Report: Former NFL QB Ryan Leaf Arrested on Misdemeanor Domestic Battery Charge

Paul KasabianSenior ContributorMay 23, 2020

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2000 file photo, San Diego Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf rolls out of the pocket as he looks for a receiver in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos in Denver. Leaf posted a $45,000 bond Wednesday June 17, 2009 in Washington state for drug and burglary charges out of Texas after being arrested by customs agents as he returned to the United States from Canada. (AP Photo/Kevin Higley, File)

KEVIN HIGLEY/Associated Press

Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge in Palm Desert, California, on Friday afternoon, per TMZ Sports.

Bail has been set for $5,000. Per TMZ Sports, Leaf was still in custody as of 10 p.m. ET.

The San Diego Chargers selected Leaf second overall out of Washington State in the 1998 NFL draft. His career did not pan out, and he was out of the league in four years.

Leaf then found himself in and out of legal trouble, including an arrest in 2012 for breaking and entering into a Montana home to steal prescription drugs, per Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press.

However, the 44-year-old Leaf worked to turn his life around in recent years, serving as a Program Ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community, which is a sober living community dedicated to caring for clients in the process of an addiction or mental health recovery.

Leaf also worked as a college football analyst for ESPN last season.

Per KREM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Spokane, Washington, Leaf was specifically arrested on a "charge of misdemeanor battery of a spouse, ex-spouse, fiance, dating partner or co-parent." He is being held at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Center in Banning, California.

A court date is scheduled for Wednesday at the Indio Larson Justice Center in Indio, California, per the Riverside County Sheriff jail information management system.