I am so glad that Ryan has reached a good point in his life...we were WSU season ticket holders for many years and enjoyed watching him...
he left early like so many athletes do for fame and fortune, and I think if he had stayed the full four years he might have had his life under control...
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.
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.