When former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf learned there would be a number of high-end college basketball recruits attending this Friday's Dr Pepper TEN Classic luncheon at McCallie School, it didn't take him long to accept the invitation to speak at the third-year event.
"Any time I can speak to young adults - especially those who are elite athletes where some sense of entitlement might exist - I try to do so," he said. "I think it's good for those young people to be able to put a face on someone who probably shouldn't even be alive today."
Entitlement comes in many different forms. Reached by phone last week, Leaf wasn't necessarily talking about the same entitlement that can poison teenagers at a tony prep school such as McCallie, its parking lots filled with a fairly good number of BMWs, Mercedes and Lexuses, more than a few of its students heading off to exclusive liberal arts colleges or the Ivy League.
After all, he grew up in Great Falls, Mont., wasn't even originally recruited as a quarterback coming out of high school and then was redshirted during his first season at Washington State.
Yet as Leaf is fond of saying, the joke going around campus by the time he led the Cougars to the Rose Bowl at the end of his junior year went as follows: "What's the difference in God and Ryan Leaf? God doesn't think he's Ryan Leaf."
Said Leaf to a group of Texas high school athletes last year as he described his first year in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers: "When I came into the NFL, there were three things that were very important to me: money, power and prestige. So I'm 21, have $31 million, and I wasn't responsible to anyone anymore for money or really anything. If anybody said no to me, I would discard them from my life. That included my parents at one point. I just had zero perspective on what was important."
And this from the guy who was chosen No. 2 in the 1998 NFL draft, right behind University of Tennessee legend Peyton Manning.
"Physically, I was probably the most talented quarterback in the draft," noted the 6-foot-5 Leaf, who had been recruited as a linebacker by Miami. "And if I could have pushed aside my pride, I probably could have played in the league for 10-12 years.
"But while Peyton saw failure (his rookie year) as an opportunity to be better next time, I couldn't deal with criticism and failure. I kept making the same mistakes over and over."
Indeed, for all the talk of Leaf's injury-plagued, mistake-filled rookie year with the Chargers (two touchdown passes, 15 interceptions), Manning actually threw almost twice as many interceptions (28), though he also tossed 13 times more TDs (26).
Nor is Leaf bothered by those who can't seem to separate the two men's diametrically opposite careers, even dating back to Manning's first career college start, which was a home victory over Washington State in 1994.
"Because I was redshirting, I didn't even make that trip," Leaf said. "But Peyton and I are fine. In fact, when ESPN was making its documentary on me, and they wanted him to be involved, he called me and wanted to see how I felt about it before he talked to them. After we talked, he declined their invitation."
But when a painkiller-addicted Leaf went to prison for a couple of years for breaking into the homes of his neighbors looking for drugs, the Manning family wrote to him there, offering words of encouragement.
And by then Leaf certainly needed friends and family, even having attempted suicide at one point. He also has survived a brain tumor, though its location kept the doctors from getting it all.
"I have to have it checked from time to time," he said, who added that the tumor and the concerns over head injuries in football are constantly on his mind.
"I've exhibited some symptons," he said. "That's one reason my wife (Anna) and I have already agreed that our son (McGyver) won't wear a helmet until he's in the ninth grade. That's early enough to play football in pads."
The Dr Pepper TEN Classic is about more than Leaf, of course.
McCallie faces the second-ranked team in the country - Oak Hill Academy - at 8 p.m. Friday with Nashville's Ensworth facing Hamilton Heights in the 6 p.m. game. On Saturday, Oak Hill plays Ensworth at 6, with McCallie against Hamilton Heights at 8.
And on Friday afternoon, the annual dunk contest involving players from participating schools may be more famous for its judges than the dunkers.
"The judges are former Alabama quarterback Blake Sims, former Tennessee basketball star Dale Ellis and Leaf," McCallie coach John Shulman said Saturday. "That should get people excited."
So should Saturday's free clinic for grades 1-5 students that runs from 10 a.m. to noon and includes a T-shirt for the first 150 kids who register at http://attend.com/McCallieDrPepperTEN. Anyone wishing to attend the luncheon ($50 a head) or games ($20 a night for general admission) should register at that same site and be sure to include the "http."
Yet it's the Leaf message that no one should miss.
"I'm grateful for going through what I've gone through," said the 41-year-old Leaf, who now works for Transcend Recovery Community. "That's a big part of my speech. For anyone I talk to, the bigger issue is that you're a flawed human being, just like everybody else."
A few months ago, just after the Indianapolis Colts unveiled a statue of Manning outside Lucas Oil Stadium, Leaf texted him to congratulate him and tell him it was a reward well-deserved.
But perhaps to let Manning know he really has gained perspective on the fame game, Leaf also posted a picture of then one-week-old McGyver with the following words: "By the way, my day was still better than yours."
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com