Former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was golfing with his brothers when his phone rang. It was the call he had dreamed about since he first picked up a football.
“This is the Jacksonville Jaguars,” said the caller.
Riley and his brothers erupted. They hurried into the clubhouse, filled with friends and family. As soon as Riley entered, all eyes were fixated on the television. The entire room waited for the moment of truth. The Jaguars had back-to-back picks, and as he just heard, Leonard was going to Duval.
Unbeknownst to Leonard and company, that moment never came.
“First pick: crickets, not me. Second pick: crickets, not me. It was so embarrassing because I had this party,” said Leonard.
The call had been a prank. Leonard would hear his name for real the next day, with the Indianapolis Colts swooping him up in the sixth round. Little did he know, that test of patience was just a preview for what was to come in the NFL.
Slated to be the Colts’ third-string quarterback out of preseason, Leonard received the bump to second-string midway through October when backup Anthony Richardson was placed on injured reserve from a warmup injury.
Then, on Dec. 7 against the Jaguars, Leonard was thrust under center at the end of the first quarter after starter Daniel Jones went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Leonard went 18 for 29, throwing for 145 yards and an interception in his NFL debut. It wasn’t perfect, but it appeared to be enough to earn Leonard the starting role in the final four games of the season.
Enter Phillip Rivers. The 44-year-old future Hall of Famer came out of retirement to start for the Colts, once again relegating Leonard to a backup role.
Despite the disappointment, Leonard never grew resentful. Instead, he used these abundant resources as a lesson.
“[Jones and Rivers] are very close in my life. They have taught me so much off the field stuff and how to handle myself. But to get in a room with them and watch film with them for eight hours in a row on an off day, what a blessing. People would pay big money to do that,” said Leonard.
Leonard’s relationship with both Jones and Rivers dates back several years. He credits Jones as being a reason he committed to Duke out of high school. Rivers, meanwhile, lives “a mile down the road in Fairhope, Alabama.” Prior to officially arriving in South Bend, Rivers hosted Leonard, sophomore quarterback CJ Carr and a host of Notre Dame wide receivers to train with him in Fairhope.
The extra four weeks he spent learning under the tutelage of Rivers proved worthwhile. With the veteran out of action in week 17, Leonard earned his first career start. He threw for 270 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 38-30 loss to the Texans.
Leonard’s best play of the game came early in the first quarter, connecting on a deep ball to Alex Pierce for a touchdown. After the play, Leonard knew exactly where to go.
“When it happened, I was able to throw the ball to my dad. It’s still sitting in our living room now in a case. That’s why you play the game. That’s what you remember when you look back at a career,” Leonard said.
The clip of Leonard tossing the ball to his dad went viral on social media, generating millions of views. What the masses didn’t see was his family’s support leading up to that moment.
“The thing that goes unnoticed is that [my family] were at every game,” said Leonard. “For a long stretch of that later half of the season, we really anticipated that I would be able to play more than I did. That’s a lot of money they spent.”
Leonard’s strong play against the Texans solidified him as a legitimate backup quarterback in the NFL. While his dual-threat capabilities were on full display and long touted from his success with the Irish, Leonard’s football IQ was noticeably improved upon from his college days.
“The biggest thing is the pre-snap checks,” said Leonard. “If you’re not in the exact right play against the exact right coverage, the playing field is so similar that anybody can beat anybody.”
Leonard has undoubtedly grown as a football player since leaving his post in South Bend. Yet off the field, he’s just as focused on personal growth.
“I’m trying to take this time during the offseason to grow myself in my faith so I can be as prepared as possible when the time comes as a husband and then as a future father. I want to implement Christ in everybody’s life that I come into contact with, especially those in my own house,” said Leonard.
Following marrying his high school sweetheart, Molly Walding, next month, Leonard will return to the Colts as an experienced second-year backup quarterback. After a turbulent rookie season and countless hours spent learning in a quarterback room stacked with experience, it’s safe to say that Leonard will be ready for any challenge that comes his way.
