Thank you for your opinion and well wishes. In turn I deserve neither congratulations nor accolades. It was my selfishness that caused so much hurt for my family, and menace to my community. I had an exceptional support network of close family and friends, had that not been there, there is no way I could have stayed clean. Believe me it was not initially my choice to get sober, I was thrown in jail. When it came time for a bail hearing my mom did the best thing she ever did for me, she told the judge to keep me in jail. My wife came and saw me at the jail and said if you ever get loaded again you will never see me or the kids again. Every ounce of trust and respect I have from my family was earned not by talking and running my mouth but by my actions and doing the right thing. I consider myself to be very lucky because 1 out of 10 people who are addicts have a support network.

Thank you for listening to my long winded comment but I think it needs to be said that people who use drugs and drink are not victims they are predators who take advantage of people who love them. How do I know? Because I am an addict who happens to not be using today.

Joe, I realize you are the world’s number 1 Raider homer..but do you really want to talk about draft busts? Really?

Also, is it me does it seem Ryan Leaf enjoys having his name interjected into the draft. This is the second time he was in the news during the draft. Last year it was when the media was playing the whole “boogie-man, we need to be afraid of Cam” tripping out they were doing.

He missed all of the trains, which is unfortunate. There was an ESPN special on him and his life a few years ago and so many people tried to help him. That label about being the biggest bust in NFL history is hard to deal with, but he hears that everywhere he goes, and gets right back into substance abuse and stealing to support the habit. How do you help a man like this? He has had numerous chances, more than most people and even judges cut him a break. At this point, we are well beyond redemption trains. They gave him lots of breaks to keep him out of jail, but that might actually be the only thing that saves his life.

This is not a character flaw he has. He has a terminal disease that ends only in prison or death unless he can learn the skills to heal himself (which is often times harder to do than it is for some people to be cured and stay in remission from some very deadly types of cancer)…. This stuff is no joke.

Leaf will wind up in prison. It is sort of odd that the US is the only modern, industrialized nation in the western world to treat this disease and the off shoots of it as a crime instead of a condition needing treatment. Now if Ryan robbed or caused harm to someone he needs to be punished.

However, when he was first in trouble, his drug problem was out in the open and the court should have never been given him probation in the first place…He should have been placed in a strict, impatient, residential treatment facility, at his own expense, for no less than 18 month and hopefully for a full 3 years.

But what happened…the court let him out on probation…Then Ryan got a book deal and a healthy advance of cash….He got back into the media spotlight a little ( with the interviews of his new book and how he overcame his issues).

So, with his new bag of cash and once again carrying the old moniker of the biggest bust ever drafted what do think happened next? It was easy and the drugs were there for him and Leaf was again ready to go down in flames and he quickly ended his one year plus sobriety time and now it is time to send him off to prison.

It is sad but he will be dead before he is 50 and the thing is, all he ever wanted to do was play football..But when he did play in the NFL he was nowhere near as good as everyone thought he would be….He became known as the biggest bust ever, and was called the worst qb to ever be drafted, to a wasted person, useless football player, a fraud etc…how did this all start?

Well the kicker or the death nail for the young Ryan Leaf came with an injury. He was hurt and then he was introduced to morphine and oxycodone and all other forms of addictive substances…These things were way more effective, dangerous and addictive than the vicodins he learned all to well about in college….

So, Ryan starts taking these meds for pain and when they were first taken, the meds killed his pain and he felt better. But the other big thing the meds did was it took the “sting” out of being a bust or a piece of junk as he was called by a fan during an autograph signing.

The meds helped to give him some dignity back…albeit for a very short time. Ryan had the “I do not give a damn what the critics and fans call me or say about me” attitude when he was high but it did not last long as he had to take more and more meds just to feel normal and before he knew he was in way too deep, over his head and headed to a coffin.

Like any thief in the night we all know his career was soon over after it started and was totally over after his addiction began. Way back then, in medical terms, his disease was just then getting to a terminal state with a very little chance for a good outcome.

Leaf was damaged goods, his life was falling apart and he was broke. Then suddenly he faced death every time he got high.

Now, do not get me wrong…I do not give junkies a free pass here and when they break the laws (other than taking the drugs themselves) they need to pay for their crimes and especially the types that includes direct impact to individuals…i.e. breaking-entering, any robbery, fraud or any other crime where there are “victims” involved.

So, goodbye Ryan. If you can get help in the big house please do it…if not, we will all be reading your obit in the next five years or so. Sorry.

Leaf spelled backwards is Fael

As in “Epic Fael”

This is not a character flaw he has. He has a terminal disease that ends only in prison or death unless he can learn the skills to heal himself (which is often times harder to get and stay clean than it is for some people to be cured and stay in remission from some types of deadly cancer)…. This stuff id not joke.

Leaf will wind up in prison and that is from the only modern, industrialized nation in the western world to treat this disease and the off shoots of it as a crime instead of a condition needing treatment. Now if he robbed and caused harm to someone he needs to be punished but this guy should have never been given probation in the first place…He should have been placed in a residential treatment facility, at his own expense, for no less than 3 years.

But what happened…the court let him out on probation…Then he got a book deal and a healthy advance of cash….he got back into the media with the interviews of his new book and how he overcame his issues….So, with this new bag of cash and the moniker of biggest bust ever drafted now being handed around the football all over again this was all Leaf needed to go down in flames….again….and end his one year plus sobriety and send him off to prison.

It is sad but he will be dead before he is 50 and the thing is, all he ever wanted to do was play football..But when he did he was nowhere near as good as everyone thought he would be….He became known as the biggest bust ever, and was called the worst qb to ever be drafted, to a wasted person, useless football player, a fraud etc…

Then comes the kicker or the death nail for the young Ryan…Finally, he had played some and he was hurt and then he was introduced to morphine and oxycodone and all other forms of addictive substances…These things were way more effective than the vicodins he learned all to well about in college….

So, Ryan starts taking these meds for pain and when they were first taken, the meds killed his pain and he felt better. But the big thing the meds did was it took the “sting” out of being a bust or a piece of junk as he was called by a fan in an autograph signing. The meds helped to give him some dignity back…albeit for a very short time the “I do not give a damn what the critics and fans call me or say about me” attitude did not last long as he had to take more and more meds just to feel normal and before he knew he was in way to deep.

Like any thief in the night we all know his career was soon over after his addiction began but in medical terms his disease was just then getting to a terminal state with little chance for a good outcome.
Leaf was damaged goods, his life was falling apart and he was broke. Then suddenly he faced death every time he got high.

Now, do not get me wrong…I do not give junkies a free pass here and when they break the laws (other than taking the drugs themselves) they need to pay for their crimes and especially the types that includes direct impact to individuals…i.e. breaking-entering, any robbery, fraud or any other crime where there are “victims” involved.

So, goodbye Ryan. If you can get help in the big house please do it…if not, we will all be reading your obit in the next five years or so. Sorry.

Slow news day? Cmon.