Ryan Leaf
| No. 5, 16 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | May 15, 1976 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Great Falls, Montana | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Great Falls (MT) Russell | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Washington State | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| Pass attempts: | 655 |
|---|---|
| Pass completions: | 317 |
| Percentage: | 48.4 |
| TD–INT: | 14–36 |
| Passing yards: | 3,666 |
| Passer rating: | 50.0 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Ryan David Leaf (born May 15, 1976) is a former American football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played for the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys between 1998 and 2001, and also spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks.
Leaf had a successful college career for the Washington State Cougars of Washington State University, where he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy after his junior year. He was selected as the second overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft after Peyton Manning, but his career was short and interrupted by poor play, bad behavior, and injuries, and struggled with his work ethic and ability to stay focused. An episode of NFL Top 10 ranked him as the No. 1 "draft bust" in NFL history.
After his NFL career ended, Leaf completed his degree at Washington State. He would later have legal troubles involving drugs beginning in 2010, after a Texas judge sentenced him to 10 years' probation. Two years later, Leaf pleaded guilty to felony burglary and drug possession in Montana. After a suspended sentence with a stint in drug rehabilitation, Leaf began serving a seven-year sentence in state prison in December 2012. In 2014, Leaf was sentenced to five years in prison for breaking into a home in Montana to steal prescription drugs, which violated his Texas probation. He was released from prison on December 3, 2014.
After leading Charles M. Russell High School in Great Falls, Montana to the 1992 Montana state title, he considered playing college football as a linebacker at the University of Miami. He chose to be a quarterback for the Washington State Cougars instead after head coach Mike Price, who had coached longtime New England Patriots starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe, called him on the phone while Leaf was watching the Rose Bowl, and told him "If you come here, we're going there" even though Washington State had not reached the Rose Bowl since 1931. Leaf told Sports Illustrated that he immediately knew he wanted to accept a scholarship and play for Price.
...
Wikipedia