Matt Leinart

Matt Leinart

File:LeinartHeisman.JPG
Arizona Cardinals
Career information
College:	Southern California
NFL draft:	2006 / round: 1 / pick: 10
Career history
Arizona Cardinals (2006-current)
Career highlights and awards
Heisman Trophy (2004) Manning Award (2004) Johnny Unitas Award (2004) Walter Camp Award (2005)
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983 in Santa Ana, California) is an American football quarterback (QB) for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Southern California Trojans, leading them to an AP national championship in 2003, a BCS national championship in 2004, and an appearance in the 2005 BCS national championship game. Leinart earlier played QB at Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana. In 2004, his junior year at USC, he won the Heisman Trophy. He also won the inaugural Manning Award for college quarterbacks in the same season. Anticipating his entry into the NFL, he signed with Creative Artists Agency to handle endorsements, and Leigh Steinberg to be his agent in January 2006 (although Leinart fired Steinberg three months later).

Youth

He underwent surgery when he was three years old and was fitted with special glasses to correct the problem, but the eyewear combined with Leinart's already-overweight frame to make him an easy target for ridicule at the hands of other children. “I used to get made fun of for being cross-eyed. It's just a terrible thing because kids are so cruel to the fat kid, to the kid with the glasses. So I turned to sports.,” he would later say. Leinart would finally come into his own at Mater Dei High School, where he graduated as one of the most decorated high school quarterbacks in Southern California prep history. Following his standout senior season in 2001, he accepted a scholarship to University of Southern California. Leinart's former back-up at Mater Dei, Colt Brennan, also went on to have a successful football career, winning the 2006 Sammy Baugh Trophy.

College career

2001/2002

Leinart redshirted his first year and saw no action. As a redshirt freshman the next year, he was a backup to future Heisman Trophy winner and current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, who was in his senior season at USC (one which would conclude with Palmer's Heisman victory). While Leinart appeared in a few plays during his freshman year, he threw no passes.

2003

In his sophomore season, Leinart beat out Matt Cassel and Purdue transfer Brandon Hance for the Trojan starting job at quarterback. His first career pass was a touchdown against Auburn. Leinart would win the first three games of his career before the then-No. 3 Trojans suffered a 34-31 triple-overtime defeat at California on September 27 that dropped the Trojans to No. 10.

Leinart and the Trojans bounced back the next week in one of Leinart's most famous college moments against Arizona State. Leinart injured his knee in the second quarter and was not expected to play again that day, but he returned to the game and finished 12-of-23 for 289 yards in a 37-17 victory.

Including ASU, Leinart and the Trojans reeled off victories in their final eight games to finish the season 11-1 and earn the #1 ranking in the AP and coaches' polls (a position that had been held all season by Oklahoma before they lost their conference championship game to the Kansas State Wildcats). However, in one of the biggest controversies in college football history, USC was left out of the BCS championship game after finishing third in the BCS behind Oklahoma and LSU. The Trojans instead went to the Rose Bowl to face Michigan. Leinart was named the Rose Bowl MVP after he went 23-of-34 for 327 yards, throwing three touchdowns and catching a touchdown of his own. The Trojans claimed the AP national championship.

In 13 starts, Leinart was 255/402 for 3,556 yards and 38 TDs with 9 INTs. He finished sixth in the Heisman voting (Oklahoma quarterback Jason White won the Trophy that year).

2004

Leinart started his junior season with his Trojans ranked No. 1. The season started with three more victories to push the USC winning streak to 12 before Leinart faced the biggest obstacle of his career to that point at Stanford on September 25. After Stanford took a 28-17 halftime lead, Leinart sparked the offense with a 51-yard pass to Steve Smith and scored on a one-yard sneak to cut the Cardinal lead to four points. Leinart and the Trojans were able to take the lead on a LenDale White touchdown rush and hold on for the victory, 31-28. Leinart completed 24 of 30 passes.

Leinart and the Trojans completed a perfect regular season, finishing 12-0, during which Leinart threw for a career-high 400 yards against Notre Dame. He finished on a weaker note in the final regular season game against UCLA, as he was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 25 starts. Nonetheless, Leinart was invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony, along with teammate Reggie Bush, Oklahoma's freshman sensation Adrian Peterson, incumbent Jason White, and Utah's Alex Smith. In what many had considered one of the more competitive Heisman races, Leinart became the sixth USC player to claim the Heisman trophy.

USC went wire-to-wire at #1 in the polls and earned a bid to the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma, which was also 12-0 and had been on USC's tail all season. A dream matchup on paper (including White vs. Leinart, which was to be the first time two Heisman winners would play against each other), the Orange Bowl was a thumping, as Leinart threw for five touchdown passes on 18-for-35 passing and 332 yards to lead the Trojans to a 55-19 victory. Leinart received Orange Bowl MVP honors and the Trojans claimed their second straight national championship, extending their winning streak to 22 games.

Leinart's stock could not be higher at the end of the 2004 season, and many NFL analysts believed Leinart would turn pro and become a possible #1 pick in the draft. In a move that surprised many, however, Leinart held a press conference in which he declared that he would be staying at USC for his senior season to try and help the Trojans claim a third consecutive championship. With nearly the entire offense returning, the Trojans were ranked #1 again and were an overwhelming favorite to win another championship at the beginning of the 2005 season.

2005

The Trojans' offense was powerful, statistically ranking among the greatest of all time, but Leinart and Co. began developing a habit of falling behind in the first half of their games before exploding in the second half, a trait exemplified by their road games against Oregon and Arizona State. Still, the Trojans were 5-0 before they were scheduled to meet No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend. With the Trojans down 31-28 after Irish quarterback Brady Quinn scored with two minutes left, Leinart gave the most definitive performance of his entire college career.

After an incomplete pass and a sack led to a fourth-and-nine situation with ninety seconds left at the Trojans' own 26-yard line, Leinart called a gutsy audible fade route at the line and threw deep against the Irish's man-to-man coverage, where Dwayne Jarrett caught the ball and raced to the Irish' 13-yard line, a 61-yard gain. Leinart moved the ball to the goal line as time dwindled and scored on a controversial QB sneak that gave the Trojans a 34-31 lead with three seconds to go, giving the Trojans their 28th straight victory and one of the most memorable and dramatic finishes in the history of the USC-Notre Dame rivalry.

Aside from a home game against Fresno State, the Trojans remained relatively unchallenged for the rest of the season, running their record to another 12-0 regular season and 34 wins in a row. Leinart, who was having arguably a better season than in 2004, was again invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony along with teammate Reggie Bush and Texas quarterback Vince Young. As a former Heisman winner, Leinart cast his first-place vote for Bush and ended up third in the voting behind the winning Bush and runner-up Young.

The Trojans advanced to the Rose Bowl to face Vince Young and No. 2 Texas in the BCS title game. The title game was considered another "dream matchup". Leinart himself had a great game, going 29-of-40 for a touchdown and 365 yards, but was overshadowed by Young, who piled up 467 yards of total offense and rushed for three touchdowns, including a score with 19 seconds remaining and two-point conversion to put the Longhorns ahead, 41-38. The Trojans lost for the first time in 35 games, and Leinart lost for just the second time in his 39 career starts.

Career

Leinart finished his college career 807/1245 (64.8%) for 10,693 yards and 99 touchdowns with just 23 interceptions. He is USC's all-time leader in career touchdown passes and completion percentage, and is second at USC behind Palmer in completions and yardage. He averaged nearly 8.6 yards per attempt, and averaged only one interception every 54 attempts. He was 37-2 as a starter.

Player profile

Leinart was considered one of the top NFL prospects of the 2005 NFL Draft class. Standing 6'5" (1.96 m) and weighing 225 pounds (100 kg), this left-handed thrower has the prototypical size for a quarterback. And while much of his success has been predicated on the high level of talent that USC head coach Pete Carroll surrounded Leinart with (as well as the schemes of former Trojans offensive coordinator Norm Chow), Leinart has a very accurate arm, and, perhaps more importantly, he possesses rare football intelligence along with outstanding decision-making and leadership skills.

NFL career

By returning to USC for his senior season in 2005, Leinart probably hurt his draft position, as he most likely would have been selected with the first overall pick of the draft. Instead of "going number one," Leinart was selected tenth overall in the 2006 Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. Ironically, Leinart was close to being drafted by the Denver Broncos, however the move didn't come to fruition after the Buffalo Bills refused to trade their 8th pick with Denver. Leinart wears jersey #7, the same number Leinart wore when he played varsity football at Mater Dei.

Leinart was involved in a prolonged holdout with the Cardinals on August 8, 2006. He became the last first round draft pick without a contract in place. However, on Monday, August 14, 2006, Leinart agreed to a six-year, $51 million contract, becoming the very last member of the draft to sign a contract, and not before Cardinal Coach Dennis Green said that he had lost his patience.[3] [4] Despite signing late, Leinart played in the second quarter of the exhibition game against the New England Patriots on August 19, 2006. [5]

During the 4th week of the NFL season, unofficial sources projected that Matt would take over as the starting quarterback due to an abysmal performance by Kurt Warner in the previous game. During the week coach Green held a conference and specifically pointed out that Warner would still start that week's game.

In a November 26th game, he set an NFL rookie record with 405 passing yards. His quarterback rating is 74.0. He suffered a sprained left shoulder (throwing arm) in a week 16 win over the San Francisco 49ers. In 11 starts, Leinart threw for 2,547 yards and 11 touchdowns. He finished the season with a 4-7 record.

Television appearances

Matt Leinart made an appearance on the show Punk'd (May 1st, 2006 episode) featuring Ashton Kutcher as the host. In his appearance, Leinart was questioned by police officers who noticed him interacting with a prostitute. (All characters acting specific roles except for the oblivious Leinart). He also has appeared in several commercials on television, most notably for ABC's hit-sitcom Desperate Housewives. He also appeared in Nike's "Football is Everything" commercial as the backup quarterback on the sidelines holding a clipboard.

Personal life

Leinart has a son, Cole Cameron Leinart (born on October 24, 2006 in California), with USC women's basketball player Brynn Cameron. Shortly after the 2006 NFL Draft, Leinart briefly dated socialite Paris Hilton. According to a recent episode of ESPN's Around the Horn, Leinart was seen partying with singer Britney Spears in late December.

Honors

2004

• Heisman Trophy Winner
• Rose Bowl MVP
• Walter Camp Award
• AP player of the year
• Touchdown Club Manning Award
• Touchdown Club QB of the Year
• Victor Award (Player of the Year)
• James E. Sullivan Award Finalist
• Newport college player of the year
• AP All-American first team
• Football Coaches All-American first team
• ESPN, CSTV, Rivals.com, SI.com, and CFBNews first team All-American
• Pac-10 Co-offensive player of the year
• ESPN.com player of the year
• Rivals.com player of the year
• Pre-season All-American

2005

• Orange Bowl MVP
• Unitas Award
• Finalist for Heisman Trophy
• All-American Offensive Player
• LA Sports Sportsman of the Year
• Sporting News Sportsman of the Year
• National Championship MVP

2006

• Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Males 2006
• ESPN Hottest Male Athlete of the Year
• People Magazine 100 Most Beautiful People
• 10th Pick in the 2006 NFL draft

Career statistics

College

			Passing								Rushing
Season	Team		GP	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	INT		Att	Yds	TD
2003	USC Trojans		13	255	402	63.4	3556	38	9		32	-62	0
2004	USC Trojans		13	269	412	65.3	3322	33	6		49	-44	3
2005	USC Trojans		13	283	431	65.7	3815	28	8		51	36	6
	Totals		39	807	1245	64.8	10693	99	23		132	-70	9

NFL

			Passing									Rushing
Season	Team		GP	Rating	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	INT		Att	Yds	TD
2006	Arizona Cardinals		12	74.0	377	214	56.8	2547	11	12		22	49	2
	Totals		12	74.0	377	214	56.8	2547	11	12		22	49	2

External links

• MattLeinart.com - Matt Leinart Fan Website
• MattLeinartQB.com - Matt Leinart Official Website
• Matt Leinart on The Internet Movie Database

See also

• List of famous left-handed people