The M(a)cLeod 'Brothers': Nos. 23 and 43 Are OK

On the first day of football practice this year, junior Scott MacLeod bumped into senior John MacLeod coming out of the locker room and a brief tete-a-tete transpired between the "Mick and Mack" of Harvard football. This short conversation was to change the course of the whole season.

The "M(a)cLeod Boys" had expected to be vying against each other for the starting safety berth but now John informed Scott that he had been switched from the defense to wide receiver by coach Joe Restic. Scott recalls, "When I heard that I said, wow, here's my chance."

Both John and Scott went on to capitalize on the new opportunities at hand in the best entrepreneurial tradition of their Scotch-Irish forebearers. Scott has emerged as the Crimson's second leading tackler this year despite missing the Penn game with a slight shoulder separation. John has caught 12 passes this season--including a covey of circus of grabs. What's more, he has snagged a touchdown pass in each of Harvard's last three games.

In many ways, the duo's football careers have been surprisingly similar. Besides the fact that both started out as safeties, neither of them played much before this season whether at Harvard or in high school. Scott's roommates called him R-1 last year because the only time he got into games was on kick-off formations, where he was the first man on the right side. At Fairfield Prep High School in Connecticut, Scott hardly played at all until his senior year because the starting safety was Paul Halas, who went on to become a standout defensive back at Harvard.

John notes that of the eight years he's played organized football, he's only started during two of them; namely, this year and his senior year at San Marino H.S. in Los Angeles. "I came to Harvard freshman year as a frustrated quarterback," he recalls. "The only reason I went out was my senior year was so great I felt I had to keep on playing."

In 1975, San Mariano went 11-1 and MacLeod was named an all-League safety. Another member of that team was Fred Cordova, who has remained MacLeod's teammate at Harvard. Cordova, who plays cornerback for the Crimson, gained 1400 yards rushing as a halfback that season.

MacLeod played quarterback as a freshman and was still adamant on being a signal caller as a sophomore "until I realized that I would be ninth out of ten quarterbacks." The coaching staff wanted him to switch back to safety. MacLeod, however, decided to play defense, and that his true vocation was split end.

Thus began a flip-flop career as John caught one pass on the varsity as a sophomore. His junior year he was back at safety and eventually started against Penn and Yale. He was working out over the summer to pack on some extra weight in order to play safety this year when Restic called him at home in California to tell him about the Big Switch. At this point, quips Scott, "yeah, you were sipping a Tequila Sunrise at the beach when you got the call."

The tandem can trace their names back to the ancient lineage of the MacLeod clan. For centuries the MacLeods have resided on the Isle of Skye, one of those primeval volcanic islands that make up in the Inner Hebrides chain off the northern coast of Scotland. "A MacLeod is always welcome there," says John, whose sister actually visited the Isle of Skye last spring and was cordially welcomed by the dour Highlanders.

The family seat of the MacLeods is Dunvagun Castle, where the clan is presided over by none other than John MacLeod ever since Dame Flora MacLeod died last year. "Every now and then I'll wear a family plaid," says Harvard's member of the clan.

John inherited his share of Scotch business acumen and has been running business enterprises since he was a mere toddler. His youthful passion for sports had to be checked when he developed bone chips in his ankles and elbows. Unable to play football, he spent seventh and eighth grade taking photographs of the players on his junior high football team and then sold the glossies to his schoolmates.

Last summer, he worked as the Los Angeles sales representative for the Success Desk Calendar and Appointment Book Company. This summer he will work in Success's Milwaukee headquarters as director of consumer affairs.

MacLeod's brand of football is just as opportunistic as his sales pitch. He lacks great size or speed but he has a knack of finding the seam in zone defenses that he attributes to the perspective he gained while playing quarterback. His ability to catch the ball under pressure would undoubtedly earn him the nickname "the wee ice mon" if he played on the Isle of Skye eleven.

Both M(a)cLeods are looking forward to the Yale game which they view as the keynote to the season. Last year, the first game John ever started was against Yale before 60,000 fans in New Haven. "I was shaking," he says. "I had trouble breathing the whole first half."

Scott is also anxious to face the Elis since he comes from Shelton, Ct., on the outskirts of New Haven, while one of his brothers played two years for the Blue.

As his Harvard career comes to a close, John says, "I've never beaten Yale in anything and I'd like to go out a winner. One of the things that gave me an incentive to play in college was losing my last game in high school."

At this point Scott interjects and says, "Well if we lose to Yale you'll have to keep on playing and turn pro." And if one MacLeod should ever turn pro, you can be sure the other one would follow. The MacLeods, after all, are a clan.