It’s official. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart will never be confused with Tom Brady.
The “pictures” are out all over the World Wide Web, which is a landscape us Baby Boomers still don’t quite understand just yet.
The pictures in question are he in a hot tub with some college beauties, with a beer bong nearby, really not a big deal when you are still one month short of your 25th birthday.
But when you are supposed to be a savior, at least in the football sense, for one of the losingest franchises outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, they are trouble.
Unlike Brady, who already had won a Super Bowl before his 25th birthday and three by his 28th, Leinart was never under any radar. Other than some experts questioning his arm strength and mobility (the same flaws Brady allegedly had at Michigan), he was “The Man” coming out of USC.
Now nearly all experts must question Leinart’s common sense, which is 10 times worse than his other faults.
I don’t know all of Brady’s background in his early 20s. I’m assuming he had fun like the next 23 or 24 year old. But once he became “The Man,” we didn’t see any pictures, at least the embarrassing ones.
We saw a player on a mission. We saw a player who still hadn’t gotten over his selection in the draft (199th overall). We saw a young man become a legend virtually before our eyes.
With Leinart we saw potential. He had some great wins his rookie season in 2006 as well as a bevy of foolish interceptions, a given for first and second-year quarterbacks.
But we’ve never seen the ethic.
Leinart has enjoyed his life as a bonus baby a little too much. He has traveled the Beverly Hills party circuit (see Paris Hilton) and seems to pop up, always with an inviting and confident smile, at celebrity-filled events.
Back in July, Leinart was scheduled to host a Super Bowl party with John Travolta. I’m assuming he did, being the game was played in his football home.
He has bragged about his friends, which include Ashton Kutcher, Will Ferrell and Nick Lachey, who was at Leinart’s recent hot tub-beer bong bash.
In a Playboy interview, he was asked about watching what he does in public.
Leinart said: “I can’t say there’s any one incident since I’ve been in Arizona but I know that you can’t really trust anybody, boy or girl, man or woman. You don’t know what people are out for. It’s hard, you know? You go out and people try to trap you. There are traps and temptations and all kinds of stuff that happens. I’m a 24-year-old kid. I guess I’m not your average guy but I act like one. It’s difficult, man. A lot of people make up lies and a lot of people have their perceptions just because I’m a quarterback or because I’m a pro football player. They automatically assume that I’m one way or another.”
The embarrassment for Leinart, who is coming off a disappointing, injury-plagued second NFL season, is trumped only by the embarrassment of the team that signed him to a 6-year, $50 million contract.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt, who has gotten rave reviews for attempting to turn around the image-plagued Cardinals, issued only a statement on the Leinart fiasco.
“Matt called me Monday morning and we spoke for a while. I reiterated to him the type of behavior that we expect at all times from our players. He understands that as well as the level of scrutiny that he’s under because of who he is. It’s being handled internally. I was disappointed but at the same time have no doubts about his commitment to this football team or his ability to lead it.”
Whisenhunt was smart to issue a statement rather than reading to a room full of reporters, microphones and cameras because it could have been ugly.
He also knows that his own future probably depends on the success or failure of his young, franchise quarterback.
As for Leinart, the excuse about his age doesn’t cut it. He signed one of the richest contracts ever for a drafted quarterback and with that comes accountability.
This recent event, which is all too familiar in his life and career, had better be a turning point in his career. If he’s as stupid on the field as he is off it (why would he allow someone to take pictures), Leinart will be out of football and Whisenhunt will be like every other Cardinals coach over the last three decades | out of a job before he knew what hit him.
