"The city didn't really embrace him when he got drafted," Leaf said of McNabb. "He was able to sit back and learn and feel his way around, and become one of the best quarterbacks in this league. As for me, I was really embraced and thrown right into the mix, and things went poorly. It was kind of the opposite deal."
It's hard to believe, but there was debate about whether Leaf or Peyton Manning should be the first pick of the '98 draft. A lot of so-called experts liked Leaf's mobility and arm strength better than Manning's. The Indianapolis Colts will be forever grateful that they did not share that opinion. They took Manning.
The San Diego Chargers took Leaf. He almost immediately became the poster boy for spoiled, clueless athletes. He didn't get along with his teammates. He didn't listen to his coaches. He was videotaped snarling obscenities at a reporter.
"I've always been a real emotional type of player," Leaf said. "I wore my emotions on my sleeve. In college, you can get away with it, because it's seen as a leadership quality. An NFL quarterback can't be like that. You can't get away with that at this level. You're in the spotlight too much, and you have to be a certain way.
"That's something that's learned. In my situation, it was learned by going through tough situations. I've been through those hardships."
Leaf, who is only 25, conceded that he created most of those hardships for himself. He blamed only some of what happened on the perhaps unrealistic expectations placed on the second pick of the draft.
"I expected that of myself as well, though," Leaf said. "It doesn't matter what other people expected of me. I expected to go out and play at a high level. It's tough to come into this league without anyone around, anyone to look on at the quarterback position.
