I’ve had enough of the negativity around our boy Matt. I’ve heard enough of it from the media and by some people that call themselves Cardinals fans. Stop overreacting after 2 preseason games because he is going to be a fantastic quarterback in this league, and if he isn’t Whiz has a plan. The only thing that can stop Matt from being successful is if he lets all of the doubts and negativity from all around him to enter his head. He has to believe in himself first. That is one of the things that made Kurt so successful. Kurt had so much belief in himself it was infectious, and a quarterback needs to believe in himself first. Leinart is the guy who won two National Championships and a Heisman Trophy at USC. He went 37-2 only losing a triple overtime game in his first season, and the epic National Title game against Vince Young and Texas. Lots of people said it was the talent around him, but USC hasn’t won a National Title since he left. He is the all-time leader in touchdowns and completion percentage for USC, and I have no reason yet to believe he can’t have that same success on the pro level.
I hated him his entire college career because he was a Trojan. The day of the draft I sat around and watched him start to slip, and the hate subsided and an excitement started to grow inside me that maybe he could play for the Cardinals. I couldn’t believe it as team after team passed on him, and I saw him getting closer and closer to the Cardinals number 10 pick. I’m sure some of the people that say they are Cardinals fans now didn’t even know the draft was on, but I sat around waiting for our first pick like I do every year hoping they get the player I want. I didn’t even consider him that year, because I try to be realistic at who would fall to us at our pick and I thought there was no chance he would. When the Commissioner called his name I got so excited you would’ve thought I just got drafted. My friends and I got together and celebrated that night and called it Happy Leinart Day. We drank beers and toasted to Matt Leinart excited about the future and how we may finally break the long cycle of losing. We had been living in the dark ages for a long time, and now we had the Golden Boy to take us to the Promised Land.
After everything that has happened I’m glad he has had to wait for his chance. I’ve seen a hunger in him and a look in his eyes in the offseason that I haven’t seen since Apollo took Rocky to that gym in the ghetto. I don’t know where it went this preseason. He needs too and I know he will get that eye of the tiger back. I’m sure that’s why Whiz is benching him for the Bears game. He has to light that fire in Matt again, and he needs to push those doubts aside with a strong 2 minute drill. If Matt can’t find that fire and belief in himself than Whiz may have to go with Anderson, but this also lets Whiz see if Derek can show any consistency at all. Now we can also see if Anderson is worth keeping over the two rookies, because Hall has been great and Skelton has potential. If Anderson takes this opportunity and blows up I’ll love that too, because I don’t care if I’m right about Leinart I care if the Cardinals win.
There are a lot of haters out there and I can’t wait to see Matt prove them wrong. As T.O. would say, "Thats my quarterback."
-In Whisenhunt we trust,
Ozzy
Ozzy,
ReplyDeleteYou make some good points but some I disagree with. Leinart has had a veeery long time to be ready to shine and he barely flickered. How long do we have to wait to see the "Hollywood Matt" and the Trojan swagger that you so proudly boast about from his USC days??? If any good college QB had Reggie Bush in his backfield he'd have put up big numbers too. Think of who USC played against, the subpar defenses of the PAC 10 that were constantly loading up the box to try and contain Bush! Going back to your boxing analogy......Leinhart was nothing but a "paper champ" who rode Bush's coat tails!
Doobs
Doobs,
ReplyDeleteMaybe we'll have to agree to disagree and you can wait and see what happens. He was beaten out by a future Hall of Fame quarterback. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Did you ever think he made Reggie Bush and do you remember Mike Williams look better than they were? Reggie has been ok but not fantastic and Williams busted out completely. His passes would float into their hands and they wouldn't have to break stride. It's not like after Reggie Bush left the Trojans stopped recruiting stud players. Sanchez couldn't win it all with McKnight and other stud players, but Leinart went 37-2 and won 2 national titles and would have had 3 if Vince Young didn't pull that off.
Ozzy,
ReplyDeleteI'm a Steelers fan from Pittsburgh and indirectly found your blog through profootballtalk.com. I like the look of your blog and you make some nice points about Leinart in your post. The thing is, Doobs has a point. Leinart has been around for five years now and he should have shown some flashes of greatness by now if he has it in him. You make a lot of comments about Leinart's college career but, as you know, a lot of college greats flame out in the pros. I follow the Cardinals a little bit because I wanted the Steelers to pick him as our coach but I'm happy with Tomlin now. I hope your team does well this year and I would like to see Leinart do well too. I loved watching him dominate in college but I just don't know if he has the skill set needed to dominate in the NFL.
It's hilarious to me that THE Tom Brady goes three and out on his first 3 drives in the all-important 3rd preseason game, yet doesn't get taken out of the game until the 4th quarter. His coach, a 3-time super bowl- winning coach at that, decides that he should leave Tom in to get a rhythm. Funnily enough, Whiz doesn't afford Matt that luxury, yet demotes him. This despite gaining negative yardage in the running game, and having less than 2 seconds to get rid of the ball due to the porous O-line.
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy that I watched both preseason games and actually witnessed what was going on, as opposed to reading some summary and jumping to ridiculous conclusions. Far too many writers today write articles based solely on a box score or highlights.
This is the first time that I've actually been disappointed in Whiz's coaching.
I completely agree with marc. I love hightower, he has great hands and in the redzone, the man just keeps churning. Outside the redzone he is not the same runner. He is not as explosive, strong, and does not hit the holes the same way as beanie. Matt gets to work with hightower, who actually missed blocks, and anderson worked with beanie. It makes it much easier for a QB when the running back is actually getting a yard. I believe in Matt. Maybe not a hall of famer, but he doesn't need to be. I can't believe he is getting benched when on every first down he got seven or eight yards and hightower could not get a first down.
ReplyDeleteHi Ozzy,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog from your AZ Central comment. I am a founder of a new blog site called THE SPORTS BLOG NATION. I really enjoyed your first post here and would like to extend to you a warm welcome to join our site, which has only been around for 4 days and already has 75,000 hits and over a 100 members. You would be well read there.
We have come over from the Sporting News blogging community, which is about to be disbanded. I am a fan of ALL teams in Phoenix including, of course, the Arizona Cardinals.
You would be wanted and needed as a blogger and a commentator at our site. Please give us a try!
Here is the link to our site:
www.t-s-b-n.com
bigtoke
PS anyone else reading this is also invited to check us out. I hope you join us Ozzy! Go Cardinals.
Ozzy,
ReplyDeleteI can appreciate your optimism in regards to being patient with Leinhart. I agree that a couple of series in these pre-season games is not enough of a sample to have the cards nation ready to run Matt out of town. However, there is reason to be concerned. Now we all, including myself love Kurt Warner. He took us to places and provided memories that the loyal Cards fan had never experienced previously. However, let us remember when Warner signed with us he was not viewed as a sure-fire HOF'er but as a Super Bowl winning quarterback who was at the helm of the Rams famed "Greatest Show on Turf", offense. He signed with us after a few injury plagued years and an inauspicious stint with the New York Giants where he was supplanted by Eli Manning. He was thought to be for the most part finished as a starting NFL quarterback. In fact Leinart was our starting QB and Warner was signed as someone who would mentor and provide some competition to bring out the best in Matt. Thankfully Kurt supplanted Leinart and took us to the Super Bowl.
With Leinart, I do question his fire and ability to rise to competition. Looking back and thinking about his USC career has me questioning some things. Why would a true competitor who is eager to test themselves at the highest level come back to USC for his Senior year? Remember he had just won the Heisman trophy and multiple national titles upon the completion of his redshirt junior season. Maybe he came back to get his college degree? Noble reason, right? Nope, he had already graduated and if you remember he was taking only a couple electives including a ballroom dancing class.
I can't previously recall someone who had accomplished virtually everything on the college level come back for their senior year. He most likely would have been the #1 pick that year, instead a QB by the name of Alex Smith was chosen with the top pick. Today,everyone is questioning Leinart's physical ability and arm strength. Looking back has me questioning his desire and confidence in himself. Time will tell.
Duff