Former NFL QB Ryan Leaf Arrested on Domestic Battery Charge

Ryan Leaf was arrested Friday in Palm Desert, Calif., on a single domestic battery charge.

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

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.

Leaf, 44, had a standout college career at Washington State and led the Cougars to the Rose Bowl in 1997. He went on to be selected No. 2 overall by the Chargers in the 1998 NFL draft.

After a tumultuous three-year NFL career, Leaf’s personal life fell apart. He spent two years in prison after being arrested in 2012 for breaking into a home in Montana to steal prescription drugs and violating his Texas probation.

Leaf worked to turn his life around after his release and landed a job as a college football analyst with ESPN in 2019.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.