Leinart goes from Heisman to wingman

FOXSports.com ^ | December 7, 2005 | Peter Schrager

[rockthecasbah]

Luigi from the "Super Mario Brothers" video games. Richard "Boner" Stabone from the '80s sitcom Growing Pains. Rob Schneider in pretty much any Adam Sandler comedy. USC quarterback Matt Leinart. What do these four men have in common? No, not terrific mustaches. Not wonderful foreign accents either. And certainly not perfect nicknames. No, each one of the above men has proven their capabilities as the ideal friend a guy would want by their side during a moment of need. Team players with utilitarian attitudes and an understanding that one's cronies should always be first on the priority list — Luigi, "Boner", Schneider, and Leinart have one major shaded area on the Venn diagram of life.

Matt Leinart serves as the perfect wingman to teammate Reggie Bush. That's right; they are all perfect wingmen. Wait a second. Matt Leinart, the Heisman Trophy winning, two-time NCAA All-American, New York Post "Page Six" spotting fixture is a wingman?

[Alberta's Child]

If you are a college QB and every NFL team that scouts you wants you to play strong safety, then you aren't really a good NFL quarterback.

The NFL scouts who said that Kordell Stewart wouldn't be an effective NFL quarterback were right, as were those who said Crouch wouldn't, either.

[aft_lizard]

Thats true. The problem with option style qb's is the system they play in the college ranks. Frazier for instance never was given a chance to develop his touch, he was rumoured to be able to break your hand with the power thrown with his balls.

[aft_lizard]

Genes a 'tard if he doesnt think that an undefeated regular season in the pros isnt something to hoot about. And he should wait for this season to end before deciding if this Trojan team is the greatest dynasty in college footbal of all time. They win they will be, if not they have to wait until next year to be amongst the chosen.

[tabsternager]

I'm guessing you're a Texas or ND fan? Your bias shows.

The fact that he didn't do well in the first half of the UCLA game proves nothing. His stats say it all. And, by the way, I believe he broke the Orange Bowl record for touchdown passes right after he won the Heisman last year. Any objective person watching that game could see why he deserved the Heisman.

[rockthecasbah]

Gene's quote was excerpted. He actually said an undefeated regular season in the pros is something to hoot about, but only when it happens (which is doable considering the remaining Colts schedule).

[aft_lizard]

Ahhh. But still its the Colts, just waiting for them to choke any game now.

[rockthecasbah]

I recall 1998 when the Broncos went 13-0 & then lost to two then mediocre teams (Giants & Dolphins). The Broncos didn't go undefeated but still went on to win the BIG ONE.

[Uncle Hal]

I agreed with this author when Carroll was hired. I am a USC grad and I thought his hiring was a disaster. Boy was I wrong. Of course they did not consult me be fore the hire.

[Michael.SF.]

Of course they did not consult me be fore the hire.

And I hope they don't in the future!

;-)

[Michael.SF.]

In this day and age when we have people like Terrell Owens setting the bar for obnoxious professional athlete behavior and when we have countless of examples of athletes clamoring for more... more...MORE!!! When we have people like Latrel Sprewell (I think it was Latrell) claiming he can't feed his family on a few million a year (or words to that affect), occasionally we have a breath of fresh air.

How soon, or so it seems, that people have forgotten that he turned down being a probable number one draft pick (Read: BIG $$$$) so he could play one more year of college football. Some will say he did it because he had a bad elbow during NFL scouting work outs, some will say he did it for other reasons. But the fact remains, he did it, and very few others would have.

[NYCLCR]

That Honor would belong to Cryin Leaf.

[USCfan]

2004
269(comp)-412(att.) - 65% - 3,950yds - 33 TD - 3 INT

2005
254(comp)-391(att.) - 65% - 3,322yds - 27 TD - 7 INT

Yea.....He's a stiff quarterback on a good team.

You lost all credibility with that stupid comment, never mind it was his last game at home and he was quite emotional.

[montag813]

Ron Dayne has got to be the most disappointing winner of the Heisman.

[Alberta's Child]

He's definitely one of them. I'd count Desmond Howard and all those QBs I mentioned as other disappointing Heisman Trophy winners in the last 25 years.

I found some other interesting little bits of trivia while tracking down some information on the Heisman. There are only eight Heisman Trophy winners in the NFL Hall of Fame -- and none before 1985 (when Roger Staubach and O.J. Simpson were inducted). All of them except Staubach are running backs, and this group reads like a Who's Who among Great NFL Runners . . . Doak Walker, Paul Hornung, O.J. Simpson, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders.

[Alberta's Child]

Good point. Most good NFL quarterbacks come from college programs where NFL-style passing attacks are implemented. The NFL game is not conducive to a scrambling QB, mainly because the size and speed of defensive players in the NFL limits their effectiveness and makes them prone to injury.

[soccermom]

Oh PUHLEEZE! He had ONE bad game and still finished above 50%. Have you seen his stats for the other games? I do think it is pretty darn impressive that the team did so well, even when he was having a bad day. Reggie Bush deserves the Heisman for sure, but Leinart is not over-rated.

[BigBobber]

Here are some QB statistics from the official website of each school. These are from 2004, Leinart's Heisman year. Take away Leinart's 13th game against a mediocre Oklahoma team and his statistics are just average even among Pac-10 quarterbacks.

When an average player wins the Heisman, there can only be one reason: hype.

Name School Games Efficiency Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/Game
Rodgers,Aaron California 12 154.4 316-209-8 66.1 2566 24 80 213.8
Olson,Drew UCLA 12 132.4 341-196-13 57.5 2565 20 83 213.8
Leinart, Matt USC 13 156.5 412-269-6 65.3 3322 33 69 255.5
Walter, Andrew Arizona State 11 138.4 426-244-9 57.3 3150 30 79 286.4
Cumbie,Sonny Texas Tech 12 138.5 642-421-18 65.6 4742 32 80 395.2

[VOA]

As an Aggie, I would be willing to trade Dennis for Pete Carroll now.

Although I like TAM better than USC...it might be a bit harder to
get the top recruits to College Station.
Especially since the area around USC isn't the urban battlezone
it was 10 years ago...and all the yearround fun, sun and beaches
are always there.

[connectthedots]

Reggie Bush was not 100% at the beginning of the year and Leinart has been injured for the past several weeks. If Leinart is at full spead for the Rose Bowl, what little chance Texas had will be gone.

[connectthedots]

You left out Derek Anderson of Oregon State. He was hampered by the fact that he had three offensive coordinators in three years. BTW, he's a back up in the NFL. All-confernece honorable mention QBs in the PAC-10 go to the NFL.