http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12059585/
Leinart giving up NFL for ballroom dancing?
Shocking news as 2004 Heisman winner stands to lose millions
Leinart
Jae C. Hong / AP
Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart took one class in the 2005 season: ballroom dancing. NBCSports.com columnist Mike Celizic has learned that the class has led to an unlikely career change for the former Heisman winner.
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By Mike Celizic
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 12:18 a.m. ET April 1, 2006
Mike Celizic
After much soul-searching, 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart has decided to forego a career in the NFL and pursue his true passion, ballroom dancing. The shocking news was learned exclusively by MSNBC.com late Thursday and confirmed by the quarterback.
“Positive,” Leinart said when asked by this reporter in a cell phone conversation if the stunning news was true. “Most people don’t know this about me, because I never talked about it; it’s not something football players want to get around the locker room. But as a kid, I’d watch Fred Astaire movies with my mom and dad and I’d think, ‘If I could be him, I’d be the happiest man in the world.’ Sure, I wanted a shot at another national championship, but the real reason I stayed an extra year in school was to take that ballroom dancing class to see if it was for me. And it was.”
Rarely does any athlete with a shot at the big time turn it down. And no one of Leinart’s stature has done so since Jay Berwanger, the winner of the first Heisman Trophy...
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