By now, we've all heard about Matt Leinart's little beer bong escapade with the local Delta house from ASU. The guy got crucified here in Phoenix, and in my opinion, rightfully so.
While surfing the Bleacher, I couldn't help but notice the amount of support Leinart was getting from the community. It actually appalled me.I had to throw my hat in the ring. Even if it is two weeks late and beat to death. (I'm new to the forum!)
I'm an under cover Cardinal fan living in Phoenix (it’s bad when you’re undercover in your home town). I'm also a 28-year old man who has grown up considerably over the last several years. Waaaay back when I was in my prime like Leinart is now, I was out of control. Beer bongs, normal bongs, parties, chicks, you name it...I was basically a piece.
The difference? I wasn't the face of an NFL team or a million dollar golden boy charged with the task of rescuing a floundering franchise.
If you are fortunate enough to be an NFL quarterback and are even hyped at one point as 'The Football Jesus', as Leinart was here locally in Arizona, then you should show a little grace for your good fortune and professionalism for your craft.
I have no problem with a young successful guy partying and enjoying his fame—to an extent. You have to be smart enough to do it in the privacy of your own home and try your best to prevent the college coeds gone wild from whipping out there iPhones while carousing in the spa with you and your Reality TV cronies.
Especially if you are an NFL Quarterback.
Most certainly, if you are an under-performing and overpaid NFL Quarterback who held out for top five money, despite being the 11th pick in the draft.
Mind you, the local media was already gunning for him due to his complete failure to show any signs of development over the last two seasons. In fact, most would say he's regressed.
A quick Google of "Matt Leinart" will tell the casual fan all they need to know about the USC playboy. You will find ten times more information on his celebrity than you will his football career.
Time to grow up Matty. You're 25 years old, a father and a well paid PROFESSIONAL athlete. Act like it.
The guy has done next to nothing in the NFL. He's one more bad season away from becoming Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite. I can see it now:
"Hey Nick, how much you wanna bet I can throw a football over that mountain?"
Matt Leinart holds clipboards for Kurt Warner for god's sake! It wasn't two seasons ago that Warner couldn't go three snaps deep with out drooling all over himself before fumbling the handoff. Leinart backs him up!
Rumors abound that Anquan Boldin (the most under-appreciated WR in the NFL) wants out. I can't blame him. All Q's hard work goes by the way side while his QB tries to sack 18 year old sorority pledges.
Leinart does not have this team's confidence. They are not behind him. They do not believe in him. They don't trust him further than his weak arm can toss the ball.
Sadly, Leinert’s career thus far has been a joke. Career is what is important when you're paid millions of dollars to play football and be a leader, not jello shots, wet t-shirt contests, and chumming with 35 -year old tool boxes like Nick Lachey.
If I sound like a stiff it's because I hold athletes to a higher standing, just as they hold themselves. Like I said, I can roister with the best of them, but I spend good money on tickets, TV packages, jerseys and hats. Not to mention countless wasted hours and emotions.
I believe I am owed a good performance on the field. I believe he owes it to his employer to keep his nose clean.
Truth be told, I still hold out hope that Matt Leinart is the 'Football Jesus' and can be the guy to rescue the Cardinals from the misery that is their very existence. But that hope is fading more and more with each mental picture of him nodding off in his Bud Light.
What he does behind closed doors is of no concern to me—until he allows it to be public knowledge—which he has. For all I know he was studying game film two hours before the party bus arrived. Unfortunately there were no pictures of that occurrence posted on TheDirty.com.
I'm concerned with how he performs on the field and thus far he hasn't. Brett Favre could have been photographed sniffing cocaine with hookers in a Milwaukee strip club and it would have been ok. One, because the media loved Favre, but more importantly, because Favre was a gamer. He came to play. He left it all between the 20's.
Perhaps you've seen that NFLshop.com commercial of Matt Leinart fast asleep on a La-Z-Boy and being awakened by someone tossing a football in his lap. Irony in art. That is the real Matt Leinart, a lazy boy.
I guarantee Kurt Warner isn't doing beer bongs at his home right now.
And right now, Kurt Warner is the starting QB for the Arizona Cardinals.
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3 months ago
Great, well written article. I admit I was part of the Leinart Lovefest on Bleacher, and am also guilty of still being a little too into the partying ways I grew to know and love while at USC the same time as Leinart. What matters is how he performs on the field, and to date it hasn't been great. Although I'll point out that he showed some promise in his rookie year, and last year is a wash because of the quick hook from Whisenhunt and the injury.
This year is a make or break one for Leinart, and I hope he'll be up to the challenge. After such a great college career, it'd be a shame if the most memorable moment from his pro career through three years was the beer bong picture...
from 3 months ago
Thanks Dave - let's hope the kid gets it together.
3 months ago
Nice work...I couldn't have said it better
3 months ago
Well put Greg.....Leinert is a terrific athlete, I watched him every sat at sc, but who he is as a person is rather questionable???? I got real sick of his off the field antics.....He always acted like he was more into the hollywood spotlight than actually playing football... he was just lucky enough to have Pete Carrol to tame him down.......
3 months ago
Matt Leinart will do just fine next season. The media loves winners and losers. But if you were injured, like Matt, then you are neither. Your just fodder for the critics. "Hey, he's not doing anything for us! Over paid! Over rated! It's time to pile on." Give me a break.
Frankly, Matt Leinart probably has the right to sue the person who took that picture for invasion of privacy. The party was in his own house! And people who sit in judgement of some else's personal behavior when they probably did the same thing at that age are pure hypocrits. I wonder how many holier-than-thou people would like to open up their personal life to such scruitiny?
3 months ago
True indeed, but the purpose of the article was to draw light to the fact that he is a highly paid professional athlete who bears responsibility to his employer. That employer has a responsibility to the fans.
You can't draw comparisons with self-entitled super star quarterbacks to average joe party kids. I for one, didn't have the responsibiliteis mentioned above. I was only accountable to myself. No contract, no employer, no teammates, no fans, no child. I made the choice (or lack there of) to be free to do whatever the hell I wanted. Leinart, by way of his NFL carreer has no such luxury.
If he plays well, he can do whatever the hell he wants, but until them - he needs to keep his nose clean. Don't act like that's not the kind of superficial world we live in. It might not be right, but it's real.
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