Pretty sad how Leaf ended up, but he seems to have turned his life around. There was an E60 special on about him last night, I'll have to check it out some time because his near immediate implosion (as a player) is fascinating imo. Not too many people hit rock bottom like he did (in terms of his life) and make their way out.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/ryan-l...nger-self/

Quote:After your third season in San Diego when you’re on your honeymoon on a small cruise ship in Tahiti, somebody will slide a copy of that morning’s USA Today under your cabin door. Right on the front page, in big, bold letters, you’ll see it.

CHARGERS RELEASE RYAN LEAF

Wow! Good article. Also good to see he can laugh at himself now and own who he was and learn from it.

Loved the anecdote of the vet's offer to board a private jet to Fiji to listen to a motivational speaker. Many coaches in the Big 4 will use their connections to a hall of famer to have a dinner between them and a young player.

Fascinating read. Thanks for posting.

You wonder what the fate of the Colts and Chargers would've been like if Indy took Leaf. San Diego eventually got Tomplinson and Rivers in the aftermath of the 1998 draft debacle and that led to some good seasons for them, but an all-time great like Peyton could've been the catalyst that kept the franchise in the city if he made the team into enough of a consistent winner that the political will was there to build a new stadium. Leaf would've imploded in Indy just like he did in San Diego, so who knows if Dungy would've went there and the team would've recovered, with a dump like the RCA Dome for all we know their stadium wouldn't have been built and they'd be in San Antonio today.

A powerful story in which he learns the true meaning of life....Service to others. I have a whole new outlook on Ryan Leaf. I wish him nothing but the best.

Saw ESPN's recent "E:60" show on Ryan Leaf the other day, and IIRC they are showing it again on ESPN2 tonight.

I disparaged Leaf in the aftermath of his NFL implosion and subsequent legal troubles, but judging by the show, he seems to have learned his lessons and now has a truly humble attitude about his past and present circumstances. So I've come around to wishing him well.

Ryan Leaf was just on Ellen. Seems to have really turned things around.

Well .... there are two really separate things here, in my book.

His football career, and his NFL career, are one thing.
His addiction to prescription painkillers, and how that nearly cost him his entire life ... that's really quite a different thing.


The second one is a much more terrible problem, in the grand scheme of things.