Letters to the Editor
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Different experiences
I think Leinart made a good decision last year, even without the injuries. He is more likely to excel in the NFL with the experience he gained this past season, leading USC through the media blitz and coming to play every week. Standing on the sidelines or getting sacked in SF wouldn't have helped his development as a QB and intangibles as a leader nearly as much.
But Young is different. As King points out, against collegians he can always use his athleticism to scramble his way out of trouble. So he's not going to gain much from another year at that level. We all saw it in the championship game. Southern Cal lost because they couldn't tackle Vince Young. None of the other stuff, like Carroll's 4th-down decisions, matters. If S.C. could have tackled Young when it counted, they would have won. [Same for Michigan the previous year.] They couldn't, and they didn't.
And this comes from someone who had a S.C. pennant in his crib (the kind babies sleep in)--my mother and father are both alumni.