One of the biggest busts in NFL history, Mr. Ryan Leaf is currently living with his parents in his hometown of Great Falls, Montana. While it’s probably amusing for some that he’s taken such a drastic tumble — particularly for bitter Charger fans — it sounds as though Leaf has finally changed his chaotic life for the better. After getting slapped with 10 years probation for pleading guilty to drug and burglary charges and being sent to rehab in British Columbia, he’s back with mom and pops. He has a sponsor to check in with daily and routinely gets drug tested as part of his recovery program, and Leaf actually sounds like a dude with some perspective:

“What I can do is live every day what I’m talking about,” he said. “Life is life and there are always going to be struggles. But when you’re doing the next right thing it seems to make everything a little easier, a little bit better and a lot happier.”

Impressive words considering he’s working as a business development manager selling resort packages for a company in Canada. Sounds about as spine-tingling as fighting the good fight at Initech or Penetrode, but simple is probably exactly what the guy needed. Amazingly, Leaf is still doing fine financially thanks to wise relatives who helped him invest some of his $11.25 million signing bonus.

The one hilarious nugget from the article that stuck out that I had not previously heard was how back in Leaf’s burglarizing days of 2008, he would steal pain meds from injured West Texas A&M players and replace the ones he took with a medication to treat gout. Awesome.

On a related note, according to Mitch Albom’s zing machine, all Ryan Leaf needs now is a sports blog.

Ryan Leaf quietly returns home to build a life [Seattle PI; Photo via Getty]