Leinart signs a large contract: from the sounds of it coach Green is not too happy with the way some things were handled.
Sorry, I know this is kind of a look who signed,and for how much post. Just give it a try if it doesn't work out early on then delete the whole thing. Green's criticism focused on what the coach said was far more than a 10th pick normally would receive. A grumpy Green was upset with the perception that Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill was being cheap. "I've been here two years," Green said. "All I know is when we set out a strategy, whether it be signing Bertrand Berry or drafting Larry Fitzgerald, Bill Bidwill has helped us get that player." I have just never seen a coach come right out and make statements like these. Leinart has not even been to a camp yet, I'll bet it is going to tough on his ass when he does get there. It is nice to see a coach stand up for an owner out in the open like this though. I think Green is right in what he said and did, look at some of the players they have been gobbeling up down there lately.
posted by jojomfd1 at 01:51 AM on August 15, 2006
I agree Chico, Leinart needs to learn it quick down there so there is no more Warner. If for no other reason than that.
posted by jojomfd1 at 01:56 AM on August 15, 2006
When you come right down to it though he's still going to be playing for the AZ Cards. One of the very few teams in the NFL that can even make my Lions look good. Plus he's playing for the worst owner in a generation or two...yes even worse then Ford. Good luck Matt, you're going to need it.
posted by commander cody at 02:19 AM on August 15, 2006
They have had a lot of additions down there cc.
posted by jojomfd1 at 02:35 AM on August 15, 2006
True, but I've never seen a team find so many ways to lose then AZ. I think that, much like the Lions, they need to do more then just sign players. They need to overcome their tradition of losing. They're expected to do terribile and no one is surprised when they do. It's a mind thing.
posted by commander cody at 02:43 AM on August 15, 2006
I agree, jojo. I've always liked Green because he really doesn't mince his words. He's old school like that. I don't know who should be assigned the blame here, though. Leinart took a chance and stayed in school, good for him. But he only had to attend one class -- ballroom dancing... It's hard for me to blame a guy who decided to finish school, but I truly believe he didn't stay for education purposes. He stayed to try and get a three-peat, and it cost him in the draft. The guy was brilliant in college, but I've yet to see him prove it on the big boys' turf. I'd like to see him succeed, but karma's a bitch.
posted by wingnut4life at 04:47 AM on August 15, 2006
When you come right down to it though he's still going to be playing for the AZ Cards. One of the very few teams in the NFL that can even make my Lions look good. Sorry cody but I can't agree to that one. For one, the last few years it seems that they have been pretty evenly matched in their games against each other, neither one dominating year after year. Now, the Cardinals have an obvious "Edge" in offense, with a recieving core, running back, and quarterback that outclass the Lions. I'm not positive about defense, but I would assume they are about matched their as well.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 06:25 AM on August 15, 2006
I think Leinart held out for the best money he could because he instinctively knows he's more suited to partying with Paris Hilton than excelling at the NFL level- in a few years, people will be lumping him in with all the other horrible picks the Cards have made over the past 80 years or so...
posted by don-peyote at 06:26 AM on August 15, 2006
What are you basing that on, his arm strength, accuracy or record in college? I don't have an opinion on Leinart's future one way or the other, but without a reason, that seems like so much bluster posing as informed opinion.
posted by yerfatma at 07:47 AM on August 15, 2006
If the Bengals can turn it around, so can the Cards
posted by mick at 09:02 AM on August 15, 2006
I think Leinart held out for the best money he could If thats what he wanted, he should've left a year earlier. He was a guaranteed number one pick, and fell way down on the charts the next year.
posted by Kendall at 09:55 AM on August 15, 2006
people will be lumping him in with all the other horrible picks the Cards have made over tha last 80 years or so... Yeah , especially them real crappy picks like John David Crow, Johnny Roland, O.J. Anderson, Stump Mitchell, Larry Centers, Dick 'Night Train' Lane, Roger Werhli, Larry Wilson, Jim Hart, Neil Lomax, Mel Gray, Roy Green, Eric Swann, Aeneus Williams, Simeon Rice, Jim Bakken, Vai Sikahema, J.T. Stallings, Jackie Smith, David Boston, Dan Dierdorf, Terry Metcalf, Conrad Dobler, Pat Fischer, Pat Tilley, Anquan Boldon, Larry Fitzgerald, et al, etc., ad nauseum. What the hell were they thinking?
posted by mjkredliner at 10:45 AM on August 15, 2006
wasnt Dick "Night Train" Lane traded to the Cards in the 1954 season?
posted by azdano at 10:50 AM on August 15, 2006
Mebbe so. I told ya their front office hasn't done nothin' right in 80 years!
posted by mjkredliner at 10:57 AM on August 15, 2006
Matt Leinart is a low-life. He thinks that just because he came from USC that he should get paid more than people that were drafted AHEAD of him. He was the 10th pick in the draft (and should have been lower) so he should only be the 10th highest paid player. What's so hard to understand about that. Good luck toLeinart on being Arizona's third string quarterback and you'll be out of the NFL this time in two years. I feel bad for the Cardinals orginazation for having to deal with this guy. All the training camp that he has missed will not help, he will be of no use to the Cardinals.
posted by tim at 11:08 AM on August 15, 2006
I hope that some people on this thread have read "The Art of Preparing and Ingesting Crow", written by the esteemed I.R. Adumbass.
posted by mjkredliner at 11:13 AM on August 15, 2006
Matt Leinart is a low-life... blah blah blah... Why all the vitriol for a guy you've never met? Yes, I think its a horrible idea for a quarterback to holdout. Mostly because a full training camp is hugely important for a quarterback. However, just because he held out for a better deal doesn't make him a bad guy, or a "low-life" necessarily. A lot of it is usually driven by the agent. NEWS FLASH: Leinart wasn't going to be of much use to Arizona this year either way.
posted by srw12 at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2006
It's not just Leinhart, tim thinks Reggie Bush is totally overrated too. Not sure if it's USC or just atheletes in general he can't stand.
posted by yerfatma at 11:40 AM on August 15, 2006
It's a brilliant idea for Matt Leinart to hold out. Let Kurt Warner take all the hits for the Lord this season while holding a clipboard and learning the ropes. The only thing that matters in these contracts is guaranteed money, and Leinart's $14 million is close to scale with Jay Cutler's $11 million one pick lower. I don't get sports fans who are so hostile to athletes earning money, especially in a sport where careers are short and extremely brutal.
posted by rcade at 11:51 AM on August 15, 2006
people will be lumping him in with all the other horrible picks the Cards have made over the last 80 years or so... I think Don was referring to illustrious 1st rounders such as Steve Pisarkiewicz, Steve Little, Clyde Duncan and Kelly Stouffer. I could go on...these are just a few of the worst. I suffered through Bidwell & George Boone's ineptness every year until Arizona was kind enough to take them away.
posted by Bury Bonds at 02:34 PM on August 15, 2006
I feel your pain bonds, as a Bengal Fan I lived through the 90's and the early 2000 years with Mike Brown making spectacular choices for the Bengals, without thniking too hard, I can throw you; akili smith, ki-jana carter, dan wilkinson, david klingler. Then to top things off our coaching staff. However, you guys seem to be heading in the right direction, if Warner is haelthy and plays to his ability, your offense will be tough.
posted by lightman at 02:44 PM on August 15, 2006
The only team I know of that got every first round pick right was my former drinking team, The Good Ol' Boys, in the West Texas Drinking League. We were flawless for pickin' out a good first round.
posted by mjkredliner at 02:46 PM on August 15, 2006
West Texas Drinking League..... now there's a league where I could have been a star!
posted by Bury Bonds at 03:06 PM on August 15, 2006
Yeah , especially them real crappy picks like John David Crow, Johnny Roland, O.J. Anderson, Stump Mitchell, Larry Centers, Dick 'Night Train' Lane, Roger Werhli, Larry Wilson, Jim Hart, Neil Lomax, Mel Gray, Roy Green, Eric Swann, Aeneus Williams, Simeon Rice, Jim Bakken, Vai Sikahema, J.T. Stallings, Jackie Smith, David Boston, Dan Dierdorf, Terry Metcalf, Conrad Dobler, Pat Fischer, Pat Tilley, Anquan Boldon, Larry Fitzgerald, et al, etc., ad nauseum. What the hell were they thinking? posted by mjkredliner at 10:45 AM CDT on August 15 (GREAT POST!!!)
posted by bo_fan at 03:27 PM on August 15, 2006
Ok, I stand corrected... The Cardinals organization has drafted and developed talent wonderfully over the years, as proven by their continued dominance of the NFL since the days of the Chicago Cardinals... a few questions though: O.J. Anderson- wasn't he best known for breaking the Buffalo Bills' hearts as a member of the Giants? David Boston- Are you serious? That's an example of a good pick? Vai Sikahema- good return man, but I don't recall Bill Walsh offering to trade Joe Montana for him... Eric Swann- what was it- 1 decent season before he became the amazing always injured DT? Simeon Rice- Jumped ship for Tampa as soon as he could escape the 'armpit of the NFL' (I mean, if you want to include players who became good/great/better after leavng the Cards, what about Jake Plummer, Garrison Heart, or Thomas Jones?) Aneas Williams- class act, pulled an unsuccessful 'Ray Bourque'- I wonder if he will be elected to the Hall of Fame as a Cardinal, or a Ram? Anquan Boldin/Larry Fitzgerald- too soon to really tell, wouldn't you agree? Ad Nauseum- was that a draft pick from the pre-Arizona days, or what ASU was feeling when the Cardinals sued them over advertising revenue at their own stadium a few years ago?
posted by don-peyote at 10:35 PM on August 15, 2006
If you have an axe to grind with the Cardinal organization, I just say, stay off the peyote, wear safety glasses and watch yore fingers, Bubba. I'm a Cowboy fan, myself. But, I love football (all football), and, seeing as how I hate misinformation being spread, I would remind you that: Ottis (O.J.) Anderson ran for over 1,000 yards his first 5 seasons with the Cardinals (including his rookie year), and retired as just 1 of 17 RB's with over 10,000 rushing yards, and was indeed the 1991 Super Bowl MVP. David Boston's career has been slightly derailed after 2 great seasons, but hey, two torn ACL's tend to do that. Vai Sikahema led the league in punt returns in 86 and 87, and was arguably one of the most exciting open field runners of his era. Eric Swann, much like Boston, suffered a series of devastating knee injuries, but again, that is hardly the fault of the Cardinal organization. Simeon Rice was a helluva pick. Boldon and Fitzgerald are in the early part of their career, but it is almost unanimous amongst football fans that they are very promising. I notice you didn't have squat to say about the HOF players, and those whose careers were well above average. And, seeing as Leinert has no pedigree, nor has he won at any meaningful level of the game, and "because he instinctively knows he is more suited to partying with Paris Hilton than excelling at the NFL level," I would suggest that you marinate that crow for at least 30 minutes in a nice terriyaki sauce before sauteeing it over a low flame, because I am pretty sure it will be served in due time, with a side order of ad nauseum.
posted by mjkredliner at 12:01 AM on August 16, 2006
Just reading the quotes in that story reminds me why I hate Kurt Warner. I'm not predisposed to liking Leinart neither, but -- come on, Matt. Get up to speed, get good, and put that sanctimonious twit out of a job.
posted by chicobangs at 01:49 AM on August 15, 2006