InSpades said:
I didn't know he got divorced.
IS
im pretty sure his wife had a masterplan just as he did. to get as much as possible then move on. i dug this article up from 2 years ago and its the last update on ryan till the story today:
By Brent Schrotenboer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 28, 2004
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Ryan Leaf
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--- BODYTEXT --->Just six years since his arrival as the Chargers' savior, 28-year-old Ryan Leaf is starting over ... again.
He has a new life – without his former Charger Girl wife.
He has a new plan – as a student at Washington State.
After his football career finally petered out in 2002, he also has a new potential career – as a coach.
"I'd be more than happy to have Ryan Leaf join my staff or our program at any time in the future," said Mike Price, Leaf's former Washington State coach and the new head coach at Texas-El Paso. "We'd be honored to have somebody of Ryan's caliber coaching with us, and that's a possibility for us in the future."
It's a possibility for Leaf as long as he completes the college course work he left unfinished after becoming the No. 2 overall choice in the 1998 NFL draft.
On the eve of another NFL season, the career change also appears to mark the epilogue on Leaf's infamous tenure in San Diego. Just as the Chargers are set to unveil another quarterback of the future – Philip Rivers – Leaf has moved from San Diego to Moscow, Idaho, a nine-mile commute across the state border from Pullman, Wash., to attend classes at his alma mater.
Just don't expect him to talk about it with the San Diego media.
"Man, what the (expletive)?" Leaf said when contacted by the
Union-Tribune. "How'd you get my number? If
The San Diego Union-Tribune calls me again ... Man, you fools are stupid."
Leaf, who still loathes the public limelight, then hung up.
Many of those close to him were reluctant to be interviewed for this story. Football agent David Dunn, father-in-law Ray Lucia, family members and attorney Marc Stern all declined comment or did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Others who know him – and the few who want to talk about him publicly – describe his recent life changes as a wake-up call of sorts for Leaf, whose football career fizzled in a cloud of bad behavior, interceptions and injuries from 1998-2002. ESPN recently named him the biggest sports flop of the past 25 years.
"Look," said a colleague who asked not to be identified out of fear of incurring Leaf's wrath for talking to the media. "These are the cold, hard facts. Ryan Leaf's career is over at age (28). Everyone whines and bitches about how much money he was promised – a $30 million contract. No one talks about the flip side."
The flip side – according to documents and witnesses – is that Leaf has hit a major personal and professional transition in his life. Personally, Leaf, who married in February 2001, is going through a divorce after officially being separated from his wife, Nicole, in November 2003. Professionally, he's coming to terms with the fact there's virtually no chance he'll ever fulfill the promise of an arm that once earned him an $11.25 million signing bonus with the Chargers.
By the time he last held an NFL job in 2002, Leaf already had dropped off the rosters of the Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks. According to some, part of the reason for his short career was nagging injuries to his shoulder and wrist – health problems he blamed in part on the doctors who took care of him. Leaf even sued his doctors at Oasis Medical Group in November 2002, charging them with negligence in his treatment.
Stern withdrew the suit June 8.
"He was claiming there was an injury to his shoulder and wrist, which he claims were not properly treated," said Thomas Lotz, an attorney for the Oasis doctors. "But it wasn't showing up on the X-rays. The particular fracture on his wrist didn't show up until later on, and he continued to play during this time frame."
Lotz said they had "a lot of difficulty" in getting the deposition of Leaf to move the case forward. In the end, Lotz suspects Leaf dropped the case because of the difficulty he'd likely have in fighting for it – and the publicity it might bring. Stern declined comment about the matter, as did family members.
"You've got to be kidding me," said Leaf's mother, Marcia. "I'm not talking to the
Union-Tribune. Goodbye."
In the wake of their pending divorce, Leaf's soon-to-be ex-wife Nicole still lives in San Diego and is still listed as a co-owner of a house the couple purchased after their separation. She filed for divorce June 30, citing irreconcilable differences in a marriage that lasted two years, eight months.
The two sold their former home in the Carmel Valley area late last year for $2.35 million. Within a few weeks, they were listed as joint owners of a new $990,000 home in the Rancho Bernardo area – though Leaf is said to be turning the new house over to his former wife in an uncontested divorce case.
In the past month, he was served his divorce papers in Idaho, where his return to the Northwest marks a bittersweet homecoming of sorts for the prodigal former prodigy. A native of Great Falls, Mont., Leaf recently was recognized as the "Enemy of the State" of his own home state in a poll by
Sports Illustrated. He drew 10 percent of the most-hated votes from Montanans, beating out New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (eight percent) and Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis (seven percent).
Though it wouldn't take much, Leaf's younger brother Brady might even eclipse Ryan's home state popularity by making a name for himself at Oregon, where he's listed as a backup redshirt freshman quarterback entering the 2004 season. At 6-foot-5, Brady Leaf has the same build and brawn that made Ryan a force in the Pac-10 in 1997.
Brady Leaf also has acquired a similar taste for the San Diego media. He declined to comment to the
Union-Tribune about his brother's career change, conforming to the standard public position of those who both love and hate Ryan Leaf. Good or bad, they'd rather not talk about him.
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uppy: 
