Ryan Leaf

galaxy27

i couldn't sleep tonight, so i hopped online to do some work and mess around a little. while doing the latter, i stumbled across this clip of Ryan Leaf on the Rich Eisen show just prior to the NFL combine last year. i have never thought very highly of him. he obviously had issues on the football field, but he also had a slew of problems off of it after his playing days were over. so when i saw the title -- "My NFL downfall began at the 1998 NFL combine" -- i felt compelled to watch. and boy i'm glad i did, because i now view him in a completely different light.

he is very candid, very well-spoken and even self-deprecating. if it wasn't worth watching i wouldn't nudge you to do so, but i really think it's worth 16 minutes of your day to get the juices flowing before the big games today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y5g9UfCVnI

stevek

Interesting video.

Reminds me a little bit of the quote that Mick Jagger once said about Brian Jones, "Fame doesn’t sit very comfortably on anyone’s shoulders. But some people’s shoulders don’t seem to fit it on at all. And he was one of them.” Fortunately Ryan Leaf didn't end up at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Also reminds me of a news story I once saw where a reporter was interviewing homeless people on the streets of New York City. She interviewed this one homeless guy who would sleep at night on a park bench, who once worked on Wall Street before various personal problems caused him to become homeless. Frankly, I couldn't believe how highly intelligent this guy was, well spoken, etc. But yet he was destitute and homeless.

I'm not going to try to psychoanalyze Ryan Leaf. I'm happy for him that he does seem to have turned his life around. But I do think the lesson that can be learned from his story is that there is a fine line between being a winner in life or a loser. We sometimes if not often come to forks in the road of taking a winning or losing path. It's up to us which to choose.

galaxy27

well said @stevek

craig44

that was a great interview. I have always been fascinated by the manning/leaf debate from back then. very interesting to hear it from ryan