Just My Type

The Interview
Ryan Leaf
FORMER CHARGERS QB

Leaf, who was drafted No. 2 in 1998 behind Peyton Manning, retired from football in 2002. He is a football and golf coach at West Texas A&M.

Dan Patrick: If Peyton Manning weren't so successful, would it have been easier for you in terms of how you've been viewed and labeled?

Ryan Leaf: The label probably wouldn't be as dramatic, but he's always been very successful. More power to him, he's a great guy. And it doesn't diminish what I'm trying to accomplish. Peyton and I, we're always going to be linked. It's ironic: I had some of my storage stuff from Montana shipped down to Texas, and I ran across—I forgot I even had it—an Indianapolis Colts jersey, number 16, with LEAF on the back, that I think they had ready for draft day. I'm thinking about auctioning it off for charity. There's no reason for me to keep it. [Laughs.]

DP: How did you get the jersey?

RL: I don't know. It was either [at the draft] or a football card shoot that we did, and we had to dress up in both jerseys.

DP: When you start getting phone calls during draft week, you know what it's for, right?

RL: Definitely. But we had our golf conference championships, and I was also in Phoenix recruiting. So I haven't really had much time [to talk].

DP: What's tougher: to be a professional quarterback or golfer?

RL: They say that the toughest thing to do is to be a professional quarterback, and I can attest to that in some sense. But when I watch people like Tiger, Trevor Immelman at the Masters, it's a pretty awesome sight.