections. He added Second Team All-America honors as a junior, First Team as a sophomore and First Team as a freshman. LeZotte was also named the CAA Defensive Player of the Year in both his sophomore and senior campaigns and stands as one of only five players in league history to earn the top defensive honor twice.

He graduated from JMU in December of 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology.