Richard Max Leach (born May 4, 1957) is a former college football player and professional baseball player. Leach was an all-state quarterback at Flint Southwestern High School in the fall of 1974 and the University of Michigan's starting quarterback for four consecutive seasons (1975–1978), leading the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten Conference championships and three appearances in the Rose Bowl. As a senior in 1978, he won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten, was selected as a first-team All-American, and finished third in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy. Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the first round (13th overall) of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, Leach opted to play professional baseball. Primarily a backup outfielder and first baseman for the Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays, he played from 1981 to 1990; he had a .268 batting average and .335 on-base percentage in 1,719 major league at bats. Early years Born in 1957 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Leach attended Flint Southwestern High School in Flint and graduated in 1975. As a senior, he was selected as the first-team all-state quarterback by the Detroit Free Press. He broke every passing record in the Saginaw Valley League and was also an all-conference player in baseball and basketball. In 1998, a sports writer for the Detroit Free Press rated Leach as the fourth best quarterback to come out of a Michigan high school. University of Michigan Leach enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1975. A left-hander, he was the Wolverines' starting quarterback from 1975 through 1978 under head coach Bo Schembechler. As an 18-year-old true freshman, Leach started 11 of 12 games and led the Wolverines to an 8–2–2 record and #8 ranking in the final AP poll. He rushed for 552 yards and passed for 680 yards as a freshman. With the Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl berth on the line in the Michigan-Ohio State game, Leach threw an interception that was run back to the Michigan 3-yard line by Buckeye cornerback Ray Griffin and set up the winning touchdown in a 21–14 Ohio State victory. However, Leach and the Wolverines never lost to Ohio State again in his career. As a sophomore in 1976, he started all 12 games at quarterback and led the team to a 10–2 record and #3 ranking in the final AP poll.