What happened to Ryan Leaf? Ex-NFL QB's extraordinary No. 2 Draft pick to prison story explored
Former NFL quarterback and second-overall pick Ryan Leaf is considered one of the biggest busts of all-time.
Coming out of the 1998 NFL Draft, the top two quarterbacks were Tennessee's Peyton Manning and Washington State's Ryan Leaf. Manning wound up having a Hall-of-Fame career, winning the league MVP four times and two Super Bowls, and has multiple records as a quarterback.
As for Leaf, he had a disappointing NFL career to say the least. He lasted four seasons in the NFL and threw two touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 10 games his rookie season. In 15 career games, Leaf threw for only 3,666 yards, 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions, and had a career passer rating of 50.
His NFL career ended before the start of the 2002 season.
Several years after his NFL career, Leaf started running into legal trouble. In May 2009, he was indicted on burglary charges. In June 2009, he posted a $45,000 bond for the case.
Nearly a year later in Amarillo, Texas, he pled guilty to seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of delivering a simulated controlled substance, which were all classified as felonies. He was fined $20,000 and sentenced to 10 years of probabtion as a result.
In 2012, Leaf ran into more legal trouble. He was arrested on burglary, theft and drug charges in Great Falls, Montana. He was then charged for the same crime four days later, with two additional drug charges. As a result, Texas officials issued two arrest warrants and set his bail for $126,000. In May 2014, Leaf was incarcerated at the Crossroads Correction facility in Shleby, Montana.
He spent 27 months behind bars before being let go from prison and placed under the supervision of Great Falls Probabtion and Parole. In 2020, he was arrested for a misdemeanor domestic battery charge which resulted in three years of probation.
Where is Ryan Leaf today?
It's been nearly three years since Ryan Leaf got into legal trouble. He is currently the CEO and President of RAM Consultat Inc. He was hired by ESPN in 2019 as an analyst for the 2019-20 season. He also worked as an analyst for Westwood One's Sunday night Football and NFL Overtime on Sky Sports.
He was most recently on Good Morning Football and called out former Colts GM Bill Polian for saying that he met with him before the 1998 NFL Draft.
Ryan Leaf joins us honestly and earnestly to reflect on the viral story of his draft and the importance of resolve
@RyanDLeaf https://t.co/zVA5i5gsuG
With Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft beginning tomorrow, Ryan Leaf will be brought up by some of how he is arguably the biggest bust in NFL history.