ESPN hires former Washington State star, NFL QB Ryan Leaf as college football analyst

SettingsCancelSetHave an existing account?Already have a subscription?Don't have an account?Get the newsLet friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutRyan Leaf, the former Washington State star who washed out of the NFL and later served time in prison, will call college football games for ESPN.A link has been sent to your friend's email address.A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez, USA TODAY Sports)The 43-year-old Leaf, a native of Montana, said he reached out to former players who had made the transition to television such as Joel Klatt, Brady Quinn and Kirk Herbstreit and they allowed him to shadow them on assignments.“I realized two things: I really wanted to do it and I really felt like I could do a good job at it,” Leaf said.Leaf credited Fox NFL reporter Jay Glazer for supporting and mentoring him as he attempted to enter the business, Steve Cohen, vice president of sports programming at SiriusXM, for building a show around him and ESPN coordinating producer for college football Ed Placey for guiding him through the process with the all-sports network.Leaf shadowed ESPN’s Greg McElroy, another former college quarterback who has been a hit on television, when he called the Washington State-Southern California game in Los Angeles last season.