For many Senior Bowl participants, this is their first time to the Port City, but for former Fairhope and Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, it’s a homecoming.
Leonard is back in Mobile, showcasing his talents in front of NFL coaches and scouts one final time ahead of the Draft.
Leonard is one of four quarterbacks on the American Team roster, and after a heartbreaking loss to Ohio State in the national championship just two weeks ago, he’s just happy to be back on the field and back on the Alabama gulf coast.
“It’s been good to be back in the hometown and smell the Gulf everywhere you go. It’s warm. It was actually a little too warm today at practice. I know those O-Linemen and D-Linemen were hurting, but it’s so good to be back.” Leonard said after Wednesday’s practice.
Leonard might be considered an underdog but he’s embracing that mentality as he looks ahead to the NFL draft. He has a message for coaches and scouts who might consider taking a chance on our hometown hero.
“They’re going to get a great competitor and a winner. I think every program I go into, I think I can make a better place, on the field, off the field, whatever it may be. My tape says a lot about the person that I am, the competitor that I am, so I’m going to clean up my game and prove a lot of people wrong. But as far as I’m concerned, I’m just worried about reaching my full potential. If I’m in the National Football League, I’m going to give everything I can to any franchise that wants me.”
Wherever Leonard ends up, the Fairhope community is behind him 100%, and he feels that this week, staying after practice to sign some autographs and take some photos. It’s a full circle moment playing in the Senior Bowl, a game he only dreamed of playing in growing up.
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot, just like all the support that kids from Fairhope have given me, and I think that I get more out of it than they do, because I just remember, it feels like yesterday, I was one of them who would come to this hotel and just beg for one of the players to even look at me, and it made my week. So, every time I think about the Fairhope community and all the support that they’ve given me, it kind of motivates me every single day to get up and just represent them the right way, because I know there are a lot of people looking up to me.”
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