Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard has led the Fighting Irish to the College Football Playoff Semifinal. His recent success has helped his NFL Draft stock, but the 22-year-old wouldn’t be in this position without his support system, including his long-time girlfriend, Molly Walding. Here’s everything you need to know about their relationship.
Get To Know Riley Leonard’s Girlfriend, Molly Walding
Riley and Molly aren’t high-school sweethearts, they are middle-school sweethearts!
They have a relationship that is straight out of the movies: the couple met when they attended middle school together at Fairhope Middle School in Alabama.
Despite attending college in different states — with Riley going to Duke and Molly going to Auburn — they made it work long distance. Despite living so far apart, Molly would make an effort to attend Riley’s games at Duke and cheer on her boyfriend.
Now, as Riley gets ready to wrap up his senior year at Notre Dame and enter the 2025 NFL Draft, the couple is still going strong.
According to LinkedIn, Walding will graduate from Auburn University in May 2025 with her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations. She currently works as a social media manager for Auburn High School’s YoungLife account. She was also the recruitment chair for the Chi Omega Alpha Beta sorority.
Two weeks ago, the couple celebrated their seven-year anniversary and shared an adorable video looking back at their relationship.
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After transferring to Notre Dame, Leonard has thrown for 2,383 yards, 18 touchdowns, and six interceptions on a 66.5% completion percentage while also rushing for 831 yards and 15 touchdowns this season.
Throughout his collegiate career, Leonard has totaled 6,833 passing yards, 42 passing touchdowns, and 16 interceptions, plus 2,055 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns on the ground.
In PFN’s latest seven-round mock draft, Leonard was projected to get picked in the fifth round (No. 172 overall) by the Buffalo Bills.