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[Bowser]

LOS ANGELES -- Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart has decided to play his senior season at Southern California and try to lead the Trojans to an unprecedented third straight national championship.

"I realized the opportunity right now to support my family by going to the NFL early, but to me I think college football and this whole atmosphere here and being with my friends and my teammates ... is ultimately more satisfying and will make me happier than any amount of money could make someone happy," Leinart said.

Leinart announced his decision Friday, opting to complete his eligibility rather than enter the NFL draft, where he figured to be one of the top selections and become an instant millionaire.

There was a roar of approval from a crowd of about 500 students and fans jammed into the foyer at Heritage Hall to hear the quarterback's decision.

"I'm smiling," a beaming coach Pete Carroll said after Leinart's announcement.

Leinart has made clear for months his desire to stay in school. He said last August he would definitely return because he loved playing for the Trojans, he needed to get stronger physically and make other improvements.

More recently, he said he was leaning toward returning but would investigate his options.

In the end, Leinart decided the risk of serious injury or a sub-par performance next season was less important than following his heart and enjoying college for another year.

Leinart consulted coaches, friends, teammates, NFL quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger and his parents before announcing his decision.

A 6-foot-5, 225-pound left-hander, Leinart was a third-year sophomore who hadn't thrown a pass for the Trojans when he succeeded Palmer, another Heisman Trophy winner, as USC's quarterback 16½ months ago.

The Trojans have a 25-1 record with Leinart at the controls -- including 13-0 this season. He capped the year by passing for 332 yards and an Orange Bowl-record five touchdowns in USC's resounding 55-19 victory over Oklahoma on Jan. 4.

Leinart's 6,878 career passing yards rank fourth on USC's all-time list, and his 71 TD passes rank second -- one behind Palmer.

All that in just 26 games.

By staying in school, Leinart could become the second player ever to win the Heisman twice. Ohio State running back Archie Griffin accomplished the feat in 1974-75.

USC's only loss in the last two seasons was a 34-31 triple-overtime setback at California on Sept. 27, 2003, in Leinart's fourth game as the Trojans' quarterback.

He overcame a shaky start to go 21-of-39 for 277 yards but was intercepted three times. He has thrown only 12 other interceptions at USC.

Leinart, 21, passed for 3,556 yards and 38 touchdowns with nine interceptions in his first season as the starter, no doubt helped by the presence of talented and experienced wide receivers Mike Williams and Keary Colbert.

As a fourth-year junior this season, throwing to a corps of young, inexperienced wideouts, Leinart passed for 3,322 yards and 33 TDs with six interceptions.

Leinart's return means John David Booty, a former Louisiana prep standout who will be a third-year sophomore next season, will have to wait at least another year to start unless Leinart is injured or he decides to go elsewhere.

Booty is considered a better prospect now than Leinart was when he took over.

The Trojans will have two other highly regarded quarterbacks on the roster next fall in Rocky Hinds, a freshman who redshirted this season, and Mark Sanchez, who will be a freshman. Sanchez, a senior at Mission Viejo, Calif., High who has committed to USC, is considered one of the best prep quarterbacks in the country.

Without Leinart, USC figured to enter next season as the one of the country's highest-ranked teams, if not No. 1, since the majority of its starters this season were underclassmen. With Leinart, it's a virtual certainty the Trojans will be No. 1.

USC will bring a 22-game winning streak into next season -- longest in the country

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1964834

Makes USC the overwhelming favorite to win the title next year. I thought he was better off going the the NFL though.

 

[XMonkey]

Awesome news, good decision

 

[Ninja Scooter]

oh you rogue!

 

[Chesapeake Silt]

I think the highlight of this whole thing was seeing the punter get a shot at the podium to say that he's coming back for his senior season too. PUNTER! Are punters even allowed to come out early for the draft?

 

[Desperado]

I'll laugh if they don't win it again.

 

[Cloudy]

If he knew he'd be the #1 pick after the combines he'd have gone out. I guess they told him it's not a lock after he talked with some scouts. Also, unlike the NBA, the contracts ain't guaranteed and he probably ain't hurting for money either...

 

[Archaix]

If he knew he'd be the #1 pick after the combines he'd have gone out. I guess they told him it's not a lock after he talked with some scouts. Also, unlike the NBA, the contracts ain't guaranteed and he probably ain't hurting for money either...

No, he wasn't a lock for number 1, but he was certainly no worse than third (and likely not lower than second).

Draft position had nothing to do with this. He wants to fuck around and have no responsibilities outside of football next year. He's graduating, so he'll only be taking two classes during the season and none afterwards.

He's going to have a hell of a final semester in college, but it's a rather big risk. The quarterback position is thin in this draft, with no great QBs around. He benefitted and looked best by default. Next season, that can definately change.

That the contracts aren't guaranteed would lend to coming out early. He would get top pick signing bonus money ($20 million for Manning last year), and that'd be his to keep. If he comes out next year and drops, then he can be losing a lot. Roethlisberger, for example, got less than half that for 10 spots lower than Manning.

 

[Cloudy]

Anyone know the difference in guaranteed money (signing bonuses) between the first few picks?

 

[Archaix]

Anyone know the difference in guaranteed money (signing bonuses) between the first few picks?

Manning had a $20 million signing bonus, Rivers (at fourth) got about 14 million plus some other guarantees. Robert Gallery (#2, a tackle) got about the same as Rivers. Same with Larry Fitzgerald, who went third. The dropoffs in guaranteed money started at about #5, if I recall.

 

[Cloudy]

He should have taken the money. Even if he sucked ass at the combines, he'd still have been top 4 cos the crap teams all need a QB. Then again, the USC boosters will "take care" of him and his fam if anything goes down

 

[Archaix]

Should have mentioned that the others in the top four got around 20 million in total guarantees, I can only find the signing bonus and not total guarantee for Manning.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Leinart will get the big money by being the first pick in 2006 instead of 2005.

This is so fucking awesome that he is staying. The 3peat is on baby!

 

[Bat]

He's absolutely insane. In the 2005 draft he probably would have gone #1, but that's because there's a dearth of good QB prospects in the draft and every bad team is desperate to upgrade at that position. Consider this: if this was last year's draft, Leinart would have, without a doubt, been the 4th QB selected (behind Manning, Rivers, and Ben R.). If the QB class next year is strong again, Leinart could definetly slip and that's gonna cost him millions. Everyone in the country thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but NFL scouts still consider him a system QB, like they do (to a much greater extent) Jason White, who won't get picked in any of the early rounds this year.

Also, he's already spent 4 years at USC! I can't stand these football players who spend 5 or 6 years in college just so they can be the big fish in a small tank for as long as possible. Give up your scholarship to someone else already...

Good news for USC fans, though.

 

[firex]

the Niners got owned.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

the Niners got owned.

dude we weren't going to take him anyways. there is an outside chance we would draft alex smith if he is available in the 2nd round (we have 1st pick 2nd round which is like a late first rounder), but no way in shit would we take a QB #1. maybe you guys missed it, but rattay had a 92.5 QB rating through his first 5 starts of the year. he did this without the following:

1. a decent offensive line
2. decent WR's
3. a running game
4. being healthy

we don't need a QB. we need an offensive line. rat is the real deal, and you guys are going to see that next year. dorsey is also a pretty good qb. if he had the arm strength of rattay i would say he should be the starter. dorsey is very calm in the pocket and is very intelligent. we just had a really shitty offensive line. i don't care if you are tim rattay, peyton manning or ryan leaf, if you have no offensive line you aren't going to do jack shit. rattay was sacked 14 times in a 2 game span this past season, that should tell you something about why we had a bad year. if you were getting sacked 7 times a game, and getting knocked on your ass 3 times that per game, your decision making is going to be altered and you will make mistakes.

GO NINERS IN 2005! SLEEPER TEAM OF THE YEAR!

 

[G4life98]

This guy is fucking crazy...what is the point of risking injury, when there is nothing left to prove.

 

[Archaix]

I think the 9ers would do best to trade the pick, assuming they can get somebody who wants the damned thing. Everybody who looks good has a peer. The best position this year is, by far, running backs. Benson, Brown, and Williams can pretty much be interchanged on any lists. If you don't get Mike Williams, you get Braylon Edwards. No Antrel Rolle? Take Pac-Man Jones.

All of the QBs have the huge risk of being system quarterbacks. Rodgers is coached by Tedford, the man who is to blame for Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller. Alex Smith looks good, but he won't go high because he's a small school QB(He won't last to the second round though). Then there's the next tier of QBs consisting of Frye and Orton, neither of which looked consistant enough to warrant a first round pick this year.

I don't know much about the offensive line prospects outside of a few players, but I would think the Browns and Dolphins would put line behind other needs (Running back, Quarterback, wideout for the browns, defense for the browns, and so forth). The problem is the Bears, who need a line as far as I know. I suppose they are also in great need of receivers right now though. Titans could also use line help, but I would think defense to be their big concern.

This isn't a "keep it" year for the top pick in my eyes. There is some talent out there, but not a clear number 1. And for a team that is being cheap as fuck...I mean, trying to maximize profit, like the 9ers, it would be best to trade down to a team who really wants to take a chance on Rogers.

 

[alejob]

We ha ve to wait until the combine to see who are the top prospects. I was hoping he'd enter but only because he would push other players back on the draft boards.

Having fun >>>>>>>>>>>> Having money.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Errant Rodgers and Alex Smith would not have gone ahead of Leinart. He easily would have been the first QB taken and quite possibly the #1 overall pick. If he's good enough to go that high this year he'll go that high next year too.

"Consider this: if this was last year's draft, Leinart would have, without a doubt, been the 4th QB selected (behind Manning, Rivers, and Ben R.)."

Yeah, because he hadn't proven himself yet like he did this year.

"If the QB class next year is strong again, Leinart could definetly slip and that's gonna cost him millions."
There's no reason why Leinart won't continue to perform like he has so he'll still go really high next year.

"Everyone in the country thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but NFL scouts still consider him a system QB, like they do (to a much greater extent) Jason White, who won't get picked in any of the early rounds this year."

Jason White sucks. Matt Leinart doesn't. Matt Leinart=top 5 pick. White=CFL

"Also, he's already spent 4 years at USC! I can't stand these football players who spend 5 or 6 years in college just so they can be the big fish in a small tank for as long as possible. Give up your scholarship to someone else already..."

I think it's great that he's staying. Now USC can 3peat. Leinart still has a year of elgibility left so there's no reason to say he doesn't deserve the scholarship.

"Good news for USC fans, though."

You bet. 3peat is on!

Also, Rattay sucks ass. Maybe you guys can pick #1 again next year and get Leinart and use this year's pick on Mike Williams for Leinart to throw to in 2006.

 

[Bat]

Yeah, because he hadn't proven himself yet like he did this year.

I meant if 2004 Leinart would have been in last year's draft (or if the other three were in this year's draft).

The difference between a top 5 pick and a mid first round pick in terms of college performance is minimal. If the scouts find a flaw in him (which will happen if USC loses a game or two) they will knock him down a few pegs because he does not have the pure talent to overcome any bad exposure....it's a huge risk for him financially, period.

 

[Chesapeake Silt]

Next year's USC offense is going to be flat out obscene. Everybody's back, but Holmes (and Byrd's better anyway). Plus, they get a bunch of guys who sat out this year because of all their off the field shit and injuries. And Norm Chow. Defense will be spotty, though.

Anyway, half the student body at USC is just dudes from Orange County who want to hang out at college instead of getting a real job. Leinart is just the latest. :lol

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

I mean, trying to maximize profit, like the 9ers, it would be best to trade down to a team who really wants to take a chance on Rogers.

york has promised to spend over $100 million this year. believe me, this 2-14 season embarrassed the shit out of him and they are not going to be penny penching to the same degree again. it actually really wasn't dr. york, it was his whore wife denise debartalo. she actually wants him to sell the team, but he doesn't want to. we are going to be major players in the free agent market. we are 4 or 5 good players away from a playoff berth. hear me now and believe me later, we are going to be in line for a playoff berth next year.

you say rattay is garbage, but honestly he is an adequate QB. look at what he did in his 3 game starting span last year (against the rams, steelers and packers) with a decent offensive line, a running game, and some targets to throw to:

vs. Rams: 19/29, 236 yds, 3 TD, 1 int
vs. Steelers: 21/27, 254 yds, 2 TD, 0 int
@ Packers: 14/30, 142 yds, 1 TD, 1 int
in the packers game, our defense gave up over 200 yards rushing. it was not all on rattay for that 10 pt loss, though he made some bad redzone choices. infact, here are his next 9 games:

vs. Falcons: 18/31, 175, 2 TD, 1 int
vs. Rams: 31/47, 299 yds, 2 TD, 1 int
vs. Cardinals: 38/57, 417 yds, 2 TD, 0 int
@ Jets: 18/28, 286 yds, 1 TD, 1 int
vs. Seahawks: 23/35, 259 yds, 2 TD, 1 int
vs. Panthers: 22/37, 284 yds, 1 TD, 4 int
@ Buccaneers: 15/31, 147 yds, 0 TD, 1 int
vs. Dolphins: 23/38, 181 yds, 0 TD, 0 int
@ Rams: 10/21, 121 yds, 0 TD, 1 int

so, in his first 12 games as a starter, he has these stats:

223/411, 2,801 yds, 16 TD, 12 int, 76.5 rating

his rating for this year is ahead of guys like mike vick, bledsoe, and kerry collins, all who arguably have a better offense and better weapons around them than rattay had.

so before you dismiss rattay as a bum, just wait until he gets healthy and gets his chance to perform for an entire season with some help. you will see that he is fully capable of being a top 10 QB in the league