Leaf Me Alone!

When the big boys fall, they sure do fall hard.

Such was the case with Ryan Leaf. Leaf was one of the hottest prospects coming out of college in 1998. It was a crowded year; Leaf finished third in the Heisman vote that year, losing out to Peyton Manning (second) and Charles Woodson (first). Regardless, Leaf caused waves during the draft, and went second to the San Diego Chargers who gave away quite a lot to get that coveted second spot.

Leaf went on to a memorable start that season, winning his first two pre-season games -- a feat last matched by John Elway. Those two games, however, were the last two memorable games of Leaf's career.

The third game was a mess, with some memorable statistics: 1-for-15 for 4 yards and 5 interceptions. After the game, leaf took out his mighty anger on a reporter, and had to be restrained by Junior Seau. The Chargers went on to lose 15 games that season behind Leaf's Not-So-Mighty arm. Leaf left the Chargers shortly after and met his ultimate demise following several quite brief stops with the Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Seahawks.

We all miss ya, Ryan -- NOT!

Joe Just Wants A Kiss

Sideline interview during a Monday Night Football game. What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty! as proven by the following clip. It was December 20 2003. The Jets were playing at home, and during halftime a ceremony was held to introduc their All-Time Jets squad. 'Broadway' Joe Namath was in attendance, along with other Jets greats.

Following a commercial break, coverage returned with Suzy Kolber interviewing Joe about the performance of Chad Pennington, the Jets' quarterback at the time. Apparently, Joe had a bit too much to drink at the celebration, and instead of answering Kolber's question proceeded to profess his attraction to her. Comedy Gold.

Namath checked in to rehab a few weeks later.

Jim vs. Jim

This one almost slipped out of my conscious, had it not been for the large billboard of Jim Rome I saw in Culver City last night.

Back in the day, before his persona became too much for him to live up to, Jim Rome actually was quite an a-hole. One of his more famous targets was Jim Everett, whom he repeatedly mocked as "Chris Evert", famous female tennis pro, due to his aversion to being hit after multiple concussions.

Rome finally had the cojones to invite Everett to be a guest on his show in 1994. As soon as Everett sat down, Rome launched into the "Chris" bit, at which point Everett all but threatened Rome with physical violence, predicting that Rome would cool off. Of course he didn't, and what followed was this gem of a clip.

Theisman Goes Down!

Perhaps one of the more unforgettable sports injuries ever. On the Blitz, Lawrence Taylor gets through the line and nails Joe Theisman, only to hop up after the tackle calling frantically for the medical staff. One can only imagine that LT heard Theisman's leg snap as he went down. I even find this video hard to watch sometimes, but it's certainly not as gruesome as some others that are still to come.

This video is from an ESPN retrospective, and includes some additional commentary from Theisman and others.