Ryan Leaf has a brain tumor . . .
hopefully he gets better soon!
Hope he pulls out of it ,gets back into coaching, and becomes great at it. Good luck man!
Sounds as though he's getting control of things finally... hope he gets past the tumor too.
Shame to hear. Hope he's able to pull through it.
PSA - let's keep the comments clean and respectful, regardless of your personal feelings about the man.
Good luck. He had a better year than Peyton Manning their last year in college.
I have to admit, I was one of those people who thought Leaf would be better than Manning. The guy was just a physical specimen who could do it all. Even though we held him in check in the Rose Bowl, it was clear the guy had loads of talent ... but he obviously had some personal issues too.
Hope he can find a way to get through this. Sad news regardless of his football career.
I remember thinking the Colts were IDIOTS for taking Peyton ahead of Leaf.
Dude was a force of nature in college, and if he had the same supporting skill position talent as Michigan had, I don't know how our defense would have held him in check. As it stood, it took the Woodson INT in the endzone to win the day.
But 90% of the game is half mental, I suppose.
At any rate, here's to Ryan beating the tumor and succeeding in future endeavors.
are with him! There was no disrespect in your comment, only truth said in a humble and honoring way. One of those elephants in the rooom...Everyone is thinking it, but maybe not the time to say it. Post taken repectfully on this end.
Anyone with cancer deserves our empathy and support.
To be fair, the tumor is benign, but your sentiment still stands.
Wow, that was poorly worded. Asssuming that you aren't trying to be a prick, you could actually be right. i suppose this could have had an impact on his personality. (Is there a doctor in the house who could opine on this?) That would make this even more tragic as he could have been a major star.
A brain tumor can potentially affect one's personality, depending on where it occurs. However, given the kind of medical treatment pro football players have access to, I feel like if he had the tumor back then, it would have been identified. Tumors are generally accompanied by terrible headaches and dizzy spells. If he persistently had those while he was playing, at some point the team doctors would have advised some tests.
My sister had a tumor the size of a golf ball removed this past summer. Her only symptom and the reason it was discovered is she felt like she had a clogged ear that wouldn't clear up. After antibiotics and allergy medicine didn't do anything she had an MRI.
It was growing on her ear nerve and was very close to her brain stem. She lost her hearing when it was removed, but other than that she's back in good health. I'm very curious if Leaf had the same tumor since it a condition called NF2.
That sucks. Poor guy. Hopefully he will be able to pull through.
At least the tumor is benign but still, what an ordeal. I hope he comes through it all ok.
Thought this guy would be amazing in the NFL, hope he pulls through and Im sure he will!
I kinda feel bad for the guy. It's possible that this undiscovered tumor was the cause of all his problems, and everyone just thought he was a headcase. Hopefully he's able to make a full recovery, and can start living a normal life.
The tumor is benign; it could have been there since college or just after and nobody would have known it. IT sounds like it has had a lot of time to snake into the places it has gone. It could have been subtly bothering him for years without him knowing why he hurt. In macho cultures like football, people often try to suppress or ignore pain so they don't look like a wuss.
The link between chronic pain and OCD-type problems/drug addiction has been well-established for years, so it's not much of a stretch to think it may very well have been the main cause of his career going sideways.
I agree, since he left WSU, it has been a downhill battle for Ryan. Man I hope at the end he beats this and can live a healthy life.
Hopefully he gets better.
He threw for 3,666 yards and 14 touchdowns in his career, but is considered one of the league's biggest busts before later struggling with drugs.
I wish they didn't put this in there. I get why they bring him up around draft day, but whenever there is news? Let the man heal up before we go back bashing him, we can use JeMarcus Russell until he's better!
I agree about letting him heal before we bash him again. We did it for Saint Dantonio and it worked out fine. I hope it works out even better for Leaf.
Wish him the best. Hopefully he can overcome this health issue and return to coaching.
what a bust
EDIT: Ok, looking at the above comments, I'm going to assume that you're mocking the insensitivity of the ESPN article.
But really, this is a case where you're being too fine with the irony (if I'm correct.) I don't think I was just being thick by failing to see what you were doing the first time around - plenty of people are going to look at these comments without reading the ESPN piece itself.
I don't think they were meaning to bash Leaf I think they just were telling the casual fan who he was in case you didn't know.
That is an accurate depiction of how he is known.
I wish him luck I hope it all goes smoothly and he recovers quickly.