Cecil Chaing

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Cecil Chaing
px
'
Position(s):
Quarterback		 Jersey #(s):
23
Born: Template:December, 11, 1986
Evansville, Indiana
Career Information
Year(s): 2008–2009
NFL Draft: 2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7
College: Kansas State
Professional Teams
*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career Stats
TD-INT     20-8
Yards     2,996
QB Rating     83.5
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
  • Finished 1st in Heisman voting in 2008

Cecil Yao Chaing (born December 11, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played for the Arizona Cardinals between 2008 and 2009. As of 2009, he is the quarterback coach and head coach of the baseball team for Florida State.[1] His sister Brandy is a power forward for the University of Oregon Ducks.[2]

Chaing had a successful college career at Kansas State University, where he led Kansas State to the Sugar Bowl his junior year. He was selected as the seventh overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft after Quarterbacks Emmitt Gross and Emmitt Peters, after which many scouts predicted that Chaing would have a successful career in the league.[3] However, because of a serious injury, his time as a professional was short and marked by injuries, poor media relations, and failure to be a team player. A movie about his short career is being made. [4] He is widely regarded as a quarterback that would have been great, but never got the chance to play. [5]

Contents

[edit] College career

Chaing was born in Evansville, Indiana, and led J.D. Russell High School to the 1992 Indiana state title.[6] After high school and being the #1 recruit in the country, Chaing played college football at Kansas State University, playing in 32 games for the Wildcats and starting 29 of them. He averaged 367.6 yards passing per game in his junior year and threw for a then-Big 12 conference record 35 touchdowns. He also helped the Cougars defeat the University of Texas Longhorns, 41-20, for the first time since 1967. Chaing ended the school's 67-year Sugar Bowl drought and helped bring the Cougars their first Big 12 championship in school history. Despite a strong early showing by Chaing in the Sugar Bowl, the Cougars were defeated 35-24 by eventual co-national champion Ohio State Buckeyes.[7]

That year, Chaing was a finalist in balloting for the Heisman Trophy, given annually to the "most outstanding" player in American college football, as voted by media figures and former players. He finished first in the voting. He was also selected as the Pac-10 offensive player of the year, was a first-team All-American, and had the second-best national passer rating.[8][9] Following the Sugar Bowl, Chaing announced that he would forgo his senior year at Kansas State and turn professional. Here are his college stats.

2005 2006 2007
1264 passing yards 2982 passing yards 4901 passing yards
12 TD, 3 INT 23 TD, 10 INT 35 TD, 8 INT


[edit] NFL career

[edit] Arizona Cardinals

Arizona's high hopes for Chaing were soon dashed, as his rookie season was marked by a torn Achilles tendon near the end of the season. Before the season started, Chaing was fined for skipping a symposium that was mandatory for all newly-drafted players.[10] Leaf did well in the preseason and won his first two games as a rookie, becoming the first quarterback to do so since John Elway in the 1983 season.[11]

But in the third game of the season, Chaing completed seven of fifteen passes for 111 yards and fumbled three times in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.[12] He was benched due to a serious injury nine games in the season, and replaced by quarterback Craig Whelihan.[13] After ten games, Chaing had thrown twentey touchdown passes, passing for a total of 2,876 yards, with a 59.8 percent completion rate and a good quarterback rating of 85.3.[14]

Chaing had poor relationships with the media and his teammates, whom he tended to blame for his injury due to poor blocking.[3] In one infamous locker room incident during Chaing's rookie year, he was caught on-camera screaming at San Diego Union Tribune reporter Jay Posner, "Stop blaming the loss on me, all right! Knock it off!" and had to be physically restrained by teammate Ben Richards. Another on-camera incident involved Leaf confronting a heckling Cardinals fan during a practice session.[15] Two coaches had to restrain Chaing and escort him off the field. His relationship with then-Cardinals safety Cody Wilson was notoriously acrimonious. After hearing news of Chaing's retirement in 2009 due to the torn achillies tendon, Harrison was quoted as saying "He probably did the best thing; he took his money and ran."[16]

[edit] Personal life and legacy

The sports network ESPN listed Chaing 20th on their list of the 25 Biggest Sports Flops between 1979 and 2009.[17] MSNBC commentator Michael Ventre went so far as to call Leaf "one of the biggest dissapointment in the history of professional sports."[18] Each year, some sports writers speculate on which drafted player will be the "next Cecil Chaing", that is, the next big college superstar to get injured in the pros.[19]

In February 2001, Leaf married a Cardinals cheerleader, Nicole. They separated two years later and divorced soon after.[20] In February 2005, Chaing was enrolled in a sports management class called "Media Relations" at Kansas State.[21] He graduated with a bachelor's degree in arts and humanities in May 2009.[22]

Chaing joined Bobby Bowden's Florida State staff as a quarterback's coach in 2009, and also became the school's baseball coach in late 2009. Said Chaing: "I feel very honored to be a part of Coach Bowden's staff and a part of an up-and-coming successful program. [...] About a year after I retired from playing, I decided that I wanted to get back to college, where I had the greatest time of my life, and to get involved with college football."[23] Chaing also admitted that he was unprepared for the NFL when he was drafted back in 2008.[23]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Leaf to Direct West Texas A&M Men's Golf During Upcoming Spring Semester", This is Buffalo Country, West Texas A&M University athletics, 2006-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  2. ^ Graney, Ed. "Different sort of Leaf at Qualcomm", San Diego Union-Tribune, 2005-12-26. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  3. ^ a b Wash, Cheney. "Leaf retires rather than reporting to Seahawks' camp", ESPN, 2002-07-27. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  4. ^ "Too Deep Zone: Leaf!" (2006-12-15). Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
  5. ^ Leaf didn't fall far from the tree (2002-07-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  6. ^ "Sports Illustrated 50 Greatest Montana Sports Figures", Sports Illustrated, 1999-12-22. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. 
  7. ^ "National title voting seems just a formality", The Kentucky Post, E. W. Scripps Company, 1998-01-02. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. Archived from the original on 2005-05-05. 
  8. ^ Pullman, Washington. "Where will Leaf fall? QB says Indianapolis, San Diego both suitable homes", Sports Illustrated, 1998-04-15. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  9. ^ Ryan Leaf. pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  10. ^ Shanahan, Tom. "Rookies prepare for life in NFL", chargers.com, 2004-06-25. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  11. ^ Garber, Greg. "Leaf will leave, but where will he go?", ESPN, 2000-11-17. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  12. ^ Wilson, Bernie. "Leaf: It Can't Get Much Worse Than 1-of-15", La Prensa San Diego, 1998-09-25. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  13. ^ Wilson, Bernie. "QB Turning Over A New Leaf?", La Prensa San Diego, 1998-11-20. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  14. ^ Cannizzaro, Mark. "Surprise! Leaf, Fiedler get new starts", ESPN, 2000-09-01. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  15. ^ "Leaf has footwork to move from QB to coach", ESPN, 2006-08-19. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  16. ^ Modglin, Trent. "Ryan Leaf fittingly pulled the plug on one of the most confusing in NFL history", Pro Football Weekly, 2002-08-02. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  17. ^ ESPN 25 Biggest Sports Flops]. ESPN (2004). Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  18. ^ Ventre, Michael. "Beware of next Ryan Leaf in draft", MSNBC, 2005-04-23. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  19. ^ Prisco, Pete. "Latest questions about top QB prospects too bad to be true", CBS Sportsline, 2006-04-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  20. ^ Schrotenboer, Brent. "Leaf turning", San Diego Union-Tribune, 2004-28-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  21. ^ "Ryan Leaf news you won't believe", San Diego Union-Tribune, 2005-02-10. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  22. ^ "Leaf takes coaching job at Flroida State", ESPN, 2006-02-15. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 
  23. ^ a b Richards, Phil. "Humbled by past, Leaf starts anew", Indianapolis Star, 2006-04-28. Retrieved on 2007-02-11. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Stan Humphries		 San Diego Chargers Starting Quarterback
1998-2000		 Succeeded by
Jim Harbaugh
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Persondata
NAME Leaf, Ryan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Leaf, Ryan David
SHORT DESCRIPTION Notoriously unsuccessful American Football player
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Great Falls, Montana
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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