Has Leaf changed his colors?

By Scott M. Johnson

Herald Writer

KIRKLAND – He sat down at the front of a room that included about 30 media members packed in like sardines and led with his best material, stand-up style.

“This is a lot of attention for a third-string quarterback,” Ryan Leaf deadpanned in his first appearance in front of the Seattle media since officially becoming a member of the Seahawks.

True. But when you’ve had a career like that of Leaf, every press conference has the appeal of a NASCAR race. You never know if there’s going to be a 15-car pileup.

Much to the chagrin of the local media in attendance, Leaf was on his best behavior during a 26-minute session on Wednesday afternoon. The former Washington State University star did nothing to raise a single eyebrow. He shouldered the blame for his past struggles, explained calmly how his maturity has made him a better person, and admitted without shame that his only viable option other than the Seahawks was retirement.

It was a much different Ryan Leaf than the one whose NFL career has included almost as many regrettable comments as it has interceptions.

“It’s been disappointing,” Leaf said of his four-year NFL career. “But if I hadn’t gone through what I’ve been through, I don’t think I’d be where I am now. I’m a lot different person than I was when I came into this league. You grow from all the things you go through. Hopefully we can start something special here, and I can look back and say that I’m glad I went through all those things early in my career.”

Even if Leaf has truly changed his colors, which seemed to be the case while he was with the Dallas Cowboys last season, the Seahawks’ main concern is whether he can regain his on-the-field form of 1997, when he led WSU to the Rose Bowl. Coach Mike Holmgren has always believed that Leaf has the tools to become an elite NFL quarterback, a theory that Holmgren himself will finally get to test first-hand.

“If he can play like he played a few years ago,” Holmgren said, “then we’ve got a chance to have a great thing going.”

That is much easier said than done. Leaf’s playing career has still yet to flourish, as his 50.0 career quarterback rating would prove. After a forgettable rookie season, Leaf’s once unshakeable confidence seemed to have disappeared. Somehow, the Seahawks are hoping Leaf can get that moxie back – only without the cockiness he often displayed off the field.

“Whether it is golf or tennis with my wife, anything, I am going to compete and be brash,” Leaf said. “I am just a different person on and off the field now, where early on I was the same guy on and off the field. You just have to decipher the two, and it makes your life a lot easier.”

Leaf’s career struggles have seemed to force a sense of modesty into his personality, which might have opened his mind in terms of learning the game.

“Quarterbacks in the same situation have come in with an attitude of humility, and Ryan has come in with that,” quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn said. “He came in and said, ‘I just want the opportunity,’ not, ‘You need me.’ That point of emphasis is significant in his career right now.”

Having yet to see him throw in person, Zorn was careful not to predict what kind of success Leaf might have in Seattle’s system. Leaf comes in as the No. 3 quarterback behind Trent Dilfer and Matt Hasselbeck, so there are really no expectations for the player who once drew comparisons to Dan Marino.

“We’re all going to be observing him,” Zorn said. “The main thing is for him to relax and get his mind focused on what he has to do and not worry about what he has and what he doesn’t have. He just has to be ready to do what we ask him to do.”

During his first public statements since signing a one-year deal with the Seahawks, Leaf seemed candid and humble on Wednesday. He admitted that he saw only two options after being released by the Cowboys: signing with Seattle or retirement. He also said that he knows he still has a lot to learn about the position, something he wouldn’t have admitted as a 21-year-old rookie.

“I have a little brother now who’s 22, and him and I are worlds apart. But I was there when I was his age,” Leaf said. “Everything I’ve done and messed up, it was just done publicly. I definitely wasn’t ready for it. But I’m in a totally different place right now.

“I hear all that stuff, and three or four years ago, I probably was that guy. He wasn’t very mature, and he was kind of a jerk at times. But it’s the same guy that was playing in Pullman, too. But I’m a lot different now. I’m a lot different from that last year (at WSU), too, when everyone seemed to enjoy me. There were a lot of things I did then that I would not do now. That’s just growing up.”

Those who know Leaf well believe he has somehow changed his spots. A marriage two years ago, along with Leaf’s improved maturity, have allowed him to leave better impressions on everyone around him.

“He’s a normal guy,” said WSU coach Mike Price, who has remained a friend and loyal supporter to Leaf over the years. “I think he got down a little and lost his confidence at times. I don’t think it was any more or any less than anyone could expect. It’s been a difficult situation, and he’s handled it the best he could. Maybe he wishes he had handled it differently at times.”

Leaf’s desire to turn his career around seems sincere. He says that he shed a few pounds during the offseason as part of a weight program with a Dallas trainer and that he sees his signing in Seattle as perhaps the final chance of his career.

“Every opportunity you get in the NFL is probably your last,” he said. “I’m just lucky to get another opportunity. I don’t see myself going anywhere else, even if this doesn’t work out.”