Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf, who has been struggling to overcome issues with drug addiction, first landed on the radar of authorities in his hometown of Great Falls, Montana a month ago.
According to the Great Falls Tribune, the Central Montana Drug Task Force received a tip from the U.S. Postal Service (we’re monitoring the Twitter accounts of various NFL Network analysts for disclosure of the “snitch”) that Leaf was receiving “suspicious cash-on-delivery packages from Florida” with values in the range of $500 to $700.
Leaf was summoned to the Great Falls Probation and Parole office Friday. “We questioned him about the packages and searched his residence and vehicle,” Great Falls Police Sgt. Chris Hickman said.
In a golf bag inside Leaf’s truck, authorities found 20 Oxycodone pills in an unlabeled bottle. Another bottle containing pain medication was found with a label identifying an associate of Leaf’s. Leaf allegedly entered the man’s house on Wednesday and swiped the bottle.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor in West Texas who negotiated Leaf’s 10-year probation after he pleaded guilty to eight drug charges in 2010 said a motion will be filed to revoke Leaf’s probation. That could end up being the more problematic entanglement for Leaf.
Either way, it appears that Leaf’s second strike could result in a prison stay.
Leaf was the second overall pick in the 1998 draft, and he’s regarded as one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history. Amazingly, the Colts actually wrestled with the question of whether to take Leaf or Peyton Manning with the first selection that year.