Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic reiterates the same old questions about the young quarterback: Is he ready, is he mature enough, can he play?
Opinions vary about Leinart, perhaps the most-polarizing figure in Arizona sports. Those who dislike him point to a “Hollywood” lifestyle, beer-bong photos and poor performances as Kurt Warner’s backup last year.
Those who like Leinart point to his improvement in 2007 before suffering an injury, his maturation off the field, and that the Cardinals should have beaten Tennessee in Leinart’s only start last season.
The real answer is that no one knows yet, for sure, whether Leinart can play.
Tyler Bassett of KTAR.com writes that Leinart defended himself vigorously from such questions during the last week of the Cardinals’ spring work.
Leinart may not have the backing of people outside the Cardinals organization, or as he referred to the people who don’t believe in him as “haters.”
Leinart went on to say he is confident he can win over Cardinals fans.
“I truly believe once we get to camp I’m just going to keep doing my thing and once we get that first game under our belt … we open with St. Louis and hopefully we can get that first [win] and after that I think everyone will stop saying what they are saying now,” Leinart said of the people who have been questioning how good the Cardinals can be now that Kurt Warner has retired. "That’s how fast people change.
Today, much of Leinart’s memorable college career was wiped from the record books. It’s up to Leinart now to write the next chapter.