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00:23Hi everybody, I'm Brian Kenney and welcome to ESPN Classics Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame.
00:28In this show, we'll examine the case against Matt Leiner.
00:31As a sophomore and junior, the USC quarterback scaled heights of excellence seldom achieved in college football.
00:37He won a Heisman Trophy and led the Trojans to two national championships while losing just one of his 26
00:43starts.
00:44Then he made what seems to have been a very expensive mistake.
00:48Instead of entering the 2005 NFL Draft where he was off, Leiner decided he liked college life too much to
00:55leave so soon.
00:56Oh, what a difference that year made.
00:58Not only did Leiner's decision to stay in school cost him millions of dollars, its effect on his pro career
01:04is incalculable.
01:05In this show, we'll stand up for the quarterback and count down the top five reasons you can't blame Matt
01:11Leiner for returning for his senior season at USC.
01:14But first, let's take a look at the case against him.
01:19Leiner gets some heat, goes down into the corner, touchdown!
01:24Winner. Winner. Winner. This guy always found a way to win.
01:29He's in the end zone! Touchdown, USC!
01:32Matt Leiner is one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time.
01:38Leiner bumps it, going deep.
01:39Kerry Colbert! Got it!
01:41The championships, the Heisman Trophy, the winning streak.
01:47Let's dream up of who else goes in that class because they're not immediately coming to mind.
01:52Chosen's on three! One, two, three!
01:54Chosen!
01:54As a sophomore in 2003, Leiner stepped into the most glamorous position in football and promptly lit up the scoreboard.
02:05Touchdown, USC! That's exactly what Pete Carroll wanted for his young quarterback.
02:10That season, the Trojans' main man passed for 38 touchdowns and led USC to a co-national championship.
02:17His three touchdown passes and a 28-14 victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl earned him the MVP award.
02:24He may not be the most talented quarterback that ever walked out on the field, but I tell you what,
02:28he thinks he is.
02:29And he can make other people believe it, too, and that's an amazing quality.
02:32The guy really has what some people think is a photographic memory.
02:37Leiner looking for Bush! Throws! Got him!
02:39He's a very poised quarterback. He's a really smart quarterback, too, at the same time, which I think a lot
02:44of people take for granted.
02:44As a junior, Leiner was brilliant again, winning the Heisman Trophy as he led the Trojans to an undefeated season.
02:52Every pass he threw was perfect on the money. He was the reason behind the calls. His leadership was unquestioned.
02:58His focus on the game, studying our stuff as well as the defense, he's just taken that so serious that
03:06it's allowed us to do so many things with him.
03:08In the 2005 Orange Bowl, USC nailed a second straight national title, routing Oklahoma 55-19.
03:17Leiner won another MVP award, throwing for 332 yards and an Orange Bowl record five touchdowns.
03:24Touchdown! And a new Orange Bowl record five touchdown passes.
03:28Almost everyone expected him to declare for the pros.
03:31No question. You had to believe that that was the last time you'd see Matt Leiner in a USC uniform.
03:37What else could he accomplish if you break it down? The only thing left for him to do was fail.
03:44He was as ready as ready gets to be the number one draft pick.
03:50But ten days later, Leiner announced he had other plans.
03:54I will be coming back for my fifth year.
03:58I could not believe it when I heard he was staying.
04:01How could anybody not go? You gotta go.
04:05It boggled the mind. Who would make a choice like that?
04:08He could never live up to what happened the year before.
04:12He was the it guy.
04:14His decision to come back threw caution to the wind.
04:18He's looking at throwing millions of dollars out the window and risking injury.
04:23On any given play, your whole life can change. Not just your career, but your whole life.
04:28Because you get injuries that you just don't recover from.
04:30You can't risk injury. You can't risk bad play.
04:34Any business person in their right mind goes in the NFL.
04:38He could only go down in a sense.
04:40If you don't come back and win every game and win the Heisman Trophy and win a national championship, then
04:45you've made a mistake.
04:46He had raised the bar higher than he could jump over again.
04:56Although Leinert's performance fell off as a senior, the Trojans extended their winning streak to 34 games.
05:02But in the most exciting BCS title game to date, USC was upset by Texas 41-38.
05:09Among the more...
05:13...was former offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who a year earlier had left the Trojans to join the Titans of the
05:20NFL.
05:21Chow knew what Leinert was comfortable with.
05:23When you replace that, you're starting over again with this whole kind of comfort situation and learning process.
05:28On the field, the junior season was stronger statistically for Leinert.
05:33He won the Heisman Trophy. They won the national championship.
05:36Without Norm Chow, there goes the Heisman Trophy and there goes the spotlight.
05:40Matt Leinert's just totally off his game today.
05:42Leinert became the subject of intense revisionism.
05:46Questions about his arm strength stemmed from elbow surgery he had undergone after his junior season.
05:51And red flags were raised across the NFL.
05:54The longer he played, the more they had to scrutinize.
05:57And that's when it started coming up about his arm strength.
06:01That's when it started coming up about, wonder if he is the best quarterback.
06:04Well, that's what, the fifth time now he's been high and wide.
06:08I think people saw his arm maybe, and they said, well, it's not as good as this guy's arm.
06:13His spiral's not quite as tight as it was his junior year.
06:16Does he have arm problems now? Did he recover?
06:18I think these are all things that he exposed himself to.
06:21In the 2006 NFL draft, the first team to select a quarterback was Tennessee, with the third pick.
06:28Despite Chow's relationship with Leinert, the Titans bypassed the USC star for the man who beat him in the Rose
06:35Bowl, Vince Young.
06:37His mentor, the man that gave him the tools to succeed, is now in the NFL?
06:42And he didn't pick him?
06:44Couldn't convince the guys there to pick him?
06:47When Leinert was selected 10th by the Arizona Cardinals, the thud of his fall from grace was heard from coast
06:53to coast.
06:54He described the draft day experience as maybe the worst day of his life.
06:57Spot after spot gets called, and he sits and waits.
07:01That must have been agonizing, and I think very embarrassing for him.
07:04The poor guy who was supposed to be chosen high, sitting there, everybody in the green room's disappearing.
07:09You don't want to be the last guy in that room.
07:12And I would think in the back of his mind, he's saying, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, you know,
07:15the money machine going downhill, too.
07:17Leinert's choice to stay at USC for another season almost certainly cost him millions.
07:22In 2005, Alex Smith, the number one pick, signed a contract that guaranteed him $24 million.
07:30In 2006, Leinert's guarantee was $14 million.
07:35I think he was embarrassed.
07:36I think he wishes he'd gone.
07:38You look at the Arizona Cardinals, and it's just, it's been a wasteland for 30-plus years.
07:43He's destined to live with the legacy that is the black hole, that is quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals.
07:50His first reaction, he admitted to me, was, oh no, not only do I fall on the draft, but Arizona
07:55Cardinals.
07:55What is happening to my world?
07:57One of the worst franchises ever.
07:59They've been run terribly.
08:00They've been ch...
08:01He actually got a blessing to play with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Bolden, and he still was a bust.
08:09Beep, they've done everything wrong.
08:12I understand you want to stay in college, and you want to hang out with your buddies, you want to
08:15live that Hollywood lifestyle, but when it loses you $10 million, is it really worth hanging out with Nick Lachey
08:20to lose $10 million?
08:21I don't think so.
08:23I can blame him all the way.
08:24I mean, you don't turn down an opportunity to be the number one pick because you just don't know what
08:28can happen from year to year.
08:29As time goes on, he's going to regret that decision.
08:35Well, now you've seen the case against Matt Leinart.
08:38Now, before we lay out the top five reasons you can't blame him for returning to USC, here are a
08:43few that didn't make the final cut.
08:46He may not have been number one.
08:49Popular wisdom to the contrary, Leinart was...
08:52A lot of strong contenders.
08:53Alex Smith.
08:55Was he better than Alex Smith?
08:56Maybe.
08:57...not a lock to go first in the 2005 draft.
09:00You can never tell how your stock is going to fare during that NFL evaluation period at the end of
09:06the season.
09:07Anything can happen, and I would count on that, and I'm sure he was advised as such by people.
09:11He was like, you're the number one pick overall right now, nothing says you'll be that by April.
09:15After his junior season, everyone just absolutely decided that he'd be the number one pick.
09:20And I spent time with the 49ers behind the scenes.
09:24They were not going to take him number one whether he was eligible for the draft or not.
09:28With things being as uncertain as they are, that's just another reason why you stay.
09:32Because there is certainty in staying.
09:33You are going to play for a national championship.
09:35You are going to be hounded by hot Southern Cal co-eds.
09:42Our other insurance, like most top college athletes, Leinert was insured against career-ending injury.
09:49I think that makes it easier to go out and play that last year, and to play with abandon, which
09:53he plays with.
09:54He's not a guy who is protecting himself out there.
09:56Leinert's in trouble.
09:58Takes off.
09:59A lot of room.
10:00Now finally tracked down.
10:02Not only was Leinert covered against injury, another policy, also taken out by his family, gave him some downside protection
10:09in the 2006 draft.
10:11Matt Leinert had a loss of value policy.
10:14If he did not get selected in the top 15 picks, he was then able to make up the difference
10:19between whatever he was going to get guaranteed versus what he would have had guaranteed as the number one pick
10:24in 2005.
10:26He was covered, so he made a shrewd deal to get the insurance.
10:31Why not come back with another national championship?
10:33It made perfect sense.
10:34Worst case scenario is that you're a millionaire.
10:39When we're...
10:43Scar tissue.
10:51Despite winning the Heisman in 2004, Leinert was playing with an injured throwing elbow.
10:56I don't think you can blame him for not coming out, because he had a question about his arm.
11:02His left elbow had scar tissue.
11:04He played the whole season with it.
11:06Leinert, on the side, he's got on again, close this one, the ball's caught.
11:10He had to have surgery, and I think his arm strength needed to be improved.
11:14He wasn't going to be able to go to that combine, and he wasn't going to be able to throw
11:17for teams.
11:18He knew that his body needed that break, that he was not ready to go and work out for people.
11:23It's a red flag, you know, and the more red flags they see in a guy, especially, again, we're talking
11:28about a very, very small pool of players with a lot of money at stake.
11:33And so, if they can think of more reasons not to take a guy, they don't take him.
11:37It's just not something you can hide from a scout.
11:39They can tell when a guy's favoring his elbow, and that would have a huge impact on whether you went
11:44number one or number 10 or number 15.
11:51Are you starting to change your thinking?
11:53Maybe reason number four will help.
11:57San Francisco was on the rocks.
11:59From 2003 to 2005, no NFL team had a worse record than the 49ers, 13 and 35.
12:08I think he may not have just wanted to play for the 49ers because the franchise was in such a
12:12state of disrepair.
12:13They're expected to be one of the dregs of the NFL probably over the next two or three years.
12:17His parents, his dad, Bob, looked at that offensive line and saw all the quarterbacks were getting killed back there.
12:23And that did not have killed enough.
12:25It almost seemed like USC had more talent than the Niners did at that point.
12:30He'd have gotten all the money, and San Francisco would have bankrolled him and just set him out to be
12:36destroyed.
12:36He's up in San Francisco.
12:38Sure, he's got the cash, but, I mean, he's running for his life every Sunday.
12:43This could be a blessing in disguise for Matt Liner to end up with the Arizona Cardinals.
12:48Arizona's a pretty good place to be for a young quarterback.
12:52You've got two 1,000-yard receivers in Bolden and Fitzgerald.
12:58You have a proven all-pro running back in Edger and James.
13:05And a two-time MVP quarterback to learn from.
13:10The key is having a guy like Kurt Warner, NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP,
13:15a guy that's done it all to see how he goes about his approach with the day-to-day activities
13:20of being an NFL quarterback.
13:22The history of NFL is replete with right guys at the right time and the right team.
13:32Big man on campus.
13:38When he becomes the BMOC at USC, this is the first time in his life.
13:43This is a guy who's a fat kid, had big, thick classes.
13:47He is the show.
13:48He is the man.
13:49He can't walk down campus without getting five phone numbers handed in his hand.
13:51He has a really heart-wrenching story about being fat and cross-eyed.
13:55And it's like the ugly duckling that becomes the swan.
13:59What about Matt Leinem?
14:03You're talking about...
14:05Yeah, he grew up to his looks.
14:07Arguably the biggest celebrity in the history of college football in the nation's second-largest market.
14:12When I was in college, I couldn't get into half the clubs that he owned space in.
14:17It was kind of like we were the kings of L.A., honestly, and Matt was, you know, at the
14:21top of his game.
14:22In his last semester at USC, Leinert's academic schedule consisted of one class, ballroom dancing.
14:30If you understood how he was living, you would have stayed, too.
14:35Everybody loves him, from directors to actors, and especially the actresses.
14:41So now, why leave?
14:43Why would he leave?
14:44He was given VIP treatment.
14:46He was hanging out with all the celebrities.
14:47You could always see him with Nick Lachey, Paris Hilton, all of that sort of young Hollywood set he was
14:54instantly accepted into.
14:55His life couldn't get any better than living in Los Angeles and being the king of that town.
15:01You know, it's a tough place to leave when you're at the height of it.
15:05Matt is, for all intents and purposes, the professional quarterback of Los Angeles.
15:10Now, he is one of the probably the more eligible bachelors in this town at this point.
15:14People would look at Nick Lachey and say, hmm, you're living deliciously.
15:18But then, he looked over at Matt Leiner and he was like, no, there's the guy who's got it all.
15:22The money will come, but your senior year as BMOC, as the big mother on campus, will never come again.
15:31It is a wonderful thing to be a great player at USC.
15:34It's something you don't walk away from easily.
15:36And I fully understand why Matt Leiner would want that last year, even if it was just to learn the
15:43tango.
15:48If you haven't bought into our argument yet, maybe reason number two will help.
15:54Carson Palmer.
15:56Leinart's friend and predecessor at USC, Palmer also blew off the NFL for another season of college football.
16:03And he still went number one.
16:06Touchdown, Georgia!
16:09Before Leinart has to make this decision, it's becoming apparent that Carson Palmer is going to be great.
16:15And so, what better model to replicate?
16:19They're friends, and Carson's word to him was, you know, relax, learn.
16:26Matt said to me that he bought into that, and he understands the wisdom there.
16:32Leinart's senior year allowed him time to grow as a quarterback.
16:35One game in which his learning curve spiked was a 34-31 victory at Notre Dame.
16:41They needed a big, big completion.
16:43And he wound up throwing a ball that, frankly, you wouldn't need it four years of college, just to figure
16:48out the trajectory on the ball.
16:50Fourth down and nine.
16:52The pass is caught on the sideline.
16:54Forty, thirty, twenty, and tackled at the 12-yard line.
16:58One of the things that Matt Leinart did that last year was he studied a lot of NFL tape.
17:03He studied NFL quarterbacks where he hadn't done it in the past, and that helped him prepare.
17:08Leinart changing his play.
17:12Pass, touchdown!
17:14Another year of schooling, another year of grooming, especially in that system.
17:19It's just another step in the developmental process for a quarterback.
17:23The list of elite NFL quarterbacks that played their senior season includes Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb, and Peyton Manning.
17:31I want to come back from my senior year and be able to slow everything down a little bit.
17:36I would stay in, like Peyton did, and I would stay in and learn and continue to learn.
17:41You can't know enough in this game, and especially at our position.
17:44You could go down the list, John Elway, Joe Montana, any great quarterback you want to cite.
17:49Almost all of the greatest quarterbacks in the last 15, 20 years.
17:52Basically spent four years in a program.
17:53Of the many failed NFL quarterbacks who came out early, three notables are Achille Smith, Andre Ware, and Ryan Leaf.
18:04Ryan Leaf is the bust of all busts.
18:08He came out early.
18:09He took the money, and I think if you compare the two, Ryan probably wishes he'd have went back to
18:14Washington State.
18:15You know, every now and then, that extra year of season, it can do you some good.
18:18There's clearly a reason guys succeed after four years of school, and guys who come out in the NFL after
18:24three years of school
18:25are just not going to make that top echelon.
18:29Matt Leinert has scored, and the Crouchons will win the ballgame!
18:50You know, there's just something special we have going on here, and to do a three-peat, I don't think
18:58that's ever been done before.
19:00Well, there's a challenge on the table.
19:03He had a chance to be part of a great legacy at USC.
19:07One of the greatest college football teams of all time.
19:11I feel like we had another shot to play for another national championship, and we're excited to have him back.
19:17Being the man to lead a college football team to unprecedented heights of three consecutive championships, you will make history.
19:25That's something that Carson Palmer, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Stout, you name any of the great quarterbacks, collegiate or
19:35professional quarterbacks, they couldn't claim that.
19:38Had they won the Texas game, he's 38-1, he's a Heisman Trophy winner, and he's a three-time national
19:44champ, and that's unheard of.
19:47He was in it for what the sport's about. To grab the gusto, the exhilaration, that high you can't get.
19:54Only Matt could get it that year. No one else in college football history could grab that high.
19:59Play action for Leiner, throwing, across the middle, Jarrett's got it inside the five, still on his feet, dives towards
20:05the goal line, he's in! Tuck down, USC! Matt Leiner to Dwayne Jarrett!
20:11That would have been something that would have etched his name into the annals of college football history forever.
20:17Trying to be the only college football player besides Archie Griffin to win two Heisman Trophies, you also can leave
20:24your final imprint saying, hey, I did something nobody else was able to do.
20:27I can't blame Leiner because no one's ever done it, and as a quarterback, kind of see why he did
20:33come back and try to accomplish that.
20:35I don't blame him. I think those are pretty prestigious accomplishments that he had in mind, and he came darn
20:42close.
20:43Texas 41, USC 38. Well, it was quite a ride.
20:51Was one more year of college worth it for Matt Leiner? Not everything can be measured in terms of money,
20:56and for his sake, he can only hope he thoroughly enjoyed his senior year.
21:00I'm Brian Keddie. Thanks for joining us.
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