Ryan Leaf is back!
The former No. 2 overall pick, who has battled addiction and spent time in prison, has moved on to the next phase of his career when ESPN announced he was hired as a college football analyst.
“Ryan has experienced the highs and lows in the game of football, putting him in a position to relate to a wide range of situations players can find themselves in,” said Lee Fitting, ESPN’s senior vice president of production. “He will be able to rely on those experiences — including an unbelievable college career where he was an All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist — in his analysis, making him a tremendous asset for our team.”
Leaf will work with play-by-play announcer Clay Matvick and will call games mostly on ESPN2 and ESPNU.
Leaf tweeted Sunday night that there is a “ton of gratitude in the Leaf household.”
“Five years ago, sitting in a prison cell, I would have never imagined that I was going to be part of ESPN and the Disney Corporation,” Leaf told the Associated Press. “If you would have told me that, I would have said you are absolutely crazy. And I can’t believe it. I lay my head down every night with a ton of gratitude.”
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Leaf played in 25 career games, and had 36 interceptions after the San Diego Chargers drafted him with the No. 2 overall pick right after the Colts selected Peyton Manning.
Everybody loves a good comeback story.
