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From:realgm
NFL.com - Matt Leinart, who will be a free agent once the NFL's labor issues are resolved, still believes he is an NFL quarterback despite five very disappointing seasons.
Leinart, the former USC quarterback, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2004 and helped the Trojans to successive national championships, was the 10th overall pick by the Cardinals in 2006.
"I've heard everything. I've seen everything," Leinart told 710 ESPN in Los Angeles. "For me, I haven't proven anything ... I haven't proven that I can play game in and game out. And I understand that. Now, I believe I can play and I'm not one to make excuses. I've never made an excuse in my time with Arizona. It just didn't work out for whatever reasons.
"... You kind of look at the timeline of what's happened to me and ... having a pretty good rookie year and then the second year just getting the injury and then, you know, Kurt Warner, I mean Kurt Warner played himself into the Hall of Fame the last three years. There's not a lot I can do about that. I battled with a Hall of Famer two training camps in a row."
The Cardinals cut Leinart in September just days before the start of the regular season.
He signed with the Texans, but couldn't win the No. 2 slot from Dan Orlovsky behind starter Matt Schaub.
"I thought Houston was a small and good stepping stone for me to get my career back on track and get a chance to compete somewhere and get that opportunity to start," Leinart said.
"We'll see what happens. Your guess is as good as mine to see what happens, but I'm excited."