When he was 22 years old, Ryan Leaf thought he was on top of the world.

After all, he was the only person from Montana to be tapped in the first round of the NFL draft.

Growing up, no one thought he had a chance of landing in professional football.

He proved them wrong. But in a sense, that later led to his downfall.

After personal struggles spilled over into his professional play, he bowed out.

Developing an addiction to pain medicine, he turned to stealing to get his hands on his pills. It eventually landed him in prison for about three years.

Now he openly talks about his life. On Wednesday, he was in Danville as the keynote speaker for the Regional Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention’s annual summer conference.

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