Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen " Matt " Leinart ( born May 11 , 1983 ) is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent . He has previously played for the Arizona Cardinals ( 2006 – 2009 ) , Houston Texans ( 2010 – 2011 ) , Oakland Raiders ( 2012 ) , and Buffalo Bills ( 2013 ) . Leinart played college football for the University of Southern California ( USC ) . In 2003 , he led the # 1 ranked USC Trojans to the AP national championship by defeating the University of Michigan in the Rose Bowl ( USC was not selected to play in the BCS national championship game ) . 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 ( 6 ' 5 " , 230 pounds ) , 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 . After some speculation , Leinart agreed to a one - year deal with the Houston Texans on September 6 , 2010 . On November 14 , 2011 , it was announced starting quarterback Matt Schaub had injured his foot and was out a few weeks , as of November 14 , coach Gary Kubiak planned on Leinart starting the next game after the bye week versus Jacksonville . Later on in the day it was announced that Schaub would be out for the season and that Leinart would be the starting quarterback for the season . Leinart was injured against the Jaguars on November 27 , 2011 breaking his collarbone , which ended his season . Early years . Leinart was born in Santa Ana , California with strabismus ( " crossed eyes " ) , as his left eye was not aligned correctly with his right . He underwent surgery when he was three years old and was fitted with special glasses to correct the problem , but the eyewear combined with Leinart ' s already - overweight frame made him an easy target for ridicule at the hands of other children . " I used to get made fun of for being cross - eyed . It ' s just a terrible thing because kids are so cruel to the fat kid , to the kid with the glasses . So I turned to sports , " he would later say . Leinart attended Mater Dei High School and was a letterman in football . As a junior , he led his team to a California Interscholastic Federation Division I co - championship , and was named the Serra League ' s Offensive Most Valuable Player . Wearing number 7 , he was chosen as the Gatorade California high school football player of the year . As one of the nation ' s top college football recruits , Leinart committed to USC under coach Paul Hackett , noting that a major factor was offensive coordinator Hue Jackson . However , after Hackett and most of his staff were fired in 2000 , Leinart considered other programs such as Georgia Tech and Arizona State and visited Oklahoma before USC eventually hired Pete Carroll . College career . Leinart attended the University of Southern California , where he played for coach Pete Carroll ' s USC Trojans football team from 2001 to 2005 . He redshirted in 2001 . As a freshman the next year , he understudied senior quarterback Carson Palmer , who went on to win the Heisman Trophy and join the Cincinnati Bengals . Leinart appeared in only a few plays in 2002 and threw no passes . As a sophomore in 2003 Leinart beat out Matt Cassel , a redshirt junior who backed up Palmer in 2002 , and Purdue transfer Brandon Hance for the starting job at quarterback . Going into the season , Carroll and his coaching staff selected Leinart not because he had set himself significantly ahead of the pack in practice , but because they needed a starting quarterback . When the coaching staff told Leinart he would be the starter , he replied , " You ' re never going to regret this . " There was some thought in the press that Leinart would merely hold the starting position until highly touted true freshman John David Booty , who had bypassed his senior year in high school to attend USC , could learn the offense . His first career pass was a touchdown against Auburn . Leinart would win the first three games of his career before the then - No . 3 Trojans suffered a 34 – 31 triple - overtime defeat at California on September 27 that dropped the Trojans to No . 10 . Leinart and the Trojans bounced back the next week against Arizona State . Leinart injured his knee in the second quarter and was not expected to play again that day , but he returned to the game and finished 12 - of - 23 for 289 yards in a 37 – 17 victory . Leinart and the Trojans won their final eight games and finished the regular season 11 – 1 and ranked No . 1 in the AP and coaches ' polls . However , USC was left out of the BCS championship game after finishing third in the BCS behind Oklahoma and LSU . The Trojans went to the Rose Bowl and played University of Michigan . Leinart was named the Rose Bowl MVP after he went 23 - of - 34 for 327 yards , throwing three touchdowns and catching a touchdown of his own . The Trojans finished No . 1 in the AP Poll , winning the AP national championship . In 13 starts , Leinart was 255 for 402 for 3 , 556 yards and 38 TDs with 9 INTs . He finished sixth in the Heisman voting . Junior and Senior seasons . The Trojans started Leinart ' s junior season ( 2004 ) with victories in their first three games . On September 25 , the Trojans played Stanford University . After Stanford took a 28 – 17 halftime lead , Leinart sparked the offense with a 51 - yard pass to Steve Smith and scored on a one - yard sneak to cut the Cardinal lead to four points . Leinart and the Trojans were able to take the lead on a LenDale White touchdown rush and hold on for the victory , 31 – 28 . Leinart completed 24 of 30 passes . He finished the final regular season game against UCLA , but was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 25 starts . Nonetheless , Leinart was invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony , along with teammate Reggie Bush , Oklahoma ' s freshman sensation Adrian Peterson , incumbent Jason White , and Utah ' s Alex Smith . In what many had considered one of the more competitive Heisman races , Leinart became the sixth USC player to claim the Heisman Trophy . In 2004 , USC went wire - to - wire at No . 1 in the polls and earned a bid to the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma , which was also 12 – 0 . A dream matchup on paper ( including White vs . Leinart , which was to be the first time two Heisman winners would play against each other ) , the Orange Bowl turned out to be a rout , as Leinart threw for five touchdown passes on 18 - for - 35 passing and 332 yards to lead the Trojans to a 55 – 19 victory . Leinart received Orange Bowl MVP honors and the Trojans claimed their first BCS national championship and second straight No . 1 finish in the AP , extending their winning streak to 22 games . This victory and BCS championship was vacated as a result of the Reggie Bush scandal ( though the AP national championship still stands ) . The 2005 Trojans again had a perfect 12 – 0 regular season . Against Notre Dame , Leinart threw for a career - high 400 yards . After an incomplete pass and a sack led to a fourth - and - nine situation with 1 : 36 left — at the Trojans ' own 26 - yard line , Leinart called an audible " slant and go " route at the line of scrimmage and threw deep against the Irish ' s man - to - man coverage , where Dwayne Jarrett caught the ball and raced to the Irish ' 13 - yard line , a 61 - yard gain . Leinart moved the ball to the goal line as time dwindled and scored on a quarterback sneak that gave the Trojans a 34 – 31 lead with three seconds to go , giving the Trojans their 28th straight victory and one of the most memorable and dramatic finishes in the history of the Notre Dame – USC rivalry . Leinart was again invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony along with teammate Reggie Bush and Texas quarterback Vince Young . As a former Heisman winner , Leinart cast his first - place vote for Bush , and ended up third in the voting behind Bush ( since vacated ) and runner - up Young . The Trojans advanced to the Rose Bowl to face Vince Young and No . 2 Texas in the BCS title game . The title game was considered another " dream matchup . " Leinart himself had a great game , going 29 - of - 40 for a touchdown and 365 yards , but was overshadowed by Young , who piled up 467 yards of total offense and rushed for three touchdowns , including a score with 19 seconds remaining and two - point conversion to put the Longhorns ahead , 41 – 38 . The Trojans lost for the first time in 35 games , and Leinart for just the second time in his 39 career starts . After graduation , Leinart ' s No . 11 jersey was retired at USC . Career . Leinart finished his college career with 807 completions on 1 , 245 attempts ( 64 . 8 % completion percentage ) for 10 , 693 yards and 99 touchdowns with just 23 interceptions . He is USC ' s all - time leader in career touchdown passes and completion percentage , and is second at USC behind Palmer in completions and yardage . He averaged nearly 8 . 6 yards per attempt , and averaged only one interception every 54 attempts . He was 37 – 2 as a starter . Professional career . 2006 NFL Draft . Leinart was considered one of the top prospects in the 2006 NFL Draft class . Standing 6 ' 5 " ( 1 . 96 m ) and weighing 225 pound s ( 100 kg ) and a left - handed thrower , he was considered the prototypical NFL quarterback in terms of size but with a weak arm . Leinart was selected tenth overall in the 2006 Draft by the Arizona Cardinals . Arizona Cardinals . Leinart was involved in a prolonged holdout with the Cardinals on August 8 , 2006 ; on August 14 , Leinart agreed to a six - year , $ 51 million contract , becoming the very last member of the draft to sign a contract , and not before Cardinal coach Dennis Green said that he had lost his patience . Despite signing late , Leinart played in the second quarter of the exhibition game against the New England Patriots on August 19 . During the fourth week of the NFL season , unofficial sources projected that Leinart would take over as the starting quarterback , due to a poor performance by Kurt Warner in the previous game . During the week , coach Green held a conference and specifically stated that Warner would still start that week ' s game . Leinart threw for two touchdown passes in his first start . In Week 6 against the 5 - 0 Chicago Bears , Leinart threw for two touchdown passes in the first half , but the Bears came back in the second half to win 24 - 23 . In a November 26 game , he set an NFL rookie record with 405 passing yards in a loss to the 6 - 10 Minnesota Vikings . His quarterback rating was 74 . 0 . He suffered a sprained left shoulder ( throwing arm ) in a week 16 win over the San Francisco 49ers . In 11 starts , Leinart threw for 2 , 547 yards and 11 touchdowns . He finished the season with a 4 – 7 record . Leinart opened the 2007 season on Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers as the starting quarterback . After a sequence of quarters in which the offense stalled , Whisenhunt began to insert Warner as a situational quarterback . On October 7 , 2007 , Leinart suffered a fractured left collarbone after being sacked by St . Louis Rams linebacker Will Witherspoon . Three days later , he was placed on injured reserve , ending his season . In his first two NFL seasons , Leinart had suffered two season - ending injuries within a period of five sacks . With Warner at the helm for the remainder of the season , the Cardinals mounted a late - season surge and won five of their final eight games . In Leinart ' s second season with Arizona , he started five games , completed 53 . 6 % of his passes ( 60 / 112 ) and threw for 647 yards , 5 . 8 yards per attempt , two touchdowns and four interceptions . His passer rating was 61 . 9 . He averaged 129 yards and 0 . 4 touchdowns per start . In the 2008 offseason , after he recovered from the injury , Leinart was handed his starting job back , but his hold on the job was tenuous after another strong training camp performance by Warner . Finally , after Leinart threw three interceptions within a matter of minutes versus the Oakland Raiders in the third preseason game , Warner was named the opening - day starter . Leinart picked up only a limited number of snaps in mop - up duty behind Warner . For the 2008 season , he completed 15 of 29 passing attempts ( 51 . 7 % ) , one touchdown , one interception , and an 80 . 2 passer rating . In 2009 , Leinart continued his role as back - up for Warner , who started all but one regular season game . In 2010 , he was named the presumptive starter after Warner ' s retirement ; however , he lost the starting job in training camp to Derek Anderson . The Cardinals released Leinart on September 4 , two days after the final preseason game , in favor of Anderson and rookies Max Hall and John Skelton . Houston Texans . On September 6 , 2010 , the NFL announced that Leinart signed a one - year contract to back up Matt Schaub with the Houston Texans . Since Schaub played all sixteen games , Leinart did not play during the 2010 season . During the 2011 offseason , despite speculation that he would sign with the Seattle Seahawks , who are coached by Leinart ' s college coach Pete Carroll , to compete for a starting job , Leinart ultimately agreed to return to Houston as a backup for the 2011 season . However in week 10 , Schaub injured his right foot and the Texans named Leinart their starter . Leinart started for the first time during week 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars , however he was injured , fracturing his collarbone , during the first half and replaced by rookie quarterback T . J Yates . At this point in his career , Leinart has suffered three season - ending injuries ( 2006 , 2007 , 2011 ) within his last 8 starts . On March 12 , 2012 , Leinart was released by Houston . Oakland Raiders . Leinart signed with the Oakland Raiders on May 1 , 2012 was the back - up for his former college teammate , Carson Palmer . After Palmer suffered an injury in Week 16 , Leinart and Terrelle Pryor split first - team reps . Pryor ended up getting the start in Week 17 and Leinart was not resigned the following offseason . Buffalo Bills . After injuries to quarterbacks E . J . Manuel ( knee surgery ) and Kevin Kolb ( concussion ) , the Bills decided to sign Leinart on August 25 , 2013 . Leinart and Thaddeus Lewis ( who was brought in on the same day through a trade ) would compete for the 4th QB job behind undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel . Leinart was cut after one preseason game . He was released on August 30 , 2013 . Personal life . Leinart ' s son , Cole Cameron Leinart , was born on October 24 , 2006 in California . The mother of Leinart ' s son is former USC women ' s basketball player Brynn Cameron . Leinart broke up with Cameron before the baby was born . Though they had a dispute over child support early on , they have since settled their differences and Leinart now has a regular schedule for seeing his son . During winter 2004 / 05 , Leinart dated star Kristin Cavallari while he was a student at USC and she was a senior at Laguna Beach High School . Cavallari can be seen referring to Leinart in early episodes of the show ' s second season .