Indianapolis Colts quarterback Riley Leonard had a special moment with his family after throwing his first career touchdown pass on Sunday, January 4.
Early in the first quarter of the Colts’ game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Leonard found wide receiver Alec Pierce for a 66-yard touchdown — an electric moment for Leonard and the Colts.
After the celebrations wrapped up, Leonard received the game ball and spotted his dad in the crowd behind the bench, and tossed the ball to his father. His dad then took it back to his seat, where Leonard’s mom and sister were watching the game.
During the broadcast, CBS showed a replay of the unforgettable moment for the Leonard family.
“Go ahead and toss the ball up to your dad and he hands it to your mom and they share a kiss,” said broadcaster and former NFL star J.J. Watt after the play. “I mean, is there a better moment to have on camera for your first-ever NFL touchdown?”
Leonard was named the Colts starting quarterback earlier this week, replacing 44-year-old Philip Rivers for the final game of the 2025-2026 NFL season.
The Colts — at 8-8 coming into Sunday’s game — are eliminated from the playoffs.
Rivers was under center for the Colts for the last three weeks after starting quarterback Daniel Jones injured his Achilles during the team’s Week 14 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Colts have lost six games in a row, and with the season all but over, head coach Shane Steichen decided to go with Leonard over Rivers in the regular season finale.
“Gratitude, really. It’s a long season and a lot of waiting for the right time, and you never really know when that time is,” Leonard told the media on Wednesday, after he was named the starter. “There’s only 32 guys that are starting in the NFL this week, and I’m one of them.”
Riley Leonard and Michael Pittman Jr. of the Indianapolis Colts interact prior to the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on January 4. Tim Warner/Getty Images
Leonard said Rivers stepped aside to give him the chance to make his first career start at the end of his rookie season.
“Phil has been one of the best things that’s happened to me,” Leonard said. “I’ve been very fortunate with the quarterback room from Philip to Daniel [Jones] to Anthony [Richardson]. Everyone’s been a huge help.”
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On Wednesday, December 31, Rivers said on the “Up and Adams” show that he will be retiring from football — for good this time — after the season. He will go back to coaching the St. Michael Catholic High School football team in Alabama, where his two sons play football. (Rivers and his wife, Tiffany, share 10 children.)
“I’m back to the sideline,” Rivers said on the show. “This was a fun, three-week blur that nobody saw coming, including myself. And that’ll be it.”
As for expectations for Leonard in his first career start, Steichen said — outside of the obvious answer of winning the game — that he didn’t want to “complicate it too much” for the rookie.
“I think managing the game, completions, not making bad plays worse is a big part of it as a rookie, and going out there and moving the football,” the coach said to reporters on Friday, January 2. “I don’t want to complicate it too much more than it is. It’s getting completions, being good in the run game, when you have shots, take them, but be smart with the football during the whole game.”
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