Posted on 03/12/2017 2:49:37 PM PDT by bigdaddy45
The football world was deeply divided 19 years ago when the Indianapolis Colts were deciding whether to use the No. 1 draft pick in the NFL draft on Tennessee’s Peyton Manning or Washington State’s Ryan Leaf. There were respected evaluators on both sides of the argument.
The Colts chose Manning, launching a Hall of Fame-caliber career that included five most-valuable-player awards and Super Bowl victories with Indianapolis and Denver.
Leaf was the No. 2 pick by San Diego — one spot ahead of future Hall of Fame defensive back Charles Woodson — and essentially flamed out in his rookie season, although he lasted four more years in the league.
What followed for Leaf was addiction to painkillers, a suicide attempt, imprisonment and, ultimately, a dramatic change that probably saved his life. He’s now the program ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community, a sober-living environment with nine homes in the Los Angeles, New York and Houston areas.
Sitting in an office in West Los Angeles on Wednesday, Leaf talked via Skype to students from a high school baseball team in Texas, some of whom had gotten in trouble with drugs and alcohol. He told the students his cautionary tale, just as he has to many other young people around the country. The group was so transfixed and motionless during his half-hour talk, it was as if the laptop screen had frozen.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Way to not bother to read the rest. Hey you want to believe him go ahead. I don’t. And I explained why. And you couldn’t be bothered to read it because then you wouldn’t get to call me names. Talk about being a hypocrite.
Nope. I’m still perfectly mellow. And perfectly happy staying out of other people’s business. Also VERY happy to keep certain other people (like my scumbag nephew) out of MY business.
Then of course there’s the hilariousness of you going to my about page. The classic move of somebody who wants to turn this into a personal fight. But it isn’t. I don’t Leaf has turned it around, too much experience with people like him. I don’t wish him ill, and it would be nice if he has. But I ain’t buyin what he’s sellin. I didn’t buy it in 2008 when the movie came out and I was right. If you want to buy it, go for it. I certainly won’t mind being wrong on this, but usually it’s the people that believe the redemption story that get proven wrong. We joke about how often the media pulls that “he was turning his life around” story out when somebody gets shot by the cops, well you don’t have to be shot for that story to be bogus.
I got the same problem. Apparently websites like the LA Times don’t like ad blockers.
Just pray that no one in your family gets on drugs of any kind....
Most never get off....for ever ...always relapse
I know a great women with three great kids ....but drugs are always around the corner.....
A great women when not on drugs
Almost without exception each one of these homeless have burned through all the good will their families and friends have overabundantly extended. Their families are FRIED to the point of exhaustion.
There may be a few that we passed out there on the streets who are so mentally ill that they are incapable of accepting help but, as you say, the rest are addicts, thieves, and liars.
He was fantastic and a gentleman to boot. It’s sad that he got injured on a busted play.
Even with all this support it is rare to see a success. It's like watching a constant train wreck in slow motion It is sad because we do become very fond of them and are always praying for them and hoping they will succeed. Few do.
Amazing the older I get the more and more the wisdom in Proverbs is proven right time and time again.
BTTT.
He was the subject of one of my favorite episodes of A Football Life.
I think he probably has a personality disorder...as I understand it, he was not well liked even in Montana.. a hot head ..had a reputation even back then....
He was tagged very early on as “going somewhere” and got all the attend fuss and fawning that all the other young athletes going somewhere get.
He was never held accountable by anyone including authority figures. That has a way of messing up even adults, much less a young kid who is good at a game. Too much adoration in sports period. We’re lucky there aren’t tons more Ryan Leafs running around.
All that said, I’m thrilled he’s turned his life around and is now helping others and presenting himself as a cautionary tale.
Terrell Davis is the only player to play at Long Beach State and make it to the NFL Hall of Fame. He was an average freshman running back on the last team Long Beach fielded before they ended the program.
He left college early? I didn’t know that.
The article didn’t say he was broke, but, he was happy to get $15 an hour, which I figure he needs the money from the job; that his football millions are gone.
Off topic, but I heard that some financial planners and agents have been working with athletes who get these multi million dollar contracts, and telling the facts of life. Such as, that football won’t last forever; that million dollar paydays won’t last forever.
Also, how if the athletes have lots of hangers on with them, that a lot of their money gets sucked away that way.
Not to mention money spent on girls, or drugs, or otherwise not handled well.
One agent I read about, counsels his players to put half of their money away in savings or investments, and don’t touch it till after their playing days.
Think about it — in pro sports, you are an old man at 35, if you even last that long in sports. And then you still have the rest of your life to go after that.
“Another reminder of how difficult it is to project talent from college to the pros”
Reminds me of the Redskins quarterback picks over the past.... how many years? RG3 was real promising but Injury prone... Maybe it is Snider that’s the problem...
However, once again I must remind myself by simply stating... Hello, my name is Clutch and I’m a Jets fan.
I'm 13 years ahead of you, and can tell you that your appreciation for peace and tranquility in life will only increase.
Try not to let it bother you in those times when you can't find it. Just enjoy those times when you can.
Thanks for the good advice.
It is an evasive creature, peace.
I know from whence you speak, all too well. I have a few relatives that meet that description. They've burned every last ounce of trust and credit they ever had with their kin.
It can be a hard and painful choice, but there are times when you just have to cut the cord.
I disabled my ad blocker and then those bastards insisted I signup for a paid subscription!
No way!
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