THE OLDER BROTHER
Ryan Leaf was born in Great Falls, Montana, and led his high school to the 1992 Montana state title. After high school, Leaf played college football at Washington State University, playing in 32 games for the Cougars and starting 24 of them. He averaged 330.6 yards passing per game in his junior year and threw for a then-Pac-10 conference record 33 touchdowns. He also helped the Cougars defeat the University of Washington Huskies, 41-35, for the first time since 1994. Leaf ended the school's 67-year Rose Bowl drought and helped bring the Cougars their first Pac-10 championship in school history. Despite a strong early showing by Leaf in the Rose Bowl, the Cougars were defeated 21-16 by eventual co-national champion Michigan Wolverines.
That year, Leaf was a finalist in balloting for the Heisman Trophy.
Following the Rose Bowl, Leaf announced that he would forgo his senior year at Washington State and turn professional.Ryan Leaf was selected second in the first round of the NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. Lief was a disaster in the NFL and drifted to several teams before he was retired for good. The sports network ESPN listed Leaf first on their list of the 25 Biggest Sports Flops between 1979 and 2004.[29] MSNBC commentator Michael Ventre went so far as to call Leaf "the biggest bust in the history of professional sports."The sports network ESPN listed Leaf first on their list of the 25 Biggest Sports Flops between 1979 and 2004.[29] MSNBC commentator Michael Ventre went so far as to call Leaf "the biggest bust in the history of professional sports."(From Wikipedia the free Internet encyclopedia.)
To say the least Ryan had a volatile personality
THE YOUNGER BROTHER
Brady Leaf the younger brother of Ryan was also a star high school QB in Montana who was recruited by colleges to play football at the next level. In order to be his own person and get out of his older brothers shadow he chose the University of Oregon Ducks for his college career over the Washington State Cougars. However, he ended up being being in the shadow and a back up to another talented QB, Heisman candidate, Dennis Dixon. Now Dennis Dixon has gone down with an ACL injury to his knee and and his college career has ended. The University of Oregon Ducks with two regular season games left are still in the hunt of a Pac 10 title and the Rose Bowl. In a large part Brady Leaf will shoulder the responsibility of that quest. I have watched Brady, look very good as a QB and also look very bad. I will not forget the night in the Holiday Bowl in 2005 when he combined to complete 26 of 41 passes (63.4%) for 246 yards and two touchdown to almost bring Oregon back back against Oklahoma. In several spring games he has appeared to be superior to Dennis Dixon. While Dixon is a fast QB who is suited for the "spread offense " Brady is more the drop back QB. He injured his ankle in the Arizona game last week and it was very difficult for him to run and he became very immobile. How serious is his ankle? I don't think we will know for sure until the UCLA game in the Rose Bowl on Saturday. If I were writing a script for a movie, Brady in this his final year of college football, would escape the shadow of both his brother and Dennis Dixon by leading the Ducks to a victory in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day 2008. He would start out slowly and help the Ducks beat UCLA next Saturday in the Rose Bowl where UCLA plays their home games.He would would then return home to Autzen Stadium in Eugene to lead the Ducks to a big victory against the Oregon State Beavers in the "Civil War "game. Oregon would then win the Pac -10 title with a little help form USC on Thanksgiving night and would return to the Rose Bowl on New Years Day and defeat Ohio State for Oregon's first win in the Rose Bowl in my lifetime. Now that would be a Dream Season. It could happen. Go Ducks Win the Day. Beat UCLA
