The Lie is an Art with Matt

So in Tuesday's Arizona Republic, former USC quarterback Matt Lienart suggests that his "Hollywood" image was perpetuated by Pete Carroll, not Leinart and that this image has led to him having to work harder then any rookie taken in the 2006 Draft to win his teammates' respect. Leinart cites times during practice when Snoop Dog would show up and start talking to LenDale White and Reggie Bush. Leinart also states that guests like Will Ferrell would take away valuable practice time from the squad prior to the 2006 Rose Bowl game, and that Carroll and the coaching staff would lose focus talking about all the big names that surrounded the team.

Of course, I am sure that Pete Carroll was the one that told Matt to hook up with Paris Hilton during his red carpet draft party held in Las Vegas. I can imagine Coach Carroll running up on Paris and her posse at the bar and hitting her up with Matt's info. "Hey Paris, my friend over there wants to buy you a drink, hee hee." Matt would then be standing in the corner lifting his head in the ever popular male "What's up" way that guys do when they are trying to look cool in a bar somewhere, and carressing his faux goatie with his index finger and thumb. Matt probably then raised his glass of Crystal and motioned her over. He is so money, a bear with big claws.

Carroll was also, probably, the driving force that lead to the bonding friendship of Matt and Nick Lachey during the last season at USC. Carroll more then likely brought Lachey to the Medici apartment Leinart and Dwayne Jarrett shared to play some PS2 or XBox. Carroll probably showed up with a case of Budweiser and a bag of chili-cheese Fritos and Nick brought the jalapeno poppers. After a long night of partying and kicking each others asses on Madden, they probably made some crank calls to Jessica and Ashley Simpson with Carroll trying to keep a straight face and not laugh while he told the girls that he was some guy they had met at the club and gave their number too. There is nothing worse then that 3:00 AM drunk call to a girl.

Carroll also, more then likely according to Leinart, was the one who thought it would be a really "bitchin" idea to let Wilmer Valderamma say a few words at the USC pep rally prior to the UCLA game. "Hey man, he can like say some cool stuff to the team and the Alumni in that 'Fez voice, ha ha," muttered Carroll in that hazy scene played out in Matt's head. The alienation of several team members and alumni following the address was also, probably, the desired effect Carroll wanted.

Finally, I am sure that the person taking this picture above was also Carroll following the 2005 Hiesman Trophy Awards ceremony in New York. He probably thought that it would be really cool to take a picture of Matt geeking the breezies at a local night club while Carroll's wife slept at home. The pissed off chick behind them is probably also there with Carroll. She is more than likely upset at the fact that he left her standing on the dance floor by herself while Carroll rushed to take this picture with his Treo 650 phone.

In the end, you cannot expect much out of Matt Leinart. He went on record in Sports Illustrated professing his love for USC basketball star Brynn Cameron and then was photographed with the above mentioned breezie. He said his housing was on the up-and-up and then more details of shady business dealings between Matt's father and "several unidentified partners" surfaced. From all the data, one can only come to the realization that a pissed off Leinart is trying to spin his reasoning for falling to 10 overall in the draft, effectively costing him $13 million in projected salary. This, coupled with the fact that his new teammates in Arizona and the fans are expecting Leinart to be the savior of the fanchise, is taking its toll in Matt.