Hunter S. Thompson letter to Colts’ Jim Irsay backs Leaf over Manning

In very much Hunter S. Thompson style, the author advocated for the Indianapolis Colts to take Ryan Leaf over Peyton Manning in a March 1998 pre-draft letter to owner Jim Irsay recently unveiled.

Leaf passed along the letter to the folks at the Rich Eisen Show on Thursday, who then, in turn, shared via Twitter the note in which Thompson calls the former San Diego Chargers quarterback “strong” and Manning a “china doll.”

Thompson, a decades-long resident of Woody Creek, Colorado, offered his financial services to Irsay, should he draft Leaf, expecting to be “very rich when this depp [sic] movie comes out,” referring to the 1998 adaptation of his book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” starring Johnny Depp — who’s copied in the letter.

Read the full letter here:

We got this from Thursday in-studio guest @RyanDLeaf — a March 1998 pre-Draft letter sent to @Colts owner Jim Irsay (and copied to Johnny Depp) from Hunter S. Thompson, whose reasoning for Leaf over Peyton is must-read hilarious classic Hunter S. pic.twitter.com/MK1VpjNigp

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) July 5, 2018

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.