Leaf arrested on domestic battery charge

Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery on Friday in Palm Springs, Calif. Leaf was released late Friday night from Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility on $5,000 bail. He is due back in court on Sept. 25 to answer to the charges.

Leaf was arrested early afternoon on Friday by Palm Desert cops. It is unclear who the victim is in the case.

Leaf, 44, one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, has dealt with a slew of drug, legal problems and mental health issues since flaming out of the league by the time he was 25.

The much-hyped QB was the second overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the Chargers, one spot behind two-time Super Bowl champ Peyton Manning. He lasted just three years in San Diego and then a short stint with the Cowboys before personal problems and poor play drove him out of the league. He finished his NFL career with a 4-17 record with 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.

It was a stunning fall for a player who had finished third in the Heisman voting during the 1997 season playing for Washington State and was thought to have a legit shot to be the first overall pick.

Leaf ’s problems eventually landed him in a Montana prison for 32 months between 2012 and 2014 after he was busted for breaking into the homes of friends and strangers to steal oxycodone and Vicodin to fuel his drug habit. He had been on probation at the time of his arrest for swiping pills from injured players while he was working as an assistant football coach at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas.

After his release from prison, Leaf began to rebuild his life and has worked to help addicts and alcoholics stay sober as a Program Ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community.

He even returned to the game that made him famous as he spent the 2019 season as a college football analyst for ESPN.