Ryan Leaf

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Ryan Leaf
Position (s):
Quarterback 		Jersey number (s):
16
born May 15, 1976 in Great Falls , Montana
Career information
Active : 1998 - 2002
NFL Draft : 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2
College : Washington
Teams
Career statistics
Touchdowns     14th
Interceptions     36
Quarterback rating     50.00
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
  • All-American Team (1997)

Ryan David Leaf (* 15. May 1976 in Great Falls , Montana ) is a former American American football poker players at the position of quarterback . He played for the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL). The 1.95 meter tall and known as the enfant terrible Leaf completed - although he was considered a great talent - only 26 NFL games.

Career

After a promising college career at Washington State University , in which he was elected to the All-American team of the best college players in 1997, Leaf was considered one of the best young quarterbacks with Peyton Manning . Behind Manning Leaf has been in the NFL Draft in 1998 by the San Diego Chargers selected at position two, where he became the first rookie - Starting quarterback since John Elway was the first two NFL games won his. But on game day 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs he completed only one of his 15 throws, achieved a space gain of only four yards and threw two interceptions , with which he managed the "feat" of achieving a quarterback rating of 0.0 for this game .

Then Leaf lost five of the next six games with the Chargers, in which he threw only one touchdown , eleven interceptions and only 45% of his throws to the man, which he noted a historically low quarterback rating of 39.0 and a 22 year the old negative record. After the 11th matchday he was relegated to the substitutes' bench. During this period, Leaf attracted attention through arrogant behavior towards teammates and fans, insults from journalists and frequent indiscipline. Commentator and ex-NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason said he had never seen a rookie as arrogant and incorrigible.

In the following season in 1999, Leaf injured his shoulder and was out for the entire year. In 2000 Leaf tried a comeback, but was referred back to the bench after eleven moderate games (eleven touchdowns, 18 interceptions, quarterback rating 56.2). Because Leaf showed little self-criticism and often branded teammates as scapegoats, he was booed by his own fans.

The following season in 2001, Leaf was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Ex-Chargers team-mate Rodney Harrison ironically remarked that Leaf was "doing a great service" to San Diego. In Tampa Bay Leaf, also due to a poorly healed hand injury, was only the fourth quarterback behind Brad Johnson , Shaun King and Joe Hamilton , did not make the jump into the squad and was transferred to the Dallas Cowboys . In Texas , Leaf played four moderate games (one touchdown on three interceptions) before losing his place to Eddie LeBaron . In 2002 he was signed by the Seattle Seahawks , and here too Leaf failed and did not play a single game. Leaf ended his NFL career by skipping the team's Seattle quarterbacks meeting and walking away without saying goodbye.

At the age of only 26, the former number 2 draft pick Leaf left the NFL, in which he only made 26 games, had a moderate quarterback rating of 50.0 and only won four of his 21 games as starting quarterback. The manager of the Indianapolis Colts , Bill Polian , who drafted today's superstar quarterback Manning instead of Leaf in the 1998 NFL Draft , said that Leaf was "mentally immature and too hyped" from the start. Sports broadcaster ESPN called Leaf the worst NFL draft pick of all time and the "man who destroyed the Chargers". In a later ESPN vote, both experts and fans of the NFL voted Leaf the “greatest sporting flop of all time”. He lost this inglorious title in the meantime to JaMarcus Russell , who had a slightly better quarterback rating, due to his drug and weight problems and his behavior towards fellow players and fans of NFL.com as "the worst draft pick in NFL history, even worse than Ryan Leaf “Was designated.

Private life

Leaf was married to his wife Nicole before they divorced. After his unfortunate NFL career, he first became a golf coach and quarterback coach at West Texas A&M University before he was fired for illicit possession of over 1,000 pills of pain medication.

Leaf has two brothers. His mother Marcia said that a combination of "excessive ambition, tension with less talented youth teammates and a misunderstood lone warrior" had brought her son on the wrong track.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Say it ain't so, San Diego Chargers ( June 4, 2011 memento in the Internet Archive ), sportsillustrated.cnn.com.
  2. ^ A b Leaf's Pro Career: Short and Unhappy , NYTimes.com
  3. ↑ a b c an Leaf Tries To Build New Life ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , huffingtonpost.com. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.huffingtonpost.com
  4. ↑ a b c Leaf calls it quits ( Memento from November 9, 2010 on WebCite ), USAToday.com (archived)
  5. ^ The 100 Worst Draft Picks ever , ESPN.com.
  6. ^ The 25 Biggest Flops , ESPN.com.
  7. ↑ Russell supplants Leaf atop list of all-time draft busts , NFL.com.
  8. ↑ Leaf placed on leave from position as QB coach at West Texas A&M , ESPN.com.
personal data
SURNAME Leaf, Ryan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Leaf, Ryan David (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American football player
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Great Falls