Matthew Stephen Leinart was born on May 11,1983 and is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for seven seasons.
42 Facts About Matt Leinart
2.
Matt Leinart played college football at USC, where he won the Heisman Trophy and led his team to an undefeated season as a junior, culminating with a victory in the 2005 BCS National Championship.
3.
Matt Leinart spent his final three seasons in a backup role for the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders.
4.
Matt Leinart was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
5.
Matt Leinart was born in Santa Ana, California with strabismus ; his left eye was not aligned correctly with his right.
6.
Matt Leinart underwent surgery when he was three years old and was fitted with special glasses to correct the problem, but the eyewear combined with Leinart's already-overweight frame made him an easy target for other children's ridicule.
7.
Matt Leinart attended Mater Dei High School and was a letterman in football and basketball.
8.
However, after Hackett and most of his staff were fired in 2000, Matt Leinart considered other programs such as Georgia Tech and Arizona State, and visited Oklahoma and Michigan before USC eventually hired Pete Carroll.
9.
Matt Leinart attended the University of Southern California, where he played for coach Pete Carroll's USC Trojans football team from 2001 to 2005.
10.
Matt Leinart appeared in only a few plays in 2002 but did not throw any passes.
11.
Matt Leinart was named the Rose Bowl MVP after he went 23-of-34 for 327 yards, throwing three touchdowns and catching a touchdown of his own from wide receiver Mike Williams.
12.
In 13 starts, Matt Leinart was 255 for 402 for 3,556 yards and 38 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
13.
In recognition of his Rose Bowl accomplishments, Matt Leinart was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2019.
14.
Matt Leinart finished the final regular season game against UCLA, but was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 25 starts.
15.
Nonetheless, Matt Leinart was invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony, along with teammate Reggie Bush, Oklahoma's freshman running back sensation Adrian Peterson, quarterback and incumbent Heisman winner Jason White, and Utah's quarterback Alex Smith.
16.
In what many had considered one of the more competitive Heisman races, Matt Leinart became the sixth USC player to claim the Heisman Trophy.
17.
Matt Leinart received Orange Bowl MVP honors and the Trojans claimed their first BCS National Championship and second straight No 1 finish in the AP, extending their winning streak to 22 games.
18.
Against Notre Dame, Matt Leinart threw for a career-high 400 yards.
19.
Matt Leinart was again invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony along with teammate Reggie Bush and Texas quarterback Vince Young.
20.
Matt Leinart finished his college career with 807 completions on 1,245 attempts for 10,693 yards and 99 touchdowns with just 23 interceptions.
21.
Matt Leinart is USC's all-time leader in career touchdown passes and completion percentage, and is second at USC behind Carson Palmer in completions and yardage.
22.
Matt Leinart averaged nearly 8.6 yards per attempt, and averaged only one interception every 54 attempts.
23.
Matt Leinart was selected tenth overall in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
24.
Matt Leinart was the draft's second-highest selected quarterback after Vince Young, who defeated Matt Leinart's team in the Rose Bowl.
25.
Matt Leinart spent four seasons with the Cardinals, primarily as a backup for veteran Kurt Warner.
26.
Matt Leinart made his debut in the fourth game of the season, throwing two touchdown passes.
27.
Matt Leinart suffered a sprained left shoulder in the Week 16 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
28.
In 11 starts, Matt Leinart threw for 2,547 yards and 11 touchdowns.
29.
Matt Leinart opened the 2007 season on Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers as the starting quarterback.
30.
On October 7,2007, Matt Leinart suffered a fractured left collarbone after being sacked by St Louis Rams linebacker Will Witherspoon.
31.
Matt Leinart averaged 129 yards and 0.4 touchdowns per start.
32.
Finally, after Leinart threw three interceptions within a matter of minutes versus the Oakland Raiders in the third preseason game, Warner was named the opening-day starter.
33.
Matt Leinart picked up only a limited number of snaps in mop-up duty behind Warner.
34.
In 2009, Matt Leinart continued his role as back-up for Warner, who started all but one regular season game.
35.
In 2010, Matt Leinart was named the presumptive starter after Warner's retirement.
36.
Since Schaub played all 16 games, Matt Leinart did not play during the 2010 season.
37.
At this point in his career, Matt Leinart already suffered three season-ending injuries within his last eight starts.
38.
On March 12,2012, Matt Leinart was released by the Texans.
39.
Matt Leinart signed with the Oakland Raiders on May 1,2012, as the backup to his former college teammate and fellow Heisman winner Carson Palmer.
40.
Pryor ended up getting the start in Week 17 and Matt Leinart was not re-signed by the Raiders the following offseason.
41.
Lewis won the competition, and Matt Leinart was released by the team on August 30,2013.
42.
Matt Leinart has a son with Brynn Cameron, a former USC women's basketball player.