LEINART PLANNING AN EARLY EXIT FROM FOOTBALL? One of the big concerns that NFL types have had regarding USC quarterback Matt Leinart is that he possibly doesn't have a sufficient interest in playing pro football. The first red flag for some came a year ago, when Leinart opted not to enter the draft, even though he had just won the Heisman and the National Championship. "Does he really love football?" is a question that was whispered among league and media types at the time. The questions returned earlier this year, when Leinart signed with Creative Artists Agency, a well-established Hollywood talent firm. So does he want to be a star football player, or a football-playing star? We're now hearing from our own Hollywood connections (and, amazingly, we actually have Hollywood connections) that there's an expectation within CAA that Leinart might not play in the NFL for very long. One of the factors, we're told, will be Leinart's ultimate NFL destination. He wants to play for the New York Jets. If he plays in a smaller city (as in every other one), he might not be inclined to stick with pro football for the long haul. Meanwhile, we hear that CAA hopes to parlay the addition of Leinart and former IMG agent Tom Condon into a massive football practice. From CAA's perspective, the firm stands to earn a lot more money from Matt the star than Matt the football player, since agent fees for football contracts are capped at three percent.
Wonder how this type of report scares Tennessee.....if they have Leinart and Young as almost equal, maybe reports like these tip the scales toward Young.
Eli Manning tried a simular tactic just a few years ago - Didn't work SD took him first anyway and held out for a fortune from the G-men. I hope we don't fall for this I think trading up for Leinhart is a mistake.
This is most likely BS. The media is throwing out pre-draft crud to get everyone's (our) hopes up that Leinart will drop. This guy is sounding more and more like a, "Me me me," cancer that won't be happy with anything...almost a dilluted TO. I would be happier with a guy who performed well at a horrible school. JAY CUTLER!
Stay where we are at in the draft. PLEASE DO MOVE. WAY WAY WAY to many other needs. We need ALL our picks.
Wow. You have got to seriously be kidding me. PFT went on in that article to overblow every other rumor ever brought up on message boards. Then, to thank all the people that actually read their crap.
Leinart Early Exit From Football? All this article is doing is throwing another curveball right into this already up in the air draft. Leinart is NOT goin to be a movie star, and he is NOT going to end his career early if he doesn't play for the Jets. The guy has talent, but it sounds like he thinks the world revolves around him. Fortunately for the rest of us it doensn't. Don't trade up for Leinart. WE NEED TO STAY WHERE WE ARE, FOCUS ON THE HOLES WE HAVE, AND EXECUTE THIS DRAFT IN SUCH A WAY THAT WHEN THAT BALL IS KICKD OFF THE TEE ON OPENING DAY, TEAMS LOOK AT US AND SAY "WOW, THEY ARE GOING TO BE CONTEDERS, NOT PRETENDERS THIS YEAR. :martin:
Something like that won't go down again. Also, SD and NYG were discussing the deal before the draft... no such thing is rumored between TEN and NYJ
I have a bad feeling that Leinart will be on the board when we pick and we pass on him. Then 15 years from now we'll be talking about how we passed on Leinart..
He is too interested in himself to play for any team I root for. What a patsy. I want Mario Williams... 15 years from now he will be retiring to the tune of "first ballot Hall of Famer".
How could this be good for the Jets? What if he plays only 5 season and calls it quits. I can see how that good for us.
I've been saying this in other threats and started one on his ESPN draft diary entry about having a "watch and clothes" fetish. This guy is bling, bling hollywood. Tangini want a jeans and tee shirt football player. No way we draft the guy, no way at all
PFT is right more than it's wrong, but simple logic tells me that this one is off the mark. They make the comparison to Jim Brown, who left in his NFL prime to pursue an acting career. But he had enormous success before he left, and that made him marketable. The difference here is that mediocre quarterbacks don't get multi-million dollar Hollywood deals. It's going to take Leyenihardt at least five years to prove he's worth something in the NFL. He's not getting anything more than commercial deals before that. And, if he's a football flop, he won't even get that. This is somebody trying to push the kid down the draft board OR, more likely, it's someone who wants to get UP the draft board trying to devalue the top picks.
In what way is this good news for the Jets? Theoretically wouldn't playing in New York (and having so many places and opportunities to flex his star power) just make him more likely to drop the NFL?
