Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Ryan Leaf was arrested Friday afternoon on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.

According to a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s booking report, Leaf was arrested around 2 p.m. in Palm Desert, Calif., on a single domestic battery charge. Details of the incident that resulted in his arrest are unknown at this time.

Leaf was booked at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility and released Friday night on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled for a court hearing in September, per the report.

Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor domestic battery on Friday afternoon in Palm Springs, Calif., about 110 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Leaf was released late Friday night from Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility on $5,000 bail. He is due back in court on Sept. 25 to answer to the charges.

It is unclear who the alleged victim is in the case.

It wasn’t immediately known if Leaf had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Leaf, 44, one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, has dealt with drug, legal problems and mental health issues since flaming out of the league by the time he was 25.

The much-hyped quarterback was the second overall pick in the 1998 draft by the Chargers, one spot behind two-time Super Bowl champ Peyton Manning. He lasted three years in San Diego and then had a short stint with the Cowboys before personal problems and poor play drove him out of the league. He finished his NFL career with a 4-17 record with 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.

It was a stunning fall for a player who had finished third in the Heisman voting during the 1997 season playing for Washington State and was thought to have a legit shot to be the first overall pick.

Leaf’s problems eventually landed him in a Montana prison for 32 months between 2012 and 2014 after he was arrested for breaking into the homes of friends and strangers to steal oxycodone and Vicodin to fuel his drug habit. He had been on probation at the time of his arrest for swiping pills from injured players while he was an assistant football coach at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas.

After his release from prison, Leaf began to rebuild his life and has worked to help addicts and alcoholics stay sober as a Program Ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community.

Last July, Leaf was hired by ESPN to be a football analyst. Leaf worked for the Pac-12 Network last season and has been co-hosting a show on SiriusXM’s Pac-12 channel.

Ryan Leaf’s latest run-in with the law saw the ESPN college football analyst and former NFL quarterback arrested Friday and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery charge in Palm Desert, California, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s department.

Police only referred to the alleged victim as a spouse, former spouse, fiancee, dating partner or co-parent.

The 44-year-old Leaf was being held on $5,000 bail as of Saturday morning, and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Leaf is considered one of the biggest busts in NFL history after being selected No. 2 following Peyton Manning in the 1998 draft. He has often found himself in trouble since his career flamed out in 2001 after four seasons, in which he made just under $13 million, with the Chargers and Cowboys.

Leaf then began self-medicating with Vicodin and in 2009 was sentenced to 10 years of probation and fined $20,000 after facing drug and burglary charges in Texas.

Leaf then spent two years in prison in 2012 after breaking into a Montana home to steal prescription drugs, which was in violation of his Texas probation order.

A year later, Leaf was found guilty of “behavior that violated conditions of his drug treatment placement,” which included accusations of threatening a program staff member at the rehabilitation center. Leaf was sentenced to five years in prison but was released seven months later.

The former Washington State star has since worked to rebuild his reputation, and his road to recovery culminated in an ESPN gig ahead of the 2019 college football season.

Before his first TV appearance with ESPN, Leaf tweeted, “How’s this for a story…2nd Pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. Crash & Burn so bad many consider the biggest draft bust ever, goes to prison, chooses to get back up and carry on. 6 years later, employed by @espn living the dream and cohosting #nfllive for the 1st time today! #soberlife.”

Leaf, who was listed by police as 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, has been engaged to Anna Kleinsorge, a former Georgetown volleyball player, since 2017 and they have one child together. Leaf previously was married to Nicole Licia, a former Chargers cheerleader, but the two separated in 2003 and later divorced.

Ryan Leaf, the former Washington State quarterback and No. 2 overall NFL draft pick who recovered from substance abuse problems to carve out a career in sports broadcasting, was reportedly arrested Friday in Palm Springs, California, on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge according to TMZ.

According to a booking report filed by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Leaf was charged with domestic battery of a spouse, former spouse, fiancee, dating partner, or co-parent and was arrested by the Palm Desert Police Department around 2 p.m. Leaf was then booked into jail at 3:32 p.m., according to the report.

Bail for Leaf was set at at $5,000. He was still in custody when this story was posted and no further details about what may have led to the reported dispute are available. Leaf is set to appear in court at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

The 44-year-old has been engaged to Anna Kleinsorge, a former Georgetown volleyball player, since 2017. She gave birth to their first child, McGyver, in October 2017. Leaf was formerly married to Nicole Lucia, at the time a cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers – the team that made Leaf the No. 2 pick of the NFL draft in 1998 – but the two separated in 2003 and later filed for divorce.

On Thursday, Leaf posted a video of his son running in circles in their house, along with a caption that read, “Come on…this is one cute kiddo, loving this time with my family. Look what we made @bannanazon #loveyou.” The Twitter handle, @bannanazon, is linked to an account for Leaf’s fiancee, Kleinsorge.

A native of Great Falls, Leaf has spent the past two years working as a college football color analyst. He worked multiple WSU games for the Pac-12 Network before inking a deal with the ESPN networks last July. Leaf and broadcast partner Clay Matvick were on the call for the Cougars’ most recent game, a 31-21 loss to Air Force in the Cheez-It Bowl at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Last year, Leaf was also inducted into the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 2019 class, and was celebrated on the field during the Cougars’ Sept. 7 game against Northern Colorado.

Leaf’s career in the NFL lasted just five seasons. The former Heisman Trophy finalist is widely considered one of professional football’s biggest disappointments, especially in relation to where he was picked in the 1998 draft, just one spot after Indianapolis Colts great and future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.

Seven years after his NFL career ended, after Leaf made just 21 starts with the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, he encountered legal trouble and was indicted on burglary and controlled-substance charges in Texas. Three years later, Leaf was in Great Falls when he was arrested on burglary, theft and drug charges, then arrested less than a week later on similar charges.

Leaf’s situation worsened when he was found guilty of “behavior that violated conditions of his drug treatment placement” and subsequently accused of threatening a program staff member at his rehabilitation center. In May 2014, Leaf was incarcerated in Shelby, Montana, and four months later was sentenced to five years, although he was released seven months later.

Since his release, Leaf has managed to curb his substance abuse problems and used his platform to speak to various groups about the severity of drug addiction. In addition to his work in sports media – Leaf co-hosts a Pac-12 radio show on Sirius XM – the former QB has served as a program ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community, a group of sober living houses in cities across the country.

Leaf delivered a speech at a HOF ceremony in Spokane the night before he was celebrated in front of tens of thousands of fans at Martin Stadium, telling the crowd, “I can only expect there were many years when the athlete maybe deserved to be here, but the man didn’t live up to it. And that’s why I think it’s so much more special today. I’m so glad I’m sober to appreciate what you guys have given me.

“Over the last 21 years since I left Washington State, for a long time I didn’t represent the crimson and gray very well. And because my name was recognized and talked about all the time when I messed up, you guys were drug down into the mud with it, and you didn’t deserve it. It’s an opportunity for me to apologize to all of you for having been that person for so long.”

The former NFL quarterback was taken into custody around 2 PM PT. He was booked for domestic battery — and bail was set at $5,000. As of this writing, he is in custody. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.The incident comes at a time when Leaf was covering college football as an analyst for ESPN and had been forthcoming about his sobriety and the abuse issues that led to him spending time in jail.

Leaf, 44, played college football at Washington State. He was the second pick in the 1998 NFL Draft behind Peyton Manning by the San Diego Chargers. He was 4-17 as a starter in three NFL seasons, two with the Chargers and one with the Dallas Cowboys.

Leaf found all sorts of trouble on and off the field with San Diego after his short time there in his NFL career. He was arrested twice in 2012 and charged with burglary and theft of prescription drugs. In 2014, Leaf was sentenced to five years for breaking into a home in Montana to steal prescription drugs, and for violating probation.

Leaf has been engaged to Anna Kleinsorge, a former Georgetown volleyball player, since 2017. Kleinsorge gave birth to their first child, McGyver, in October of 2017.

 

Former Washington State and NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested Friday in Palm Springs, California, according to jail records.

Leaf, 44, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery by the Palm Desert Police Department at 1:59 p.m. Friday, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s office jail records. Leaf is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday and is being held on $5,000 bail.

Leaf played for the Cougars from 1995-97 and led them to the 1998 Rose Bowl, their first appearance in the game in 67 years. He was selected with the second overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers.

The former quarterback has had a history of substance-abuse and legal troubles. In 2014, Leaf was sentenced to five years for breaking into a home in Montana to steal prescription drugs, and for violating a probation. He was arrested twice in 2012 and charged with burglary and theft of prescription drugs.

Leaf has been engaged to Anna Kleinsorge, a former Georgetown volleyball player, since 2017. Kleinsorge gave birth to their first child, McGyver, in October of 2017. Leaf was formerly married to Nicole Lucia, at the time a cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers – but the two separated in 2003 and later filed for divorce.

Leaf has been open about his road to sobriety since and was hired by ESPN as a college football analyst in 2019.

This story will be updated.