Legendary college quarterback Matt Leinart isn’t letting his legacy at USC be altered in any way.
During an episode of his Throwbacks podcast, Leinart revealed that he’s turned down multiple requests from the Trojans to unretire his famed No. 11 jersey.
“When I was at USC, I got my number retired,” Leinart explained (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). “You win the Heisman Trophy, automatic retired number, which is pretty cool. So, our jerseys are hanging in the Coliseum on one side. … There’s been multiple times where people at USC have asked me if I would unretire my jersey for some five-star prospect. And do you want to know what I told those guys straight up? I said, ‘Absolutely f–king not.’ I am never going to unretire my jersey for some random dude who, by the way, now could wear No. 11 and transfer after a year.”
Leinart added that he’d make an exception for his son Cole Leinart, a freshman quarterback at SMU, or one of his two younger sons, but no one else.
“The only person that will ever wear my USC No. 11 would be Cole, who’s not there right now. He’s at SMU. Or two of my boys if they end up going to USC and playing football. That is it,” he said.
When asked if he would accept a payment from a player with a large NIL deal, Leinart reiterated his refusal to let his jersey be taken down from the rafters.
“Absolutely not. Would never do it,” Leinart said. “It’s not for sale.”
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