Ryan Leaf, a former American football player, has a net worth of $12 million. He amassed his fortune while playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He has a record of 3,666 passing yards, 317 pass completions, 655 pass attempts, 48.4 completion percentage, 14-36 touchdowns, and 50.0 passer rating; some of Leaf's most notable statistics. As a free agent in the NFL, he played for the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ryan David Leaf was born on May 15, 1976, in Great Falls, Montana. He led Charles M. Russell High School to the state championship in Montana in 1992. He considered playing linebacker for the University of Miami in college but instead chose to play quarterback for the Washington State Cougars. Coach Mike Price, who had previously worked with longtime Patriot starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe, promised him a spot in the Rose Bowl. He had a successful year at the university, and after his junior year, he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

In the 1998 NFL Draft, Leaf was the second overall pick, behind Peyton Manning, by the San Diego Chargers. He signed a four-year contract worth $31.25 million with the Chargers, which included a guaranteed $11.25 million signing bonus. With his poor performances in his rookie season, high expectations for him quickly crashed. He was named the No. 1 "draft bust" in NFL history in an episode of NFL Top 10.

In the final years of his professional football career, Leaf completed his degree at Washington State University. In 2006, he volunteered as a quarterback coach at West Texas A&M University. He was fired for stealing painkillers from an injured player while he was there. He ran into legal issues with possession of substances in 2010, and a Texas judge sentenced him to ten years of probation. Leaf was sentenced to nearly three years in prison for burglary after stealing drugs from homes in Great Falls, Montana. He attempted to take his own life, a few times after all the charges.

He started writing a regular column about Washington State University football for the website Cougfan.com in September 2010. During that football season, he wrote nine columns, and his work was well-received by Washington State fans. He signed a contract with Crimson Oak Publishing in Pullman, Washington, in December 2010 to write three memoirs. Crimson Oak's mission is to publish books with themes of "hope, possibility, and determination," according to their website. Leaf's first book, 596 Switch: The Incredible Journey from The Palouse to Pasadena, was published by Crimson Oak in October 2011. The story revolves around the 1997 Washington State football team, which advanced to the Rose Bowl in 1998.

He's been clean and sober for six years, currently serving as a program ambassador for Transcend Community. With the acquisition of Community Edition, the vision of Transcend has expanded to include nine locations in Houston, New York, and Los Angeles.

He wrote "Letter to My Younger Self" for The Players' Tribune in April, describing his NFL career and life after it ended. Leaf worked to recover after his release and began a new career in sportscasting. ESPN hired him before the 2019 college football season. Last season, Leaf also worked for the Pac-12 Network and co-hosted a show on SiriusXM's Pac-12 channel.

Leaf married Nicole Lucia, the daughter of financial radio host Ray Lucia, in 2001. They split up in November 2003 and divorced later that year. He is currently in a relationship with Anna Kleinsorge, a former Georgetown volleyball player, and he became a father in October 2017 when Kleinsorge gave birth to their first child, McGyver.

Sources: Sports Casting, Taddlr, Wealthy Persons, The Squander, ESPN

This article was updated on April 8, 2021 by Vanessa Shumbanhete

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