Matt Leinart still believes he can play
Jul 11, 2011, 6:05 PM | Updated: 7:12 pm
Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart still believes he can contribute in the National Football League.
The current free-agent has been called a bust, a title that seems fair at this point, plenty of times. In his six-year career the QB has thrown just 14 touchdowns while being picked off 20 times. Still, the former first-round pick wants a shot.
“I’ve heard everything,” Leinart told ESPN Radio’s “Mason and Ireland” in Los Angeles. “I’ve seen everything. For me, I haven’t proven anything … I haven’t proven that I can play game in and game out. And I understand that. Now, I believe I can play and I’m not one to make excuses. I’ve never made an excuse in my time with Arizona. It just didn’t work out for whatever reasons.”
Leinart’s tenure in Arizona came to an abrupt halt last September when he was cut shortly before the season began. He was picked up by the Houston Texans, but could not win the backup quarterback job and did not throw a pass all of last season.
“You kind of look at the timeline of what’s happened to me and … having a pretty good rookie year and then the second year just getting the injury and then, you know, Kurt Warner, I mean Kurt Warner played himself into the Hall of Fame the last three years,” Leinart said.
It is not unreasonable for the Heisman trophy winner to want to play. Football has been his life for years and it is not easy to give something up, yet it is unclear as to why teams would be willing to take a shot on Leinart.
Yes, the Cardinals quarterback was behind a future Hall of Famer in Kurt Warner, but the fact that he could not beat out Dan Orlovsky in Houston should open some eyes.
Leinart will never admit to being a bust and may still believe he can be productive in this league, however so far he has proven to be better off in a hot tub than under center.
