Ryan Leaf allegedly accosted Dr. David Chao at Super Bowl LX Radio Row

Tensions were running high Wednesday morning from the site of Super Bowl LX, where Ryan Leaf allegedly verbally accosted Dr. David Chao on Radio Row.

Leaf doesn’t like Chao, he’s been open about that on social media. The former Chargers quarterback also sued Chao more than a decade ago. The lawsuit alleged negligence in treating Leaf’s injuries when Chao was the San Diego Chargers team physician. But Wednesday morning was the first time Leaf seemingly confronted Chao in public over their history.

Longtime San Diego sports media personality Scott Kaplan opened Wednesday’s Kaplan and Crew from Radio Row in San Francisco by saying he just witnessed a confrontation between Leaf and Chao earlier in the morning. According to Kaplan, Chao was speaking with business partner Craig Dado when Leaf approached the group.

Ryan Leaf verbally attacked @ProFootballDoc on Radio Row this morning. Why? Let’s talk to him to figure it out…https://t.co/ktY9tAJumA

— Kaplan and Crew (@KaplanandCrew) February 4, 2026

“Ryan Leaf has got a bone to pick with everybody,” Kaplan said. “He goes on Twitter and he just tries to rattle cages. He comes over and before you know it, he is in Dr. David Chao’s face. In his face!”

Kaplan claimed Chao was non-confrontational while being verbally attacked by Leaf. And during the interaction, Dado noted Chao was heading to do Ross Tucker’s podcast, suggesting Leaf join them to discuss their issues.

“Ryan Leaf goes, ‘f*ck you and f*ck Ross Tucker,’” Kaplan recalled before adding the interaction “got very aggressive.”

Shortly after Kaplan’s recap, Chao joined the show where he was asked about the interaction with Leaf at Radio Row.

“I’m not making a big deal out of it,” Chao said. “I wish the best for Ryan. I’m not sure why over the ten years here at Radio Row, I’ve seen him dozens of times, this is the first time he’s ever said anything to me.”

Chao, otherwise known as “Pro Football Doc” is a popular sports radio and podcast guest as an injury expert. But those shows that platform Chao seemingly ignore the history of scandals and lawsuits he’s been associated with. Chao was even placed on a five-year probation by the California Medical Board in 2014. The California Medical Board also investigated Chao for prescribing Ambien to Junior Seau in the months before his suicide.

“He’s been accusing me of, ‘Why did you go to Gina Seau’s house to convince her not to study Junior’s brain.’ And I said, ‘well, you have the facts wrong, Ryan,’” Chao said of his Wednesday altercation with Leaf. “And that’s the only thing I said to him. Gina and her oldest daughter came to my house the day after Junior died and asked me for advice on how to get the brain studied and I got the brain studied at the NIH.”

As a witness of the altercation, Kaplan called Leaf approaching Chao at Radio Row a “completely unprofessional thing to do…to walk up to somebody and attack them verbally and then really physically get in their face.”

But Chao insisted he didn’t want to make a big deal of the situation, claiming he never felt threatened by Leaf, while repeatedly insisting he wishes the former NFL quarterback well.

“Snitches get stitches,” Chao said. “I am not gonna report Ryan to anyone. It didn’t get physical, it was words. Was it inappropriate? You be the judge.”