Notre Dame QB Praises God for ‘Dream Come True’ Sugar Bowl Win
By Movieguide® Contributor
The No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish faced off against the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl last Thursday.
In a 23-10 victory over the Bulldogs, quarterback Riley Leonard was asked after the game, “You just heard the fans here for Notre Dame erupting in these stands. What can you say about what this win means to you?”
“Yeah, first of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Leonard told the media after the game. “Without him, I wouldn’t be here, and we wouldn’t be here at the whole group, but just to see these fans, you know, it’s incredible.”
READ MORE: NOTRE DAME QB KEEPS ‘RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS’ AT THE CENTER
Leonard doesn’t shy away from sharing his faith. In a special piece for The Players Tribune, he opened up about where his faith began.
“I actually didn’t begin going to church until the 9th grade. Growing up, all I ever dreamed of was being a starter for the football and basketball teams at Fairhope High School,” Leonard wrote. “Like, I remember my mom would be driving us to school, or I’d be walking into class, and I’d just be daydreaming about it. And then it happened!! Freshman year, I made varsity for both. And I thought it was the coolest thing in the world…for about a week??? But then the high from it kind of faded. And I remember that feeling so strongly. I was just like, Man. There’s gotta be more to life than feeling good for a week about making some team. I felt this weird emptiness inside.”
“And that’s when I started to pay attention as all these people in my life were preaching the Bible,” the quarterback continued. “Whether it was on a mentor level, like some of my football coaches and pastors in the community, or it was on a personal level, like when I met my girlfriend Molly, and she’d bring me to church. Once I started to find my faith and find a purpose besides just being an athlete, I feel like the world kind of opened up for me. And I ran with it.”
One of the things that Leonard soon learned what that no one person is greater than another.
“One of the biggest lessons was how nobody is greater than anybody,” he explained. “Which maybe sounds obvious, but life sometimes puts us in positions where it’s easy to ignore what’s obvious. Being a starting quarterback is definitely one of those positions. I think just the way that you get treated as QB1, and the expectations that get placed on you, it’s tempting to put yourself above other people. It’s tempting to start to think that you’re somebody. But you’re not.
He continued: “One of my favorite Bible verses, Matthew 23:12, it says: ‘Those who exalt themselves or praise themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be praised.’ I wear those words on my wrist every game.”
The Fighting Irish will move on and face Penn State in the Orange Bowl this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
READ MORE: NOTRE DAME QB ALLOWS JESUS TO ‘CHANGE THE WAY’ HE PLAYS FOOTBALL
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