Now that Riley Leonard has seen his college football career come to an end, it’s time to do some next level player comps. Tim Tebow comes to mind first, for several reasons.
Leonard, like Tebow is a dual threat quarterback, who has some deficiencies as a pure passer prospect.
Just like Tebow experimented with the tight end and h-back positions, Leonard may need to do so as well, in order to stick in the league.
However, the Reilly Leonard to Tim Tebow analogies hold stronger on another level, as you’ll see below:
“Us and Ohio State were the two teams who praised Jesus Christ the most and I think we strengthened each other in our faith.”@NDFootball QB Riley Leonard talks about his faith after the game ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/UqRkD7Bg3C
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 21, 2025
Riley Leonard is as overt about expressing his Christian faith as Tebow is/was. And he does it just as consistently. There is nothing rare or unique about football players loudly proclaiming their belief in Jesus Christ during media interviews. If you’re looking for updates on Riley Leonard and other NFL players, be sure to check out Gridironheroics for the latest NFL news.
If anything, it seems to be more common than ever these days.
Take a look at Houston Texans linebacker Neville Hewitt. “God is good, God is real,” Hewitt said in an exclusive with RG. “I’ve prayed for everything I’ve gotten in life.
“God listens. My mother got to see me play football.”
Or Hewitt’s teammate in Texas, quarterback C.J. Stroud, who said the following about his former team, which happened to be the same one that beat Leonard’s in the national championship game:
“I look at the team, Jesus has his literal hand on that team with Trey and with Will, and Jack Sawyer making plays.”
Interestingly enough, he never said Jesus took the wheel for the Texans, who were eliminated in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.
Of course, the gold standard for this is Clemson, which I literally thought was a Christian affiliated institution, due to endless biblical rhetoric of Dabo Swinney, and many of the players that have come through his program.
Per Riley Leonard, the Lord Jesus Christ was actively working against 14 of Notre Dame’s opponents this year, but is also a massive Northern Illinois fan. https://t.co/blAiuNU6xx
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 16, 2025
Swinney recruits to this, and it is obviously a big part of their identity as a program.
However, Clemson is actually a secular, public school, not a religious institution. But what separates one given devout Christian player or coach from another is their successes and failures on the field.
While Stroud has always been overt about expressing his faith in his Lord and savior in public, it’s not all that he’s known for.
So far, he’s been a very good quarterback at the professional level, and more people talk about his play-making than his religious devotion.
You can’t say the same about Tebow, who flopped as a NFL quarterback. However, Tebow quickly find another second act in life, flourishing in his media career. Had Tebow thrived as a NFL QB, perhaps more people would have talked about that, instead of his faith in Jesus Christ.
As for Riley Leonard, he’s not projected by anyone to be a star QB in the National Football League, but you never know.
And even if he doesn’t make as a NFL signal caller, like Tebow before him, he’ll always be a very accomplished college quarterback who found success in a different career path. Tebow found great success in life after graduation, and Riley Leonard will as well.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.