Posts tagged MattLeinart at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart has been criticized in the press and by his own coach this off-season, mostly because of the widely circulated pictures of him partying.

Some have said the pictures showed nothing more than a guy having a good time in the privacy of his own home, but Leinart told the Orange County Register that he now thinks his free-time activities were "mistakes," and he adds that, "I have to realize I'm a role model and act like one."

Leinart sounds like he wants to change his public image, and if that's the case, his teammate Kurt Warner would be a good guy to emulate. Warner has been in the public eye for close to a decade now, and I can't think of a single time that he's done anything off the field that would be categorized as a "mistake." Leinart has said he's learned a lot from Warner about playing quarterback; it would be good for Leinart to learn from Warner about being a celebrity.

As we get some distance from the 2006 draft, it seems like the best quarterback among those selected in the first round was the one taken last. The Broncos traded up to grab Jay Cutler with the 11th-overall selection, and through two seasons, he's progressed more than Vince Young (No. 3) and Matt Leinart (No. 10) combined.

Of course, it's probably unfair to lump Leinart in with Young; all it does is bring Young down. Leinart has battled injures and inconsistency during his short NFL career, and although he's sorta been named the starter for 2008, CBSSports.com's Clark Judge thinks it would be a huge mistake to not give the job to Kurt Warner.

[H]ere's why: The Cardinals have -- I can't believe I'm writing this -- a chance to compete for a division title this season, and Kurt Warner gives them their best chance. He's accurate. He's productive. He's poised. Best of all, he's proven. ...

Now let's make one thing clear before moving on: This is not an indictment of Leinart. I liked the guy at Southern California, and I still believe he can have a productive career with Arizona. But there have been a couple of ... how should we put this? ... detours along the way that make you wonder if he's ready to take over.

Well, it kinda is. When you suggest replacing a former first-rounder three years into his career with a guy who's career peaked early this decade, I think that qualifies as an indictment of Leinart.

Last week, Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt indicated that Matt Leinart was the starter heading into the 2008 season, but he said it with all the conviction of Pacman Jones swearing off strip clubs (for three or four years). It should come as no surprise, then, that Whisenhunt is hedging his bets (or just changing his mind altogether).

When asked about the possibility of "resurrecting the dual-quarterback scheme from last year, when he'd alternate between Leinart and veteran Kurt Warner, with Warner working goal-line and no-huddle situations," Whisenhunt offered:

"I certainly wouldn't rule something like that out," he said. "Last year we did it because we felt it gave us the best chance to win. It wasn't really a thing about who did this better. Obviously, Kurt ran the no huddle better at that time.

"But Matt is much further along with it. He was very efficient again today when we ran the two-minute drill. I think that's going to play itself out. I wouldn't say we wouldn't do that, but I don't anticipate that being a necessity for us this year."

Yesterday, Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt reiterated that the quarterback job is Matt Leinart's to lose. At least until the team gets to training camp and the third-year QB/hot tub aficionado/Nick Lachey's BFF starts short-hopping passes like he's Steve Sax and it's 1983.

Plan B is Kurt Warner, who fared well last season, and has a 50/50 chance of winning the gig at some point in 2008. And perhaps as consequence of his role, Warner is looking for a contract extension.

Warner, who would like a two-year contract, said, "I want to be in a situation where I'm comfortable. I kind of want to know my future. A lot of it will be dictated by what kind of plans they have for me here. I think the contract is going to allow me to see what they're thinking for me moving forward."

It'll also allow Leinart to see what the Cards are thinking for Warner moving forward. Warner's entering the final year of his current deal and although he'll be 37 in three weeks, he's looked very good (and occasionally great) in Arizona's offense, something neither Leinart (or Josh McCown before him) can say.

Reactions varied on the Matt Leinart hot tub pics, somewhere between shock and awe mostly, but head coach Ken Whisenhunt was predictably disappointed. At least publicly.

Leinart, the Cards' former first-round pick, is looking to rebound from inconsistent efforts his first two years in the league, including last season, when he split time with Kurt Warner before landing on injured reserve with a bum shoulder.

Despite Leinart's predilection for hot tubs and ... other stuff, he's still Arizona's starter heading into 2008. Sort of:

"It's the same thing it was when I said back at the end of the season," Whisenhunt said after volunteer workouts Monday in Tempe. "Matt's our starter, Kurt's going to be there pushing. It's going to be a tough job for Matt to keep because Kurt played at a high level for us last year, he's been doing a lot of work in the off-season and he's looked sharp in these drills.

"It's competition. And it's not just at quarterback, it's every position on our team and that's the way you like to have it."

The concern, it seems, was that Whisenhunt may have been leaning towards Warner because the former Rams Super Bowl quarterback took most of the first-team snaps during a practice last week.

Whatever, letting the two quarterbacks compete for the job seems like a swell idea. Of course, Cards coaches had probably hoped Leinart would be further along at this point, but on the upside, having a competent backup means the team doesn't have to force Leinart onto the field before he's ready. So there's that.

Today, Titans quarterback Vince Young apologized to children who may have seen shirtless pictures of him in a bar, including one where he appears to drink liquor straight from the bottle. Even so, he doesn't believe he did anything wrong:

"I apologize to some of the kids if they did see it because I am trying to be a role model for them. But at the same time, I was just trying to have fun with (friends). That is the life of a quarterback, somebody of my status. I guess somebody was trying to make some money and sold the picture to the web site. But at the same time that is the life I chose to live. But it is not going to stop me from having fun. I just have to watch myself. They always want to try and get some negative pub on me. It wasn't really nothing bad. ... Everybody deserves to have a good time every once in a while during the offseason."

And when he says "every once in a while," I'm guessing his definition is different than most people's. Below the gallery is a selection of six Vince Young birthday party links (and pictures) from just last weekend hosted by a promotion group called "inDmix":

I guess Titan quarterback Vince Young was jealous of his 2006 draft classmate Cardinal quarterback Matt Leinart in the embarrassing party pix department.

Blogxilla.com, a blog discussing "Urban Life Daily," received some pictures that the sender claimed was Vince Young at a bar getting his drink on in Austin Texas. The site has a series of pictures of shirtless Vince Young and friends, including one where he looks to be drinking what appears to be Silver Patrón tequila straight from the bottle. (I worked in bars to pay for school, so uh, I think that is a good guess).

They started on a gossip web site, got picked up by blogs and were then a fixture in the mainstream media. But if there was any question that the infamous pictures of Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart partying with co-eds had made the big-time, those questions have been answered now that the pictures have been the subject of a Jeopardy! answer:

Under the category "The Brat Fest" (I have no idea what that means), Alex Trebek offered, "This Heisman-winning Cardinals quarterback was sacked in the off-season by photos of his hot tub party."

It's college tournament time on Jeopardy!, and the contestant from Michigan correctly responded, "Who is Leinart."

Previously on FanHouse:
Matt Leinart: 'The Internet Is a Bad Thing'
Matt Leinart, Alex Smith Pics at TheDirty.com: The Future of Sports Media?
Another Matt Leinart Photo; Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt Will Love This One
Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt Disappointed in Matt Leinart Photos

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart was at the center of a media firestorm when photos of him partying, including the one above, were widely disseminated, first at TheDirty.com and then on ESPN and elsewhere. So what lesson did Leinart learn?

Mike Sando of ESPN.com reports that Leinart first answered.

"Obviously, you learn life lessons in things," Leinart said. "My mindset has been on football, clearly, going into this minicamp or going into this summer. When you play football, you are a name out there or a person in the spotlight; it is tough, you have a target on your chest. But you learn a lesson and you move on."

But when asked specifically about the power of the Internet, Leinart smiled and said, "The internet is a bad thing."

Buzz Bissinger agrees with you, Matt.

Generally, I don't care much for mock drafts. Yeah, they are nice about educating people about the players and looking at team needs, but by this time, I'm pretty sick of them. Most drafts are put together by people who think they know more than they really do. I am even sick of the FanHouse mock draft.

The most genius mock draft that you need to see is the one written by MJD over at the Yahoo! Shutdown Corner blog. It's an mock from an imaginary Detroit GM Matt Millen picking his first round:

16. Arizona Cardinals.
Ruth Westheimer, Ed.D., Germany. This is just a hunch, and I don't have any evidence to back it up, but I don't think it's going to be long before Matt Leinart becomes sexually active. And when he does, I'm sure he'll be very responsible about it, but just in case, we're going to get him a sexual advisor.

At this point, maybe Detroit fans wish Matt Millen were imaginary, but this is the best I can do.

Another place to go online to see mocking of mocks is Kissing Suzy Kolber. They've done a series of funny entries called Fun With Mock Drafts (language/picture warning because that's the way they roll.) It's not like you have anything better to do. I mean, you are reading this, aren't you?