Like any dedicated academic, Riley Leonard had to face Duke-student reality while he wrapped up his high-commitment extracurricular activity Monday night. With his task for the evening neatly settled, the studious junior was reminded, while caught in a throng of celebrating classmates, that his homework was overdue.
At midnight Tuesday, the ACC Digital Network posted a video on X of Leonard.
“Professor Taylor, if you see this, please let me turn in my homework late,” implored the quarterback.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devil hero, Donald Taylor — director of Duke’s Social Science Research Institute and a professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy — holds student athletes to tough standards, just like their classmates.
“No way, man. No extension,” Taylor replied in a video message posted by the University’s official account.
The video on Duke’s X platform, which features both Leonard’s request and Taylor’s response, garnered 544.2 thousand views in less than 24 hours. The same video earned two million on ESPN’s TikTok account. The grin plastered on the sweaty quarterback’s face as he asked for a homework extension after the most important Blue Devil football win of the 21st century has evidently captured the already-smitten hearts of the Duke faithful — and also made them laugh.
Leonard’s video feature, funnily enough, takes the bait that every Blue Devil rival dangles in front of Duke fans: “Nerd school.”
“Watching the duke nerds storm the field is gonna be a rough site [sic],” tweeted the self-proclaimed “best cfb reporter in the northern hemisphere,” @cfbSLUG, Monday night on X. This message is just one of many — on the internet and in football talk across the country — poking fun at the Blue Devils for studying too hard.
Monday night proved, however, that homework has yet to get in the way of Duke dominating in athletics, even when the star quarterback has public policy assignments on his mind.
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Sophie Levenson is a Trinity sophomore and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.