Matt Leinart promises to be "excited" about QB job

Now that Kurt Warner (pictured) has announced his retirement, it’s time for former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart to show that he was worth the team’s investment of a first-round pick. Or whether he’ll continue to be one of the league’s biggest underachievers.

Leinart said on KTAR radio in Phoenix that he plans to be "more excited" about being the starting quarterback, as opposed to his laid-back attitude two years ago, when he was anointed as the starter in the off-season, but was beaten out by Warner, who eventually took the team to the Super Bowl.

Leinart on what he thinks he has got to overcome to be the starting quarterback: "That is a good question. I think I am just more excited about the opportunity. Obviously with being the guy again there is a lot more pressure so to speak just like you said and obviously coming in after what Kurt did the last couple of years is tough for anybody. I think he solidified himself in the Hall of Fame so any time that you follow a guy like that or you just step in, there is always going to be eyes on you. For me I think the most important thing is to be myself and be the quarterback that I have always been, be the guy that I am as far as leading and all of that and not try to do too much not trying to be anything that I am not."

On what kind of player he has become in the last four years: “I mean in all honesty I will agree and say that I have grown up a lot as a football player and as a professional and that being that I have learned how to prepare more. I have learned how to study more. Not necessarily, I have always… I mean football is my life. It’s what I love to do. When I came in as the hotshot from USC, whatever you want to call it, I wanted to be great. My second year I wanted to be great. These last two years have killed me because I just wanted to play and I wanted that opportunity. As I think as I look at the big picture and now I look at where I am at now; these last two years as a football player I have just become a lot better as far as mentally and understanding."

On what he thinks the offense is going to look like this season with him being at quarterback: “To be honest with you I think I heard what coach said about that. What people come to realize is Kurt is a really special type of player because he is extremely smart and he sees the game. I mean he sees the game different than I do and different than any other starting quarterback. A lot of the stuff that we did obviously was a lot of kind of Kurt’s ideas too. Him and Whis [head coach Ken Whisenhunt] always talked all the time and the just combined stuff and so it was a very complex offense so to speak as far as the passing game goes. That is something that I got pretty comfortable with and I think that was a plus and an advantage for me. Even though Kurt is gone I still feel comfortable with what we are doing as an offense.

"It is just going to be fun and I imagine, like you said, yeah maybe we are going to run the ball a little bit more. I think with defenses until I can prove them or whatever. They have got to feel like they have to stop the run and make us beat them through the air. It will be awesome. It is a great opportunity right now. It is a great time.”