Every NFL draft day former Great Falls, Montana, resident Ryan Leaf makes the news.  He was selected second in the 1998 draft behind Peyton Manning.  He was out of the National Football League by 2002.  Meanwhile, Peyton Manning continues to pile up the stats, a Super Bowl Trophy, not to mention three Most Valuable Player awards.

It would be very easy to “pile on” Ryan Leaf for his failure in the NFL, but you won’t find that in this commentary.  

Very few high school football players get to play major college football.  Being a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, which Leaf was, is an honor that maybe three or four college football players receive each year.  Of all the college football players, there’s a very small percentage who get drafted into the NFL.

Getting to play a football into your twenties and getting paid millions of dollars to play a game is something that most little boys dream of when playing football at the local park or in your back yard.  I did.  Ryan Leaf accomplished what many of us could not.  For that he was very successful.

So what makes a successful high school and college football player like Leaf fail in the NFL?  I don’t have all the answers, but maybe it’s because there’s so much pressure placed on young men to win and to succeed.  It’s a business.  Maybe it’s becoming an instant millionaire at the age of 21.  Or maybe it’s because the professional players are scrutinized for every move on and off the field.  It can break the most talented players.  Leaf was, by far, the best known.  But he was, by far, not the only great college player to be a bust in the NFL.

After the 1998 draft and the failure of Leaf to live up to expectations, now every NFL team has the “Ryan Leaf complex” – wondering if the person they select will be a bust or not   Many do not, but many of them are not a number two draft choice who received the most money in history (at that time) as a signing bonus.

Yesterday I learned from this STORY that Ryan Leaf is living in Canada, he finished rehab for a pain killer addiction, and is trying to get on with life.  He says, “Montana’s my home and will always be the most beautiful place in the world to live…”  He’s right about that.

As a still young 33 year-old, Ryan Leaf has gained much more wisdom from life’s journeys than people twice his age.  The journey onward in life starts by taking a step forward.  With the help of his family, it appears Ryan Leaf has taken that important first step.  I wish him well.