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Matthew Stephen "Matt" Leinart is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He has previously played for the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders, and Buffalo Bills.
Leinart played college football for the University of Southern California. In 2003, he led the #1 ranked USC Trojans to the AP national championship by defeating the University of Michigan in the Rose Bowl. In 2004, he won the Heisman Trophy while leading the Trojans to a second consecutive AP national championship as well as the since-vacated BCS national championship.
The left-handed passing Leinart was selected tenth overall in the 2006 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals. Despite possessing what draft experts believed was a good frame for a quarterback, they believed his lack of a strong throwing arm, such as that possessed by his predecessor at USC, Carson Palmer, would be a detriment in his professional career. After Kurt Warner's retirement, Leinart was named the presumptive starter. However, he lost the starting job in training camp to Derek Anderson, who signed with the Cardinals as a free agent before the 2010 season.
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