He idolizes the Greek warrior so much, he has the statue of King Leonidas of Sparta tattooed on his right arm, and his favorite movie is “300.”

Greek history geek? Not quite.

The fascination with the Greeks is warranted because Sacramento State alumnus Leonidas E. Paxton III is directly related to King Leonidas of Sparta. When Paxton, better known as Lonie, is not telling stories about his Greek heritage, he is on the Denver Broncos roster and one of the best long snappers in the NFL.

“Growing up it was a story,” Paxton said. “It was books, class and summer school and it was Greek mythology classes, but once it became a movie it became mainstream. The movie “300′ obviously made the king a lot cooler than when you were growing up and trying to tell the stories.”

Paxton, who majored in communication studies, was a four-year starter for Sac State and was signed to the New England Patriots in 2000 as a free agent, and played with the team until 2008. Since 2009, he has worn blue and orange with the Denver Broncos.

In 2009, he signed his five-year, $5.3 million dollar contract with the Broncos.

In his time with the Patriots, he filled three of his fingers with Super Bowl rings, met the woman who will fill a fourth finger, started a nonprofit and became famous for his snow antics.

In 2001, his second season in the NFL, Paxton played in his first Super Bowl.

“The whole experience was something I never thought I would be part of,” Paxton said. “So it was very surreal. Growing up as a kid, I was a Los Angeles Rams fan, and my first Super Bowl was against the St. Louis Rams. So it was cool to play a team I had always followed growing up and have a chance to win.”

During his time in the NFL, Paxton got the nickname “Lonie the Snow Angel” for flopping onto the snow-covered ground after Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to secure the Patriots overtime win against the Oakland Raiders in the divisional playoff game.

While wearing the green and gold, he earned honors such as Rookie of the Year his freshman year, junior of the year and co-lineman of the year as a senior. During his senior year, he helped the Hornets lead the Big Sky Conference in rushing yards per game with 234.2.

“They (the NFL) would come over and watch Lonie work with us on the drills,” said former head coach John Volek, whose son, NFL quarterback Billy Volek, is the same age as Paxton. “His time was better than some of the long snappers that were currently in the NFL.”

When Paxton was recruited to Sac State, the original plan was to have him as an offensive lineman – not the long snapper position.

Paxton played at Sac State from 1996 to 1999.

“Lonie had a great skill when he came down as a senior in high school, we recruited him as an offensive lineman,” Volek said. “We were going to redshirt him and let him develop for a year, but he went over with the long snappers and immediately displayed a talent that was better than anybody we had on our team. And I let him know that he was going to come in that fall and start as a long snapper.”

Sometimes players have a tough time transitioning from the college sports setting to the pros, but 10 years ago, Paxton took it and ran with it.

“It was definitely hard to come in as a rookie,” Paxton said. “You don’t have school anymore, and you got one job to do. You do it all day long, seven days a week. The transition from being a true sport and experience to being a job and a business-type atmosphere as well as a sport was a big transition.”

Although he’s known for making the snow angels in the end zone, he also tries to be an angel off the field.

When he is not winning Super Bowls against his favorite childhood team, the St. Louis Rams, he serves as vice president of a nonprofit called Active Force Foundation. Paxton started the organization with a childhood friend, Brook Duquesnel, who was paralyzed in a snowboarding accident. The organization’s mission is to provide opportunity for physically challenged individuals to have healthy lifestyles through sports.

While his organization hosts events that Paxton helps plan, he is also planning another big event – his wedding. Paxton met his fiancee, Meghan Vasconcellos, while playing for the Patriots. Vasconcellos was a former line captain for the Patriots cheerleaders, and was featured in a 2006 issue of Maxim. A few of his former Sac State teammates will be standing next to him during his wedding. Although he and his bride-to-be travel wherever the sport takes him, he will not ever forget about Sac State.

“Lonie has been a very good alumnus,” said athletic director Terry Wanless. “He has been very supportive of the program, he comes back frequently. He’s very proud of where he’s from and we’re very proud of what he’s doing.”

So each time he takes the field for the Broncos with pride, it’s a new fight. It’s a new team to play each week. It’s a fight to win each game.

It’s no wonder Paxton chose a sport that requires men to go into battle like warriors.

It’s in his blood.

Cassie Kolias can be reached at [email protected]