The former USC star just doesn’t have what it takes to be an elite franchise quarterback in the NFL.  The Cardinals finally saw that and stopped kidding themselves

SCOTT JACOBS

I was going through my recycling bin today and there he was, Matt Leinart’s career.  What could have been.  What never was.  What won’t ever be.

The well publicized number 10 pick of the Cardinals back in 2006 was cut loose by Arizona on Saturday, losing amongst other things, his team’s trust, his coach’s trust, and the fans belief.  The same fans who once chanted his name as Kurt Warner struggled early on in his Cards career, were chanting Max Hall’s name as Leinart floundered lifelessly in Arizona’s final preseason game.

Leinart fell out of favor with the Cardinals fast.  His free-fall came after being handed the starting job back when Warner retired, but 12 seconds later he’s signing with the Texans wondering what the hell happened to a career that seemed designed for a Hollywood ending.

Leinart didn’t have an issue living the Hollywood life.  His well publicized hookups with famous Hollywood stars was the worst kept secret in sports, and the party boy image he got tagged with early on, never went away.  And as Warner took hold of the starting job, Leinart sunk further into the depths of the unknown.

Leinart had that “it” factor at USC, but maybe it was because his team was better than some pro teams.  The stars on USC’s Leinart teams, like Ken Dorsey’s Miami teams of the early 2000’s was mind-blowing.  Dorsey wasn’t drafted nearly as high as Leinart, but he had similar success in college with the Canes, before becoming a journeyman backup quarterback who failed in his few chances to become a starter.

Hey, it happens.  Eric Crouch was brilliant at Nebraska.  He never played a game in the NFL.  Chris Weinke dominated ACC defenses at FSU, but never truly found sustained success with Carolina. Dennis Dixon was dynamic at Oregon, but is a starter for the Steelers only by default after Ben Roethlisberger got suspended, and Byron Leftwich got hurt.

Of course, Leinart gets the worst of it, because he was a top 10 pick and a guy sent straight from the Golden Coast to save the NFL’s (at the time) worst franchise.

Ironically, Leinart leaves the once dormant Cards in a completely different position than where they were when he arrived.  And maybe he should get some credit.  Maybe his competition with Kurt Warner helped Kurt raise his game even higher, which helped turn the Cards from afterthoughts to a team to fear.  Leinart’s arrival came with much fanfare, and the prospect of him manning the helm at the new stadium, brought new fans in to see if he could turn the sad sack Cards around.

The Cardinals have sold out every regular season game in their new stadium’s young history, and maybe Leinart gets a small share in that.  But the reality is, he never materialized on the field.  As a rookie he showed flashes of potential, looking calm, cool and productive against the Bears in Arizona’s epic Monday Night meltdown.  But a few weeks later he was dealt the biggest blow to his young career, an injury that ended his season and brought Warner back into the picture.

From there Leinart never really stood a chance.  The next year the two dueled in preseason for the starting gig, a gig Warner won, and after that Leinart became an afterthought in Arizona. Warner led the Cardinals to back to back NFC West titles in 2008 and 2009, including the incredible playoff run of 08 that got them to the Super Bowl and all Leinart could do was wait his turn.

He did.  The Cardinals believed so strongly in him that they didn’t go after Donovan McNabb when it became clear the Eagles were poised to turn to Kevin Kolb, because they felt that Leinart could be a good NFL QB.  So for him to not only lose out to Derek Anderson (whose had one good NFL season) and then to ultimately get cut in favor of an undrafted rookie QB has to hurt like the dickens.

And hey, maybe Matty Boy gets a shot in Houston via an injury to their other Matt (Schaub) or maybe he regains his game somewhere down the line.  But something tells me that Arizona was Matt’s best, last hope to make it in this league as a perennial big name quarterback.

It’s a frustrating story for a guy Cardinal coaches say worked really hard.  But life’s not fair, and Leinart didn’t show a whole lot of anything this preseason.

Being the backup to the backup (Leinart will be third string) behind another stud quarterback is nothing to celebrate.  But that’s all Leinart can do.

Starting no longer seems an option.

Photo: Getty

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