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Aug. 11—PULLMAN — It was a quick trip to Pullman for Ryan Leaf and his USA Network colleagues on Monday.
The less than 24 hour-trip provided little time to hit up some of Leaf's favorite eateries — that will come in the fall, Leaf said, when the crew finds itself in town for some of the industry-high 22 Pac-12 football games on its broadcast schedule.
However, the trip provided plenty of time for USA Sports' "A team" of Leaf, serving as the network's lead in-game analyst for Pac-12 football, play-by-play broadcaster Nate Gatter and sideline reporter Lauren Green to spend the day with the Washington State Cougars and ... visit Leaf's former residence.
There, his colleagues had a question for him.
"'How did you fit four football players in that small house?' We were college kids; we weren't making any money at the time, right? So we had to stay wherever we could stay," said Leaf, a three-year Cougar quarterback and No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. "I just needed a bed to sleep at night after working hard at the facility. Showed them those places and then campus — it's a special campus up on the hill."
The three broadcasters, along with several other USA Network staff and crew members, visited four of the new Pac-12 schools, starting with Colorado State on Friday, Texas State on Saturday and Boise State on Sunday before making the trek to the Palouse.
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USA's other broadcast team of Ted Robinson, former Notre Dame running back Darius Walker and Dalen Cuff will visit Oregon State, San Diego State, Fresno State, and Utah State before the season begins.
USA, The CW Network and CBS, are the Pac-12's broadcast partners for football and basketball, with USA claiming the bulk of the conference's slate in the first season of a five-year deal.
"I know it can be a frustrating experience as a fan feeling like your school or your conference is being pushed aside by a network so that they can push the SEC and the Big 10 in your face, and we're going to be a network that prioritizes the Pac-12," Gatter said. "It's the only football that's on our air. We are going to live and breathe the Pac-12 all season long. And for the fans who want to do the same thing, we're going to be your place."
Leaf isn't the only Coug hired by USA Sports. Former WSU safety Erik Coleman will be a feature studio analyst and three-time Apple Cup-winning QB Alex Brink will join select USA studio shows while continuing to serve as the primary color commentator for Cougar football's radio broadcasts alongside the "Voice of the Cougs" Chris King.
"They're invested in this conference," Leaf said of his new employer. "We have the most games. We have the best conference games from week to week, and we're going to showcase those."
The opportunity to step into this lead analyst role means a lot to Leaf, he said, especially after the twists and turns his life has already taken.
Born in Great Falls, Mont., Leaf led the Cougs to the 1998 Rose Bowl to cap a record-breaking career as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Drafted behind Peyton Manning, Leaf was thrust into the spotlight and thoroughly criticized during his four-year NFL career.
He fell into legal trouble in 2010 and spent 32 months in prison from 2012-14 after pleading guilty to felony burglary and drug possession. In 2020, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in California and received three years of informal probation.
Leaf hasn't shied away from his faults or his path to sobriety, serving as a program ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community and The Menninger Clinic and making multiple speaking appearances where he has shared his story with a variety of audiences.
His path to sports broadcasting blossomed around the same time, starting with the Pac-12 Network and eventually leading to opportunities at ESPN, Westwood One Radio and The CW Network, where he got to broadcast a number of WSU games.
It was at Westwood that Gatter, his partner for a slew of marquee Pac-12 contests this fall, first worked with Leaf.
"He's had highs that very few people have. He's had lows that very few people have, and I think the way that he addresses them and shares them makes him uniquely relatable," Gatter said of Leaf. "His honesty and his humanity are obvious to everyone whether they meet him in person, hear him on a radio show, or watch him on television. And lastly, as though anybody around here doesn't know, he's a 'blanking' Coug."
Leaf said that veteran sports producer Jeff Behnke reached out to him in January to offer the network's lead football analyst role.
"As far as I've come from where I was 12 years ago," Leaf said. "for someone to have that support and confidence in you, that goes a long way."
Green, a sideline reporter for the Utah Jazz and former sprinter at Nevada, is familiar with the majority of the Pac-12, having competed in the Mountain West.
The chance to be a part of something new spoke to her, Green said.
She plans to transfer that excitement into the broadcasts.
"You're going to find something new when you're watching USA Sports," Green said. "You're going to learn something new about all of these schools in the Pac-12 that you didn't probably know before. We're going to take you inside these environments that we're in, and you're going to feel it, I think, at a more intimate level than you were watching on other networks."
In meeting Leaf, Green said she is impressed with his football knowledge and his ability to express it.
With broadcasting, Leaf has found an outlet for his love of the game.
"I call a game like if it were me and my dad when I was a kid sitting on the couch watching it," Leaf said. "I remember telling some guys that were new to it (that advice), and there was a light that switched in them. It wasn't as high pressure ... because we know so much football from the years of us playing it, and when we see it play out, it's easy for us to talk about it. The hard part about it is to know that you have to say it succinctly, probably within 15 seconds in layman's terms for people's grandparents that are home watching it, and that's not always easy. And when you find that you are pretty good at something like that, that's a special deal."
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, [email protected], or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Continue reading...
The less than 24 hour-trip provided little time to hit up some of Leaf's favorite eateries — that will come in the fall, Leaf said, when the crew finds itself in town for some of the industry-high 22 Pac-12 football games on its broadcast schedule.
However, the trip provided plenty of time for USA Sports' "A team" of Leaf, serving as the network's lead in-game analyst for Pac-12 football, play-by-play broadcaster Nate Gatter and sideline reporter Lauren Green to spend the day with the Washington State Cougars and ... visit Leaf's former residence.
There, his colleagues had a question for him.
"'How did you fit four football players in that small house?' We were college kids; we weren't making any money at the time, right? So we had to stay wherever we could stay," said Leaf, a three-year Cougar quarterback and No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. "I just needed a bed to sleep at night after working hard at the facility. Showed them those places and then campus — it's a special campus up on the hill."
The three broadcasters, along with several other USA Network staff and crew members, visited four of the new Pac-12 schools, starting with Colorado State on Friday, Texas State on Saturday and Boise State on Sunday before making the trek to the Palouse.
Advertisement
USA's other broadcast team of Ted Robinson, former Notre Dame running back Darius Walker and Dalen Cuff will visit Oregon State, San Diego State, Fresno State, and Utah State before the season begins.
USA, The CW Network and CBS, are the Pac-12's broadcast partners for football and basketball, with USA claiming the bulk of the conference's slate in the first season of a five-year deal.
"I know it can be a frustrating experience as a fan feeling like your school or your conference is being pushed aside by a network so that they can push the SEC and the Big 10 in your face, and we're going to be a network that prioritizes the Pac-12," Gatter said. "It's the only football that's on our air. We are going to live and breathe the Pac-12 all season long. And for the fans who want to do the same thing, we're going to be your place."
Leaf isn't the only Coug hired by USA Sports. Former WSU safety Erik Coleman will be a feature studio analyst and three-time Apple Cup-winning QB Alex Brink will join select USA studio shows while continuing to serve as the primary color commentator for Cougar football's radio broadcasts alongside the "Voice of the Cougs" Chris King.
"They're invested in this conference," Leaf said of his new employer. "We have the most games. We have the best conference games from week to week, and we're going to showcase those."
The opportunity to step into this lead analyst role means a lot to Leaf, he said, especially after the twists and turns his life has already taken.
Born in Great Falls, Mont., Leaf led the Cougs to the 1998 Rose Bowl to cap a record-breaking career as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Drafted behind Peyton Manning, Leaf was thrust into the spotlight and thoroughly criticized during his four-year NFL career.
He fell into legal trouble in 2010 and spent 32 months in prison from 2012-14 after pleading guilty to felony burglary and drug possession. In 2020, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in California and received three years of informal probation.
Leaf hasn't shied away from his faults or his path to sobriety, serving as a program ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community and The Menninger Clinic and making multiple speaking appearances where he has shared his story with a variety of audiences.
His path to sports broadcasting blossomed around the same time, starting with the Pac-12 Network and eventually leading to opportunities at ESPN, Westwood One Radio and The CW Network, where he got to broadcast a number of WSU games.
It was at Westwood that Gatter, his partner for a slew of marquee Pac-12 contests this fall, first worked with Leaf.
"He's had highs that very few people have. He's had lows that very few people have, and I think the way that he addresses them and shares them makes him uniquely relatable," Gatter said of Leaf. "His honesty and his humanity are obvious to everyone whether they meet him in person, hear him on a radio show, or watch him on television. And lastly, as though anybody around here doesn't know, he's a 'blanking' Coug."
Leaf said that veteran sports producer Jeff Behnke reached out to him in January to offer the network's lead football analyst role.
"As far as I've come from where I was 12 years ago," Leaf said. "for someone to have that support and confidence in you, that goes a long way."
Green, a sideline reporter for the Utah Jazz and former sprinter at Nevada, is familiar with the majority of the Pac-12, having competed in the Mountain West.
The chance to be a part of something new spoke to her, Green said.
She plans to transfer that excitement into the broadcasts.
"You're going to find something new when you're watching USA Sports," Green said. "You're going to learn something new about all of these schools in the Pac-12 that you didn't probably know before. We're going to take you inside these environments that we're in, and you're going to feel it, I think, at a more intimate level than you were watching on other networks."
In meeting Leaf, Green said she is impressed with his football knowledge and his ability to express it.
With broadcasting, Leaf has found an outlet for his love of the game.
"I call a game like if it were me and my dad when I was a kid sitting on the couch watching it," Leaf said. "I remember telling some guys that were new to it (that advice), and there was a light that switched in them. It wasn't as high pressure ... because we know so much football from the years of us playing it, and when we see it play out, it's easy for us to talk about it. The hard part about it is to know that you have to say it succinctly, probably within 15 seconds in layman's terms for people's grandparents that are home watching it, and that's not always easy. And when you find that you are pretty good at something like that, that's a special deal."
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, [email protected], or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
Continue reading...
