Leinart & Sports Center

[jefftheshark]

Less than a year ago, people were questioning Peyton Manning.

Heck, people still question Jesus.

I don't know why people would question these two, after all, look who their Dads were.

JTS

 

[justAndy]

OK -I'll concede the point about the baby momma - still, though I'm not happy with his spending time with the celebretards instead of grinding film and playbook.
He comes off like a slacker.

 

[D-Dogg]

This whole thing is getting so old, so quickly.

Matt Leinart played in LA, for a national championship team. He is handsome. His is friends with actors and musicians. He banged hotel heiresses. As such, he is always going to be overly-scrutinized and have the spotlight on him.

He has no more distractions than any other NFL player; the media just reports on every, single one of his distractions because it sells papers, gets viewers, keeps the talking heads employed, etc. Get used to it.

Travis Henry has 9 kids by 9 women and it was never mentioned before last month. It wasnt mentioned because middle-america, suburban housewives, Gen-Y chicks in the dorm and my Mom dont care about Travis Henry. They want to hear about "Hollywood" Leinart.

The sooner we as Cardinals fans start to ignore the media's incesent reporting on Leinart, the sooner we can all correctly judge him for what he does (and doesnt do) on the field.

Thank you. Especially the LAST part.

Here are some quotes from Matt at USC.

http://www.mattleinartonline.com/quotes.php

MATT LEINART ON:
His celebrity:
"It's crazy. I get linked with people because they're celebrities I've hung out with. It's kind of sad that I can't go hang out with them without getting my name in the paper. I just want to hang out. I don't want to be in all the magazines. That's not who I am...When I go out, it's all over the TV. That's the thing about the celebrity life. You never know who's watching you. You just have to be really secure about what you're doing...I'm a normal guy, just like any other 21-year-old college student. Really, there's nothing special about me...It's hard to trust a lot of people right now and know exactly what they're after."

And more stuff..this one made me laugh with "Ride or Die" in mind.:

His personality:
"I'm laid back. But I expect perfection. I'm very hard on myself...On the field, I have a cool confidence. I've never been arrogant. I could care less about awards. I just want to win...I don't like being in the spotlight. I just like playing. Obviously, you're going to be the hero or goat when you're the quarterback. But I'm kind of a more roll-with-things type of person...As a person, I'm pretty boring. I play video games. That's my favorite hobby."

This one I really, really found interesting. I'm sure it will swirl the pot around some more because of the relevance. The half-empties will doom and gloom and the half-fulls like me will say "wow, deja vu all over again...hope it turns out the same way."

Why he was a non-factor in first 2 years at USC:
"My attitude was a big part of it and that needed to change. It was tough working all the time and not playing. There were times when I really just didn't care and didn't want to be there...I was upset with myself. In high school, you're the man. You come here and it's a reality check...I wondered if this is what I really wanted to do...It was just a matter of rebuilding my confidence. I had to open my coaches' eyes, because they were down on me. And I was down on myself, too...But it seemed like as soon as Carson Palmer left, everything changed. I realized I couldn't be that way anymore. I had to grow up and become a leader...Once I got comfortable in the system and running the offense, I just never looked back, and here I am today, confident, knowing the system like it's my own and just very capable of running it."

And no, things didn't come easy always for the guy...so many myths about him already....

Growing up overweight and cross-eyed:
"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."

 

[joeshmo]

OK -I'll concede the point about the baby momma - still, though I'm not happy with his spending time with the celebretards instead of grinding film and playbook.
He comes off like a slacker.

How much time does he spend with his friends. More then any other athlete?

These assumptions, generalizations, and stories being blown out of proportion are starting to get comical at best.(we saw how easy that happened with the whole Matt partying with topless chick in a hot tub last summer in Las Vegas turned into Matt drinking heavily at an orgy in a hot tub 2 hours before a game thread).

 

[justAndy]

Maybe I am making assumptions - based on how lost he looks on the field, and him throwng a Jake-like duck into double coverage 2nd play from scrimmage last Sunday.

 

[Russ Smith]

Except for when he was a fat, crosseyed kid that got teased.

Or when his baseball career got ended by arm problems. Or how after he entered HS he had to sit out a whole year after arm problems waiting for the doctors to clear him to play.

Or how he had to sit behind Carson Palmer at USC with heralded recruit John David Booty coming in, and Matt Cassel on the bench with him all the while wondering if he should stick it out or transfer.

Easy.

 

[D-Dogg]

Maybe I am making assumptions - based on how lost he looks on the field, and him throwng a Jake-like duck into double coverage 2nd play from scrimmage last Sunday.

Stare at his feet...his footwork is downright awful. I seriously think that is the number one culprit for his backslide...they tweaked his mechanics and he is no longer playing, but thinking about his every motion. Thus, he can't do what he does well, which is focus and read coverages and make the smart play.

 

[seesred]

IMO Matt looked solid with the exception being the interception last week. He led us too the winning touchdown against the Steelers. He is playing in a two man systems and he had a rough camp. He has played a whole 9 games in the NFL and all experts and this board and off have made up their minds on how bad a QB Matt is and will be. I don't get. It took Elway 3 full years to get it, it took Farve 4 years to egt it.

I believe that those so called experts are just that so called, not real and have nothing better to talk about. Good news like a bad Matt is good fodder. Give the kid some time like next years camp. I will admit next year if he doesn't get it that we may have to look elswhere. I can't forget how glad I was on draft day two years ago that Matt had fallen to us at 10. We didn't say he would be ready to play on the first snap. But with the season going nowhere with Kurt at the helm, he went in and help win 4 out of 5 games.

He has a new coach. He can't manage the game the way he is acustom too. NO audables, in and out of the lineup. Then boom hurt and down and we all call for his head. Even those who didn't like Plummer gave him more time. I've vented and I feel better.

GBR
40

 

[jmt]

How about until Matt proves them right they are wrong.

Right on. IMO Matt is the QoF, those who doubt are groundlessly speculating. What does ESPN say about Cutler? Denver should be 0-5 now and ain't getting any better.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

i suspect sometime next year one of these threads questioning Leinart as QBOF will re-surface much like the Gandy thread did .

 

[CtCardinals78]

How about until Matt proves them right they are wrong.

Look, I have not been the biggest supporter of Matt, and never will be. IMO he is physically fragile and his lack of arm strength limits the offense.

However, for you guys to get all over him this early is ridiculous. Actually it is ********. How did Farve and S. Young look their second year? He has a whole new system here and is trying to learn it. Dont forget how good he looked last year when he understood what was going on. He will get there, but it takes time. The guy was here all offseason busting his but and has great confidence in himself. Whats more, his team has great confidence in him. Quan said he will be great, and Q normally doesn't mince words. I dont recall him ever saying anything like that about anyone else. Furthermore, two weeks ago, many of you who are bashing him now were complaining about Kurt taking some of his PT.

He is not an All Pro yet, but you aren't a very knowledgeable football fan if you expect 2nd year quarterbacks to be dismantling defenses week in and week out.

Cardsfan you put out some great posts, but that was by far one of the best posts I have seen by anyone in here in a long time. Good job man.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

Here's a quick answer for all that ails you.


STOP WATCHING ESPN!!

Good lord. It's like the myspace of broadcasting.

Could not have said it better. I have given up on ESPN being an informed source for Sports. Much like I have given up on Fox and CNN as an informed source for News.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Of all the flaws of being a cardinal fan I would think patience would be one thing they would understand and be good at, I guess I was wrong.

I am pretty sure the tools that want to run him out of here after two season are the same ones who write those "we are cursed posts!"

Quite an unlikable fan base on this board if you ask me, Defend Bidwills and Graves to the death, and trash every young player or star they get. And the cake is you over hype above players as Gods because they run through a few tackles everyone once in a while even though they make very little difference in terms of wins and losses.

 

[az1965]

ESPN is full of crap. Matt will be fine.

 

[conraddobler]

Matt is nothing yet, he's won no big games in the NFL, none.

The wins he has gotten this year was like your dad catching a fish and letting you reel it in.

People need to pry themselves out of Matt's jock and realize that wishes and wants are great but maybe the hype isn't comming out of ESPN about his failure, maybe the hype was about his ability in the first place.

You could plug a lot of QB's into Matt's USC spot and have them do well, not all of them but a lot of them.

He couldn't hold Chase Daniels jocks strap and the guy is only a runt Junior who's numbers would crush Matt's on a much less talented Missouri team.

I wanted the QB of the future and the coach of the future, we've got a coach that managed to win the big game and so far he's done nothing more than climb up and down Matt's backside.

I think the writng for Hollywood is in big bold letters and it's just like I've been saying.

Son you aint nearly as good as you pretend to be and you've got miles to go to even sniff that territory, study and become one with this offense or get the hell off my team.

I think he's made that pretty clear in a nice sorta, publicly humiliating but still human I'll give you a chance anyway, way.

 

[Legend of Gunny]

Matt is nothing yet, he's won no big games in the NFL, none.

The wins he has gotten this year was like your dad catching a fish and letting you reel it in.

People need to pry themselves out of Matt's jock and realize that wishes and wants are great but maybe the hype isn't comming out of ESPN about his failure, maybe the hype was about his ability in the first place.

You could plug a lot of QB's into Matt's USC spot and have them do well, not all of them but a lot of them.

He couldn't hold Chase Daniels jocks strap and the guy is only a runt Junior who's numbers would crush Matt's on a much less talented Missouri team.

I wanted the QB of the future and the coach of the future, we've got a coach that managed to win the big game and so far he's done nothing more than climb up and down Matt's backside.

I think the writng for Hollywood is in big bold letters and it's just like I've been saying.

Son you aint nearly as good as you pretend to be and you've got miles to go to even sniff that territory, study and become one with this offense or get the hell off my team.

I think he's made that pretty clear in a nice sorta, publicly humiliating but still human I'll give you a chance anyway, way.

Great post, Dobler! Agree 100!.... and great tag line! (interesting story!).

 

[Mulli]

Matt is nothing yet, he's won no big games in the NFL, none.

The wins he has gotten this year was like your dad catching a fish and letting you reel it in.

People need to pry themselves out of Matt's jock and realize that wishes and wants are great but maybe the hype isn't comming out of ESPN about his failure, maybe the hype was about his ability in the first place.

You could plug a lot of QB's into Matt's USC spot and have them do well, not all of them but a lot of them.

He couldn't hold Chase Daniels jocks strap and the guy is only a runt Junior who's numbers would crush Matt's on a much less talented Missouri team.

I wanted the QB of the future and the coach of the future, we've got a coach that managed to win the big game and so far he's done nothing more than climb up and down Matt's backside.

I think the writng for Hollywood is in big bold letters and it's just like I've been saying.

Son you aint nearly as good as you pretend to be and you've got miles to go to even sniff that territory, study and become one with this offense or get the hell off my team.

I think he's made that pretty clear in a nice sorta, publicly humiliating but still human I'll give you a chance anyway, way.

This line makes the rest of the post even more ridiculous.

 

[conraddobler]

This line makes the rest of the post even more ridiculous.

Try looking up his stats.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/teams/mms/stats;_ylt=AkaFR0B.94OK3lB6oNaFk3Gj1LYF

He's doing that with half the talent Matt had.

He's a good example, his arm isn't very good either.

 

[Mulli]

Try looking up his stats.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/teams/mms/stats;_ylt=AkaFR0B.94OK3lB6oNaFk3Gj1LYF

He's doing that with half the talent Matt had.

He's a good example, his arm isn't very good either.

Those numbers are pretty good. But come on now.

 

[ARZCardinals]

You guys flip faster than a deck of cards in Vegas.
We love him...no he's worthless...

Matt is a good qb who's young. He's injured and you are the first to say let's dump him. 100% of the NFL will pick him up if you do. Pull your heads out of your rear and stop basing your opinion on ESPN - the barney tv for sports fans.

He's shown great progress as a young qb. He's not had many starts and last year he had the offensive line that had him running for his life. It'll take some time. He's shown progress...exactly as he's supposed to.

do us a favor and leave your ignorant posts in your head rather than wasting our time reading them.

 

[JeffGollin]

ESPN is full of crap. Matt will be fine.

Who do you trust more to evaluate the guys on our team - Coach Whisenhunt or ESPN?

Attempting to put the Leinart situation in perspective -

Last season - coming out of a championship college program with lots of creds - Leinart was supposed to back up Warner for a year or two, but was pressed into action earlier than expected (I don't recall whether it was because Kurt was injured or because Dennis got frustrated with Kurt's muffed snaps and turnovers).

Regardless - he became our starter earlier than expected and showed remarkable poise and understanding how to read defenses for a rookie.

He remained our starter coming into this year, but this didn't mean we could expect him to play like a seasoned veteran. He was still a young kid not consistent in his footwork and mechanics and discovering that reading defenses was not yet second nature to him yet. He had his good moments and his bad ones (Not a promising indicator since that would project to a .500 season).

Meanwhile Warner - coming in to run the no-huddle several times as a change of pace - looked better than he has since his StL days (exceeding 100.0 in QB Rating). I have a theory about that: (1) It takes at least a couple of years for reflexes to snap back after a concussion, (2) "the gloves" and (3) pass protection this year is giving Warner 1 - 2 seconds more to read the secondary than he had last year or with the Giants. That's all he needed.

So where does that leave us:

- With a veteran QB with probably one or two years left in the proverbial tank, who can get us into the playoffs (maybe farther) but one big hit away from oblivion.

- With a backup QB whom the HC says has an NFL arm and is bright enough to master the offense fairly quickly, but still has to actually prove he can do it.

- And a promising QB who's gone for the season who exits still a work in process - with several areas of his game needing improvement and not being able to do much about it except listen, learn and study from on far. And even then, we're not going to know how much he'll have progressed - or regressed - until we see him back on the field next year.

In the words of Walter Cronkeit - "That's the way it is."

Matt has too much God given skill and potential to relegate him to the trash heap. Nor is it fair (or for that matter, smart) to assume that, because he didn't perform all that well with less than a full season's worth of experience under his belt, he'll continue to underperform in the future.

But it is also fair to take a long, hard look and an "I'm from Missouri - Show Me" attitude and view Leinart as a young, injured QB - with considerable talent but also with some areas he needs to work on - who'll still have to prove he can go out there and get the job done.

That's his challenge.

Our challenge is to not make premature judgments either way, stop worrying about the woulda-couldas and instead focus on getting to 4 & 2.

 

[40yearfan]

Of all the flaws of being a cardinal fan I would think patience would be one thing they would understand and be good at, I guess I was wrong.

I am pretty sure the tools that want to run him out of here after two season are the same ones who write those "we are cursed posts!"

Quite an unlikable fan base on this board if you ask me, Defend Bidwills and Graves to the death, and trash every young player or star they get. And the cake is you over hype above players as Gods because they run through a few tackles everyone once in a while even though they make very little difference in terms of wins and losses.

So you're saying the only ones trashing Lienart are the fans who defend Graves and the Bidwills? You'd better look again as it's obvious you haven't been paying attention.

 

[Mulli]

I can appreciate the concerns about Leinart. There is a chance he will not develop into the QB many think he can be. Of course there is.

I just think it is to soon (and depressing) to give up hope on him now.

 

[CardLogic]

Quite an unlikable fan base on this board if you ask me,

So what are you doing here, then?

 

[conraddobler]

For the record I like Matt a lot and want him to be the QB of the future and I believe he can.

This isn't USC and that mindset will not work here or in the NFL.

He needs to listen to Edge when he tells him what Peyton does and how hard he prepares and he needs to do that because he can't throw like Peyton can but he can prepare like him and he can be a great QB since I think he's smart enough and poised enough to win a championship.

I would have prefered that he had impressed Whis with how fast he got the offense and how hard he worked to get it.

Matt got complacent, this is just Whis blasting that out of him, I think the message was sent loud and clear and next year we'll get Matt's response to it.

I think he'll respond well, we'll see.