Where are they now: Former Fitchburg High lineman Keith Leavitt treasures home

WORCESTER — Before Keith Leavitt’s son was born, he had about 10 photos in his phone.

“Now,” the very proud papa said, “I have about a million.”

Leavitt and his wife, Erin, welcomed Jaxson, their first child, into the world last November. At 9 months old, Jaxson is starting to discover every corner of the family’s Fitchburg home.

“He’s crawling around like a mad man,” Leavitt said with a laugh.

Twenty-one years ago this fall, Leavitt was wreaking his own kind of havoc on Crocker Field and other area gridirons as a two-way, titanic senior lineman for Fitchburg High, and sorting through stacks of college recruiting letters. Leavitt ultimately played at Boston College, where he earned his degree in sociology.

During his playing days, Leavitt stood out because of his stature — 6 feet, 7 inches, and, as a senior at BC, 340 pounds — and those well-chronicled size 18 shoes, and also because of his humility, kindheartedness and unselfishness.

“Keith is a coach’s dream,” Leavitt’s Fitchburg High coach Ray Cosenza once said. “He’s just a role model of the school.”

Leavitt, 38, has worked as a probation officer at the Worcester courthouse since 2006.

He and Erin (née Cotton) met after college and were married in 2013. Erin is a Leominster High and Syracuse University graduate, but luckily, Leavitt said, wasn’t big into the sports scene at Leavitt’s rival schools. The couple lived in Leominster before moving to Fitchburg six years ago.

“I never lost connection with friends from high school,” Leavitt said during an interview at the Worcester Law Library, which is located across the street from the courthouse. “It’s nice to be in the place where I grew up.”

Leavitt, who was close to 6 feet by the time he was 9, wasn’t allowed to play Pop Warner football because he was too big, but his lack of experience hardly hindered him once he got to high school. He was a four-year starter at offensive and defensive tackle, helped the Red Raiders to three Super Bowl berths, including a championship in 1996, and was a Parade All-American following his senior season.

“What I remember most are my teammates,” Leavitt said, “my teammates and coaches and the thrill of Friday night games and going to school with your jersey (No. 75) on and the buildup to Friday night, but mostly my friends and teammates, the camaraderie.”

Leavitt was inducted to the Fitchburg High Hall of Fame in 2017.

“It meant a lot to be recognized and to be forever on the walls at Fitchburg High,” he said.

Leavitt’s best friend and former teammate P.J. Roy called to tell him he had been elected to the hall and that he would have to give a speech.

“I said, ‘Oh, boy,’ ” Leavitt recalled, but he naturally talked about what mattered most, his coaches, teammates, big games and, of course, Fitchburg football tradition.

Leavitt was a top college prospect, and ESPN ranked him the third-best offensive lineman in the nation. Leavitt fielded interest from schools such as Penn State, Ohio State, Virginia, Pitt, Tennessee and Notre Dame.

“At first, it was overwhelming because I was getting so many letters and so many calls,” Leavitt said. “It got to a point where I had boxes and boxes of letters that were never opened. After my junior year, when they started calling, I had Ray take the calls.”

In the end, he chose Boston College over Syracuse.

“I did my official visit (to BC) and I got along with everyone there,” Leavitt said. “Being close to home, my family could watch me.”

Tom O’Brien was the Eagles coach at the time.

“His big thing,” Leavitt said, “was he wanted local guys to play local. That hit home with me. That was definitely a deciding factor.”

Leavitt redshirted his first year at Boston College and started 10 of 11 games at right defensive tackle as a redshirt freshman. The Eagles eventually moved Leavitt to the offensive line.

Since Leavitt, there has been a pretty continual line of Central Mass. products that have gone on to play at Boston College, including Burncoat’s Ron Brace, Shepherd Hill’s Chris and Alec Lindstrom and St. John’s Davon Jones.

Soon, little Jaxson, who was wearing New England Patriots gear as a newborn, will be taking his first steps. He has admirable ones to follow in.

“The best thing about being a dad is everything,” Leavitt said. “When Erin was pregnant, all my close friends said it’s a life-changer, all in a good way, and they were definitely right. It kind of blows your mind at first, but as soon as he was born it was love and connection.”

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.