Ryan Leaf

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Full Name: Ryan David Leaf Primary Position: QB Height/Weight: 6' 5"/238 College: Washington State Universtiy Birthdate: May 15, 1976 High School: Russell (Great Falls, MT) Birthplace: Great Falls, Montana Pro Experience: 3 years

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==Biography==Ryan David Leaf (born May 15, 1976 in Great Falls, Montana) is a former American football quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks. He is currently the head golf and quarterbacks coach for West Texas A&M University. [1]

Leaf was the second overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft after a successful college career at Washington State University. However, despite his athleticism, his time as a pro was short and marked by failure, which according to critics was largely due to his immaturity, arrogance, and poor work ethic. Leaf is widely considered one of the biggest busts in NFL history.

[edit] College career

After having led his high school, C. M. Russell High School, to the 1992 Montana state title, Ryan Leaf played college football at Washington State University. He played in 32 games for the Cougars, starting 24 of them. In his junior year, he averaged 330.6 yards passing per game and threw for a then record 33 touchdowns. He also helped the Cougars defeat the University of Washington Huskies 41-35 in Seattle for the first time since 1985 and ended the school's 67-year Rose Bowl drought. Despite a strong early showing by Leaf, the Cougars were defeated 21-16 by the eventual national champion Michigan Wolverines in a game where the clock literally ran out on Washington St (replays showed that the clock should not have continued running after Leaf spiked the ball for an incomplete pass, whereas there were still two seconds left, however two plays earlier a Cougar wide receiver got away with offensive pass interference).

That year, Leaf was a finalist in balloting for the prestigious Heisman Trophy, which is given annually to the best college football player. He finished third in voting, behind winner Charles Woodson of Michigan, and runner-up and fellow quarterback Peyton Manning of Tennessee. He was also selected as the Pac-10 offensive player of the year. [2]

Following the Rose Bowl, Leaf announced that he would forego his senior year at Washington State and turn professional. The decision apparently made sense at the time; not only was Leaf widely considered to be poised for NFL stardom, but the Cougars team was, in a sense, set up for Leaf to leave. None of the Cougars' five starting offensive linemen and only one of the team's five receivers would return for the following season.

[edit] 1998 Draft

Entering the 1998 draft, Manning and Leaf were widely considered to be the two best players overall in the draft. The San Diego Chargers had the third pick of the draft, but entered into trade with the Arizona Cardinals to guarantee they'd get one of the two quarterbacks. To move up one spot, the Chargers traded two first round picks, a second round pick and three-time Pro Bowler Eric Metcalf.

There was actually significant debate over whether Leaf or Manning should be selected first. Leaf had a considerably stronger arm, but most analysts agreed that Manning was the more mature of the two players and the consensus top choice. However, the differences in potential between the two seemed small enough that most observers expected it would not greatly matter whether a team selected Manning or Leaf.

On draft day Manning was selected first by the Indianapolis Colts. Leaf was selected second by the Chargers. Since that time, Manning has become a star player and a possible Hall of Famer for the Colts, while Leaf's short career was spotted with poor game play and off-field antics. The Chargers' other options at quarterback in that year's draft included former Denver Bronco Brian Griese and the Seattle Seahawks Matt Hasselbeck. Following the draft, the Chargers signed Leaf to a four-year contract worth $31.25 million, including a guaranteed $11.25 million signing bonus.

[edit] Leaf's NFL career

[edit] San Diego Chargers

San Diego's high hopes for Leaf were soon dashed, as his rookie season was marked by bad performances. In the third game of the season, he completed only one of fifteen passes for a mere four yards. In ten games that season, Leaf threw two touchdown passes and fifteen interceptions. He passed for 1,289 yards and had a 45.3 percent completion rate, with a quarterback rating of 39. In contrast, Peyton Manning, the quarterback that was selected one place ahead of Leaf in the 1998 draft, broke rookie records for attempts, completion, yardage, and touchdown passes. Manning started all sixteen games and threw for 3,739 yards with 26 touchdowns and 28 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 71.2. Leaf's brief career was constantly being contrasted to that of Manning's.

Leaf had a poor relationship with his teammates, whom he tended to blame for his poor play, and with the media. In one embarrassing sideline incident during Leaf's rookie year, he was caught on camera screaming at a reporter ("Don't...talk to me alright! Knock it off! Leaf said). Another embarrassing on-camera incident involved Leaf confronting a heckling Charger fan during a practice session. Two coaches had to restrain Leaf and escort him off the field. Leaf had a particularly bad relationship with former Chargers safety Rodney Harrison, who described being a member of the Chargers during Leaf's rookie season as "a nightmare you can't even imagine." After hearing that Leaf retired in 2002, Harrison was quoted as saying, "he probably did the best thing; he took his money and ran." [3]

The quarterback missed all of his second season in 1999 when a shoulder injury was discovered during a pre-season physical. He was put on injured reserve but continued to make headlines for, among other things, getting into a heated shouting match with the Chargers' general manager Bobby Beathard and another coach. That incident resulted in a fine and a suspension without pay. [4] Leaf also allegedly lied about a hand injury in order to get out of practice so that he could play golf instead and for playing flag football despite his injury.

Leaf started the first two games of the 2000 season and completed less than half of his pass attempts and threw for five interceptions and only one touchdown. When his backup was injured, the Chargers were forced to play Leaf more. However, Leaf injured his wrist while throwing an interception in a week four game and didn't play again until week eleven. Following more poor performance and injury problems, he was released by the Chargers after the 2000 season.

[edit] Subsequent career and retirement

After being waived by San Diego, Leaf was claimed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were intrigued by his physical talent and planned to develop his abilities more slowly by having Leaf watch and learn. However, Leaf's wrist still wasn't healed and he refused to have surgery, which doctors strongly recommended. After mediocre performances in the Buccanneers' four preseason games, the franchise asked Leaf to accept a lower salary. After he refused, the club released him just five days before start of the 2001 season.

Leaf attempted a comeback with the Dallas Cowboys, who signed him a few weeks after the Bucs released him, failing his first physical having had some trouble passing the second one due to his wrist. [5] The Cowboys released him in May 2002, after he had appeared in four games, all losses. Leaf was signed days later by the Seattle Seahawks, who, like the Buccaneers, planned to let him develop slowly to let him heal. The quarterback attended the team's spring minicamps and seemed upbeat about his new team. However, Leaf retired at the age of 26, just prior to the start of the Seahawks' 2002 training camp, initially offering no explanation but later saying that the injuries were just too much.

During his brief career in the NFL, Leaf appeared in 25 games and made 21 starts. He completed 315 of 655 passes for 3,666 yards, with fourteen touchdowns and 36 interceptions. In the end, Leaf's career quarterback rating was just 50.00.[6]

He later joined Don Carthel's West Texas A&M staff as quarterbacks coach in 2006. He stated: "I feel very honored to be a part of Coach Carthel's staff and a part of an up-and-coming successful program", Leaf said. "About a year after I retired from playing, I decided that I wanted to get back to college, where I had the greatest time of my life, and to get involved with college football." Leaf also admitted that he was unprepared for the NFL when he was drafted back in 1998.

[edit] Personal Life and Legacy

Ryan Leaf is now considered one of the biggest disappointments in NFL history. ESPN listed Leaf first on their list of the 25 Biggest Sports Flops between 1979-2004.[7] MSNBC commentator Michael Ventre went so far as to call him "the biggest bust in the history of professional sports" [8] The ESPN show noted (more specifically, sportscaster Jim Lampley) that if he ever went back to San Diego, he had better wear a mask. Each year, sports writers often speculate on which player who is drafted will be "the next Ryan Leaf", that is, the next big college superstar to flop in the pros.

Following the 2000 season, Leaf's last with the Chargers, he married one of the team's cheerleaders, Nicole, whom he later divorced. As of February 2005, Leaf was enrolled in a sports management class called Media Relations. [9] Some have called his choice of courses ironic, given his extremely poor relations with the media as an NFL player. His brother, Brady Leaf was an former quarterback for the University of Oregon.

[edit] In Summary

Basically, Ryan Leaf has no O!F

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