Mansch: Huestis, Leaf both make news this week
(Update: ESPN has announced the E:60 program about Ryan Leaf will air Wednesday night at 6 on ESPN in addition to its previously released Thursday night time slot on ESPN2)
What a week it’s been for two Great Falls men who became professional athletes.
Current NBA forward Josh Huestis was back in his hometown Monday night as the featured speaker of the Great Falls Tribune’s second annual Northcentral Montana Sports Awards Banquet.
And former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was back in the spotlight as ESPN aired a special program dedicated to his rehabilitation.
If one marked a triumphant return, and it certainly did as Huestis helped attract nearly 500 adults and young athletes to the Tribune banquet, the other signals a remarkable recovery.
We’re certainly rooting for both.
It’s always been that way with Huestis, the classy former CMR and Stanford star whose athleticism on the basketball court is rivaled only by his grace. At Monday’s banquet he displayed poise, patience and positive energy aplenty.
Afterward he spent more than an hour posing for photos and signing autographs as young athletes waited in line for a chance to say hello.
Indeed, the tall basketball star has a reputation around here that is getting bigger and bigger all the time. And well it should. For Huestis is an exemplary young athlete worthy of support from Great Falls.
He’s done nothing but bring honor to the Electric City. He remains extremely humble.
Leaf has been described in many ways, but humble isn’t one of them.
Yet the former CMR and Washington State star has more in common with Huestis than you might think. Most of Monday night’s banquet buzz was surrounding the honored athletes. There was also some about Leaf.
“Did you see the E:60 show? Wasn’t it good?
From the time they were little boys in our town both Huestis and Leaf refused to reach for anything less than the stars.
Both attained amazing collegiate success and professional fame.
And both helped make their hometowns famous.
The kicker, of course, is that while one was always locked in, the other was eventually locked up.
We don’t have to remind you that Leaf became notorious. There is no reason to recount his rise and fall here, suffice it to say his story remains a somewhat distasteful subject for many in Great Falls.
We’ve tried to reach out to Ryan a few times in the past year, efforts that proved unsuccessful. And that’s fine. Nobody has a longer history with him than we do and, we dare say, nobody knows him better.
He’s told his story on national platforms in recent months and the recent ESPN show, a longer version of which will air on ESPN2 Thursday night at 6, is very well-done. Leaf’s current work with “Transcend,” an organization dedicated to helping people recover from addictions, is admirable.
The frank honesty he has been displaying time and again in national interviews and in particular this ESPN program comes across as nothing if not sincere.
We wish him the best.
The same goes for Huestis, a true hometown hero who has never wavered in his commitment to the Treasure State and greater Great Falls area. His appearance at our banquet on Monday wasn’t the only speaking engagement of the weekend: He also was the guest of honor at a high school graduation two days before at tiny North Star High in Rudyard.
Preparing for his fourth professional basketball season, and his wedding to former Oregon State volleyball star Haley Clarke coming up in a few months, it’s obvious the 25-year-old Huestis has an awful lot going for him.
Good for Josh.
And, we might add, good for Leaf, 41. He and his girl are expecting their first child soon. That’s certainly something to celebrate. And so is his sobriety.
May his recovery and the successful rehabilitation of his image continue.
Scott Mansch can be reached at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @GFTrib_SMansch