What If?

Leaf: Could easily have joined the Colts

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I wish I had made this connection first. I really do, because it is a humdinger and would potentially have re-written much of the NFL history of the past 10 years.

To start with, you have to cast your mind back to the 1998 Draft and the two potential star 'draws,' both quarterbacks, both rated as among the best of recent years and both of them hard to separate by many scouts.

In that year's Draft, Indianapolis were picking at No.1 after a season in which they had gone 3-13 in the AFC East (yes, it still seems outlandish and weird the league could have had them in that division at the same time the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars were dwelling in the AFC Central. But then Carolina were in the NFC WEST and Arizona had been residing in the NFC EAST since their move from St Louis in 1987. I'm sure it made sense at the time, but now you look back and go "Huh??" Actually, I take that back. It still made no sense at that time and everyone was definitely going "Huh??").

Picking second were those same mis-placed Cardinals, who'd gone a fairly miserable 4-12, as had San Diego, who were lined up to select in third. Arizona currently had their 'quarterback of the future' in Jake Plummer but the Colts were being led by a fading Jim Harbaugh while the Chargers had tried all of Stan Humphries, Craig Whelihan, Jim Everett and Todd Philcox under centre during their disastrous '97 campaign.

Therefore, both Indy and San Diego were keenly in the market for a new QB and both were evaluating the two 'crown jewels' of the Draft in minute detail. Option One was rated as more mature but Option Two was a bigger, stronger and, said some, better long-term bet. Either way, these were two players who were set to have a major impact on the league for years to come, according to the sages.

Well, they were half right.

The Colts did, in fact, grab Option One, while the Chargers traded with the Cardinals to snap up Option Two, securing him with a four-year, $31.25million deal, plus a then-record $11.25m signing bonus.

Horror

However, if Indy had not been such shrewd judges, it is perfectly possible - according to some of the pundits now looking at this revisionist version of gridiron history - they might have opted for No.2 rather than No.1. And, as any watcher of Blind Date might recoil in horror, they would now be crying "You must be joking, Cilla!"

For, instead of nine playoff appearances in 10 years, including the 2006 Super Bowl and another AFC Championship game, the Colts could easily be looking at a 10-year wasteland of missed opportunities and regrets.

San Diego, meanwhile, would have had Peyton Manning fall in their laps and it's hard to imagine the Chargers NOT getting to at least one Super Bowl, blessed as they already were with a vintage-era Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison (before they both found their way to title-winning teams in New England).

From 2001 he would have been handing off to LaDainian Tomlinson and he could also have been throwing to Antonio Gates a couple of years later. You also have to think he could have made big-time receivers out of the likes of Curtis Conway, David Boston and Keenan McCardell.

Would we have heard much from Marvin Harrison - or would he even have hung around in Indianapolis if Option Two had been throwing him the ball for those three years? Would Tony Dungy have considered the Colts much of an option after being dumped by Tampa Bay, and would this most admirable of men have been lost to the NFL?

The questions come thick and fast in our revisionist league of 10 years ago. Because, as most people will have guessed by now, that dreaded second option in the Draft back then was non other than Ryan Leaf, the shocking, lacklustre, angry and, as it turned out, complete misfit of a quarterback who the Chargers drafted out of Washington State University.

Rowed

And the same Ryan Leaf who was arrested in Washington on Wednesday, charged with eight drugs offences and one count of burglary from his supposed job as quarterbacks coach at West Texas A&M last November.

It is certainly not news that Leaf was a massive bust way back then. He started just 21 games in four seasons, throwing 14 touchdowns and a monstrous 36 interceptions for a quarterback rating of only 50.0. In his first nine games, he had 2 TDs and 13 INTs. At the same time, he rowed with reporters, fans and even team-mates.

He was unceremoniously bombed out by San Diego after the 2000 season, and then Tampa Bay and Dallas in quick succession. Seattle took a punt on him in pre-season in 2002, but the 26-year-old then 'retired' from the game, claiming an improperly-treated wrist injury had ruined his career.

His most recent history - going through drug rehab in Canada - had made a lot of headlines during the Draft just two months ago, and now his arrest on top of that has made numerous pundits grab their NFL stats books and look again at 'What if?'

It is a sad and salutary tale, with an uncertain and distinctly cloudy look to the future for Leaf himself, still only 33 and with a trail of devastation in his wake, nearly all of it self-inflicted.

But, if anyone again questions why teams spend SO long and go into SUCH depth in their draft evaluation, there is just one simple answer. His name is Ryan Leaf, and Colts fans almost certainly give thanks every night to Bill Polian for making the 'right' pick 10 years ago in his very first Draft selection with his new team. And Chargers fans are left to moan, quietly, at what might have been.