Former NFL Bust Ryan Leaf Arrested for Battery and Has to Be Running Out of Chances

Ryan Leaf was hard at work last year attempting to write a second act for himself. In joining ESPN as a college football analyst, the infamous NFL crashout surely intended to forge a new path forward as a pundit and put more distance between himself and not only his disastrous playing career, but also a string of shameful legal troubles.

Now, however, he's taken himself back to square one. On Friday, as first reported by TMZ, the 44-year-old Leaf was arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery in California.

It's not strictly apparent if the Chargers' No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft is still under full-time contract with ESPN, but this would seem to be the ideal opportunity for the Worldwide Leader to split with the ever-embattled gunslinger.

Dating back to 2009, Leaf has been implicated for an unfortunate list of criminal wrongdoings involving burglary, drug possession, and theft. He's faced both probation and two years of custody in the Montana state prison system, having been released in 2014.

Everyone loves a comeback story, and after becoming an active voice for sobriety and substance abuse treatment, one wouldn't have been wrong to back Leaf as a man on a long-delayed road to redemption. There shall be no convicting the innocent before the facts all come out, but this latest arrest is just bad, bad news and yet another black mark in a life that cannot seem to get on track.