Purdy, notable 49ers QBs offer Notre Dame Leonard’s sage advice originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
For an up-and-coming quarterback with professional aspirations, there’s no better panel to attend than one featuring four former and current NFL quarterbacks with decorated resumes that include a plethora of Super Bowl experiences, stories of perseverance and major accolades.
That was the reality for Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard on Thursday night, when he was lucky enough to get a seat — or the chance to pick a brain — at the annual Dwight Clark Legacy Series event at the California Theater in San Jose. There, infamous 49ers signal callers Brock Purdy, Steve Young, Jeff Garcia and Alex Smith dispensed wisdom.
The 21-year-old Leonard is entering his first and likely final season with the Fighting Irish after transferring from Duke after three seasons. There, he recorded 382 completions, 4,450 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and healthy 2025 NFL Draft aspirations.
Each San Francisco icon had a different offering for the inquisitive Leonard, who together were great teachers. In order, here’s how Smith, Garcia, Young and Purdy made their fellow quarterback stronger.
Alex Smith
Smith, a retired 16-year NFL veteran, spent eight seasons with San Francisco after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2005 draft.
He gave Leonard sound advice on how to enjoy the highs and lows of being an athlete.
“I think you have to have confidence in yourself, right? You are good enough,” said Smith, supported by loud applause. “I think you’re quite good enough. I think too, and this is going to be so many clichés that are coming out now, but enjoy the process, right? I think we get so caught up in a destination and it is certainly important to set goals, but it is your habits that make the most difference… And again, all of us – whether you are the first choice or the last choice – the The Way is not easy.”
Smith knows all about pushing through adversity and embracing different paths and processes.
In his third 49ers season, Smith broke his throwing shoulder and missed the end of that campaign and what would have been his fourth. After suffering a concussion in the second half of his eighth season with San Francisco, Smith lost his job to the rising Colin Kaepernick, ending his tenure with the 49ers.
Smith had more record-breaking success during four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he never got the ring he wanted. Instead, he ended up at Washington in 2018 and suffered one of the most gruesome injuries in sports history via a life-threatening compound fracture to his right tibia and fibula.
Still, Smith returned to the playing field, completing one of the greatest comeback stories in NFL history, before hanging up his jersey for good during the 2021 offseason.
“There will be a struggle,” Smith reiterated. “Embrace the struggle. You were meant to go through it and it would be better if you had gone through it, right? I think so. Often adversity comes and I’ve been there: it’s too hard, you don’t want it, it’s uncomfortable. But you know, you get to the other side and that’s where growth happens. That is where improvement happens.”
Not many athletes have had such a career-altering injury as Smith, nor have they returned to their sport at the highest level like he has.
Jeff Garcia
Garcia was a rookie with the 49ers at age 29 – that’s all you need to know about his drive and dedication to football.
Overlooked as a draft prospect, the San Jose State product played five seasons in the CFL – his first behind Doug Flutie – before backing up San Francisco legend Steve Young in the NFL.
Like Smith, Garcia advised Leonard to “embrace” not just the journey, but what he is doing right now.
“First of all, embrace the moment,” Garcia said. “You have one more year of college football. You have the opportunity to be your best for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish… It is a precious, special opportunity before you.
“I mean, my kids — as a 12-year-old: ‘So Dad, what professional football team do you think I’m going to play for?’ And I say, ‘None. You don’t even play Pop Warner yet. ‘Be good here first, be good right now.’ Be the best you can be right now. Everything else will take care of itself if you maximize your opportunities.
“There are only a few chances in life. I was a 29-year-old rookie, not a 21-year-old rookie. I mean, I had hair everywhere, not anymore. But that being said, you have opportunities in life, as we all know [they’re] very precious and little.”
Garcia finished his career as a four-time NFL Pro Bowl selection. Initially, however, he was a no-name backup.
He made sure to emphasize preparation in his conversation with Leonard, describing a meticulous willingness that can take years or seconds to demonstrate.
“Are you willing to take advantage of this opportunity? Have you done the necessary work mentally, physically? [and] across the board to be prepared when that moment comes to take advantage of it?” Garcia asked. ‘Do that right now. Now think about that. Then you can ask questions about, “Hey, what’s it like to be a starting quarterback?”
“Hey, there are only a few who end up in that position and you still have a year to prove you’re worth it.”
Garcia played seasons with the 49ers from ages 29 to 33 after signing a free-agent contract with the team. He, like Smith, never won the big one, but left a fan favorite in San Francisco.
Steve Young
Young needs no introduction.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer and retired 15-year NFL veteran, who holds virtually every 49ers quarterback record and many around the league, was clear in his advice to Leonard: Consult Purdy.
“Brock, I want to ask you because… you have a superpower [in] is processing and the idea that you jumped on the field as a young player [against the] Miami Dolphins and just start processing,” Young asked Purdy. ‘How would you tell him to prepare for that?
Processing the play is everything for a quarterback and is something Purdy had to do quickly after moving from third to first on 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan’s depth chart as a rookie.
A seven-time Pro Bowl selection, three-time Super Bowl champion and three-time AP All-Pro, Young read a lot on the field in his time. But he suggests Purdy can help Leonard more than most, considering the San Francisco quarterback is just three years older and the four-year college player Notre Dame’s quarterback plans to be.
“To me, that’s what it’s all about,” Young added. “If you could imbibe that quality [Purdy] and spread it around every quarterback, we would be so blessed. And how would you describe how you were ready to process right out of the gate?
Brock Purdy
Leonard and the crowd were certainly blessed.
Purdy has done so much for the 49ers in so little time. However, he, like Garcia, suggested a relatively slower approach to Leonard that would require the prospect to focus on the present.
“Yeah, I mean, it hits Jeff’s point, just in terms of being where you are now, playing now [and] I’m trying not to jump to the conclusion that I’m going to the NFL so quickly,” Purdy described. “Like, there is a process in life, and I feel like a lot of people today just want to skip that process. They want to get somewhere because they see guys where they are and they don’t want to, you know, experience the good and the bad and all that stuff.
Purdy was an MVP finalist for his stellar 2023 NFL season. He implies that most players want to reach top status — or at least close to it — without putting in the time it takes to get there.
Instead, the wise 24-year-old Leonard advises sticking with what has worked for him and taking advantage of his upcoming four-year college career.
After all, Purdy thinks college prepared him for what the NFL had to throw at him.
“But what I would say is I played four years at Iowa State, so all those repetitions of defenses and schemes, like all those things, kind of came together,” Purdy concluded nonchalantly. “Just the preparation for the game, everything, man. When I saw different safety structures, blitzes, you name it, all those things added together when I played against Miami, dude, it was, I was like, I feel like I’m back at Iowa State playing 11 on 11 .
“So yeah. Hopefully that helps.”
The 49ers’ decorated quarterbacks did not disappoint as they provided Leonard with top-notch insight and advice.
The theme of embracing your journey prevailed in the quartet’s responses, but the real takeaway was everyone’s willingness to pass on their knowledge.
Leonard undoubtedly has a lot to consider during his final year at Notre Dame.
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