Sam Leavitt missed the entire back half of his junior season of college football with a foot injury. Arizona State running back Kyson Brown continues to fuel the rumors that it happened during a game of pickup basketball.
He alluded to a potential cover-up with a series of cryptic comments on Instagram.
Just like that, the college football rumor mill continues to turn! Perhaps there is more to the story that we don’t know. Perhaps not.
Sam Leavitt suffered a Lisfranc foot injury.
Leavitt returned as the incumbent starting quarterback at Arizona State in 2025, one year after making the College Football Playoff. He played in only seven games.
As the story goes, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound signal-caller suffered a Lisfranc foot injury while playing against Baylor on Sept. 20. Leavitt continued to play through the pain in wins over TCU and Texas Tech but could not finish out the season. His injury proved too painful after a loss to Houston in late October. It appeared as though it was aggravated on this play:
Sam Leavitt underwent season-ending surgery that following week. The procedure required multiple pins and screws to keep the bones in place as they healed.
Arizona State repeatedly stated that its quarterback’s injury happened on the field during a game. However, rumors started to swirl about what really happened. The internet ran wild with an alternate theory that he actually messed up his foot during a game of pickup basketball. It was widely accepted as a legitimate possibility until the program started to push back.
Kenny Dillingham laughed at all of the gossip.
The head coach later called it “disgusting” that people would suggest Leavitt injured himself while hooping.
That was the end of that. Leavitt ultimately hit the transfer portal and transferred to LSU. The metal was removed from his foot during a procedure in April. The Tigers expect him to be at full strength for fall camp if he is not there already.
Kyson Brown continues to feed the basketball rumors.
Although Dillingham repeatedly shut down the rumors about the Lisfranc injury, one of Arizona State’s running backs continues to add fuel to the fire. Kyson Brown played the 2024 and 2025 college football seasons with Leavitt.
He commented on Sam Leavitt’s formal transfer announcement on Instagram back in January.
Brown responded with only one word: “Hoop!” Nobody seemed to think much of it at the time.
That leads us to Leavitt’s most recent post. He shared a series of photos from media day at his new school.
Brown commented with two words and two emojis: “Ball player💫⛹🏾♂️” The second emoji is of a basketball player.
These two comments could be about anything. They could mean anything. It could be an inside joke. We don’t know.
But with that being said, it seems rather peculiar that an Arizona State football player would comment about basketball when it was rumored that the quarterback in the photo on which he left his comment was got injured while shooting hoops. No?
Brown’s comments could be nothing. He might be hyping up his friend. He might be trolling. Or it could be.a hint that the Sun Devils know what really happened before he left them for greener pastures in Baton Rouge…