MOBILE — On Riley Leonard Day in the City of Fairhope, the former Pirate quarterback played his final college football game in front of scouts from all 32 NFL teams during the 76th …
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MOBILE — On Riley Leonard Day in the City of Fairhope, the former Pirate quarterback played his final college football game in front of scouts from all 32 NFL teams during the 76th Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Plenty of familiar faces in blue and gold also made the trip from Fairhope to fill the stands and cheer on their “hometown hero” as Pirate head football coach Tim Carter called Leonard.
Fairhope High School cheerleaders and Fairhope Youth Football players tailgated just outside the stadium and served as just one more example that Chad and Heather Leonard found the right place to raise their children.
“We're more proud of him off the field than on the field. It's just awesome to see our community come together,” Chad said before the game. “We chose Fairhope to raise our kids for a reason, and this is the reason right here.”
“All year it’s been amazing, all four years Riley’s been in college has been amazing, they’ve lifted him up,” Heather said during the game. “Today in Fairhope is Riley Leonard Day now that the mayor made her proclamation, but everyone coming out and supporting him makes Riley feel like he’s got the community behind him and he’s doing something right so it’s been a blessing to us to have everyone supporting us.”
Former coach comments on performance
Riley got the start at quarterback and led the American Team offense through the first quarter where he showed both his running and throwing abilities. Although it looked like a replay review would overturn a fumble that killed the first drive, Carter said the signal-caller displayed exactly what NFL executives needed to see.
“I saw him make a good third-down throw on third and long, he put it on the money and moved the ball effectively. I felt a little questionable on that fumble on the third-down conversion but he's got the talent and he's got the intangibles,” Carter said during the game. “You gotta find that one team that wants him. And I think he's gonna have a long, storied career.”
The most-wanted autograph
NFL representatives were in town all week to put prospects under a microscope but also saw how they handled themselves off the field. Riley was a highly sought-after target for interviews and autographs following practices and the game which said plenty about his character according to Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy.
“There's a lot of guys we've had in the game from Mobile and they're all great but there's something different about Riley. Let's face it too, he's a quarterback. Quarterbacks are a little bit different and the fact that he just made this long CFP run to the national championship, that adds to it, too,” Nagy said after the game. “He was getting pulled in a lot of different directions, and I told him that at the start of the week, ‘It's going to be different for you than most of the other guys,’ and he handled it great.”
Riley previously said that he is constantly reminded by the number of young athletes — not only in Fairhope and Baldwin County, but across the nation — that look up to him. With dozens screaming his name from every corner of the front-row stands hoping for a postgame autograph, Riley said the hometown support always humbles him.
“I never try to overestimate it, but you can't overestimate the venue and the support that I have back home,” Riley said after the game. “Every time I come back, it's like a shock to me. It's really cool to see the younger generations get excited.”
Career started here, ends here. For now.
Every time he comes back, Riley normally gets to see his former head coach. This time, it didn’t happen until Thursday after practice when Carter and former offensive coordinator Joel Williams surprised the quarterback while he did his rounds of autographs and selfies. Carter was back at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday for the game and that struck a chord with Riley.
“Means the world to me,” Riley said. “(Coach Carter) was there for me whenever I was a little kid, so it means the world to me that he’s here now.”
As his college career ended, Riley’s potential NFL career has only just begun and his parents said it was a little bittersweet for it to happen where the quarterback grew up playing.
“He's kind of come home. He's gone on his tour, he went to Duke, went to Notre Dame and circled back around to finish his college career here, and also launch his future,” Chad said. “It's kind of bittersweet, it's the end of college but also really excited to know that he's going to have an opportunity to play more in the future. This is kind of the convergence of both those things.”
“That’s other-level, just the fact that you say ‘NFL,’ out loud with his name is something that is a dream come true,” Heather said. “He’s just going to keep working hard and doing what he needs to do and being himself and hopefully that means something to the NFL coaches.”
On-field action
Just the fact that he played in the all-star game spoke volumes to Nagy, who worked around opt-outs from multiple teams that made the College Football Playoff, including some of Riley’s teammates from Notre Dame and their opponents in the national championship game from Ohio State.
“He was never (out), he was all in all the time,” Nagy said. “I know I was nervous. I was sweating out those playoff games on pins and needles but no, he never wavered. And I didn't think he would, but he didn't.”
When he got his chance, Riley played to his strengths and came away feeling like he put his best foot forward only the way he knew how.
“All I could control is the best version of myself so I just went out there and tried to play ball,” Riley said. “Wish I had more drives, but the two that I got in there, I felt comfortable, felt confident and let it rip a little bit. My teammates were great, and it was fun.”
In the end, it was Riley’s American Team that emerged victorious but not without some drama. Trailing 19-16 and facing fourth down at the 2-yard line with seven seconds remaining, Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan rolled to his right and found TCU receiver Jack Bech at the goal line who secured the catch and fell into the end zone with a game-winning touchdown as time expired.
The receiver took home MVP honors as Saturday marked one month to the day since Bech lost his brother, Tiger, in the New Orleans terrorist attack on New Year’s Day. Tiger played receiver for Princeton and every member of the 2025 Senior Bowl donned a helmet decal with Tiger’s No. 7.
“Incredible week. Incredible game, maybe the coolest finish ever to a Senior Bowl game, and then having Jack Bech be a part of that and his story,” Nagy said. “It's going to be hard to top next year. But we've got three-hundred-sixty-four days to figure that out.”
Money quotes
“Seth Hennigan, ice in his veins,” Riley said. “And for him to throw the ball to (Jack) Bech like that, I mean storybook ending for sure.”
“He's had a really good week. And I think people are starting to notice that he's not just a running quarterback, he can actually throw the ball really well,” Chad said of Riley. “It's really exciting to see him shine.”
“He's a hometown hero, and he's a guy that we've watched come through our system,” Carter said of the Fairhope alum.
“Riley was hugely important for a lot of reasons. One, he's a really good player; two, he's local; three, he's an unbelievable human being. As good as he is as a player, he's a better young man,” Nagy said. “So yeah, he was definitely one of our top targets.”
Colin James contributed to this report.