Aliquippa - Jon LeDonne

[GoRMU]

Original-RMC - I recently read the book, Playing through the Whistle, about Aliquippa, and Aliquippa football. It is an outstanding book. Jon LeDonne, who played his high school ball at Aliquippa and then was an outstanding student/athlete at RMU is mentioned very favorably in the book. As you know, after graduating from RMU he went on and got a Ph.D.in engineering at Carnegie Mellon. He works as an engineer and also coaches football at Hampton High School.

What can you tell us about Jon at RMU, especially in regard to his toughness and dedication? Did he bring some of that Aliquippa pride and chip on his shoulder when he played?

 

[Original_RMC]

LeDonne had a big shoes to fill being a LB at RMC. But he delivered. Yes he was tough as shit. Hard nose worker that didn't take shit from anyone on or off the field. But what made him great was his knowledge of the game. He learned so quickly early in his career which got him on the field very quickly.
The sad thing was a wrist injury that hurt his career because he had to deal with that year after year.
I believe he had surgery on it and it never recovered.
I truly thought that LeDonne was going to be that bridge to make Aliquippa football a pipeline for years for RMC, now RMU.