At USC, certain jersey numbers carry a legacy as rich as the Trojans' history itself, especially those retired for their Heisman Trophy winners. Among these revered numbers is Matt Leinart's No.
- Recently, Leinart, the 2004 Heisman winner and two-time national champion quarterback, shared an interesting tidbit on a podcast: USC has approached him multiple times about bringing his jersey out of retirement.
Leinart recounted, “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 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 the only scenario where his No. 11 would see the field again is if his son, Cole-currently at SMU-or one of his other children ends up playing football for USC.
While it's not unprecedented for USC to bring Heisman winners' jerseys out of retirement, Leinart stands firm. His teammate, Darnell Bing, wore Mike Garrett’s No. 20 with permission, and more recently, wide receiver Jordan Addison sported Carson Palmer’s No. 3 in 2022.
For now, it seems Leinart’s No. 11 will remain untouched, reserved for a potential family legacy down the line.