Ryan Leaf
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.
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, largely due to his immaturity and arrogance.
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College career
Ryan Leaf played football in college at Washington State University, where he majored in broadcast communications. He played in 32 games for the Cougars, starting 24 of them. His junior year, he lead the team to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated 21–16 by the University of Michigan Wolverines in a game that went down to the last play.
That year, Leaf finished third in balloting for the prestigious Heisman trophy, which is given annually to the best college football player. Charles Woodson won the award and fellow quarterback Peyton Manning of the University of Tennessee earned the second most votes.
Following the Rose Bowl, Leaf announced that he would forego with his senior year at Washington State and would turn professional.
1998 Draft
Entering the 1998 draft, Manning and Leaf were widely considered to be not only the two best quarterbacks, but the two best players overall in the draft. The San Diego Chargers had the third pick of the draft, but entered into a huge 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 even three-time Pro Bowler Eric Metcalf.
There was actually significant debate over whether Leaf or Manning should be selected first. However, on draft day Manning was probably the consensus and he was selected first, by the Indianapolis Colts. Since that time, Manning has become a superstar and future Pro Football Hall of Famer, while Leaf's career was spotted with poor game play and off-field antics.
Following the draft, the Chargers signed Leaf to a four-year contract worth $31.25 million, including an $11.25 million signing bonus.
Leaf's NFL career
With the San Diego Chargers
Despite the high hopes that San Diego had for Leaf, his rookie season was marked by poor performance. Despite lackluster numbers (1 touchdown, 2 interceptions), the Chargers won their first two games, making Leaf the first rookie quarterback to do so since John Elway. However, in the third game of the season, he completed only one pass (of four yards) out of fifteen attempts and threw two interceptions. Overall, Leaf threw 15 interceptions that season and only two touchdown passes.
Leaf also had a poor relationship with his teammates, whom Leaf tended to blame for his poor play, and the media. In one embarrassing clubhouse incident (which would subsequentally get Leaf suspended by the Chargers) during Leaf's rookie year, he was caught on camera screaming at a reporter. 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.
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 (which resulted in a fine and a suspension without pay) and for playing flag football despite his injury.
Leaf started the first two games of the 2000 season but was benched after posting a 33.4 quarterback rating, the lowest in the NFL. When the subsequent starter was injured, the Chargers were forced to play Leaf again. However, Leaf injured his wrist while throwing an interception in a week 4 game and didn't play again until week 11. After continued poor performance, he was let go by the Chargers following the 2000 season.
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 poor performance 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 the start of the 2001 season.
Ryan Leaf attempted a comeback with the Dallas Cowboys, who signed him about a month after the Bucs released him, having had some trouble passing the physical due to his wrist. However, 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 as a backup. The quarterback attended the team's spring minicamps and seemed upbeat about his new team. However, Leaf retired just prior to the start of the Seahawks 2002 training camp without explanation. He was just 26 years of age.
During his brief career in the NFL, Leaf appeared in 25 games and made 21 starts. He completed 317 of 655 passes for 3,666 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions. In the end, Ryan Leaf's career quarterback rating was an extremely low 48.8.
Legacy
Ryan Leaf is now considered one of the biggest disappointments in recent NFL history. ESPN listed Leaf first on their list of the 25 Biggest Sports Flops between 1979–2004 [1]. Each year, sports writers often speculate on which player who is drafted will be "the next Ryan Leaf", that is, the next big bust.
Following the 2000 season, Leaf's last with the Chargers, he married one of the team's cheerleaders. As of February 2005, Leaf was enrolled in a sports management class called "Media Relations" at his alma matter, Washington State [2].
External links
References
- Helene St. James (Jan. 2, 1998) Time runs out on Ryan Leaf . Detroit Free Press.
- Where will Leaf fall? QB says Indianapolis, San Diego both suitable homes (Apr. 15, 1998).
- Robert Neely (Nov. 22, 1999) Saving Project Ryan: Chargers must take one more shot at salvaging Leafs career. ProFootball Weekly.
- Brian Carnell (August 7, 2002) Ryan Leaf Retired.
- Sean Lahman (July 27, 2002) The Sad Case of Ryan Leaf. Football Project
- Where have you gone Ryan Leaf?. Retrieved Apr. 27, 2005.