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Ex-USC Heisman Quarterback Matt Leinart Named To Rose Bowl Hall Of Fame

USC quarterback Matt Leinart dropss back to pass during 23-17 victory over Cal at the Los Angeles Memorial Colsieum in Pac-10 Conference football game on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004.
Kirby Lee

Football | September 17, 2019

LOS ANGELES—Former USC Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart, who led the Trojans to a pair of Rose Bowls and was MVP of the 2004 Rose Bowl, was named to the 2019 class of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.
 
He is the 25th Trojan player, coach or administrator elected to the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.
 
Leinart will be inducted in a ceremony outside the Rose Bowl stadium on Dec. 31, 2019, a day before the Rose Bowl Game.  He also will be honored during the Rose Parade and on the field during the Rose Bowl Game, and a permanent plaque in his honor will be displayed at the Court of Champions at the Rose Bowl stadium.
 
Joining Leinart as 2019 inductees are College Football Hall of Famer Eddie Casey of Harvard, former Ohio State quarterback and three-time Rose Bowl Game starter Cornelius Green and former Washington running back and Rose Bowl MVP Jacque Robinson.
 
Leinart led USC to a 28-14 victory over Michigan in the 2004 Rose Bowl and won MVP honors by throwing 3 touchdowns and running for another in the game. In the 2006 BCS Championship Game played in the Rose Bowl, he completed 73 percent of his passes and threw a TD in a last-minute loss to Texas, 41-38.
 
A 3-time (2003-05) All-American who won the Heisman in 2004, Leinart was 37-2 as a USC starter and guided Troy to consecutive national championships (2003-04) and then a No. 2 ranking in 2005.  He threw for 10,693 yards with 99 touchdown passes and had a 64.8% completion mark in his career while setting 16 school records, including 11 Pac-10 and 2 NCAA marks.  In 2004 he won the Walter Camp Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year and Manning Awards and in 2005 he received the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm and Pop Warner Awards, and also was a finalist for the 2004 and 2005 Sullivan Award. 
 
The 10th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, he played 6 seasons in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders.  He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.  He currently is a broadcaster with FOX Sports.
 
 
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