USC’s Matt Leinart Joins Elite Quartet in Rose Bowl Hall of Fame

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“At USC, our goal was always to get into the Rose Bowl,” said legendary USC quarterback Matt Leinart before being inducted in the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame at a luncheon Tuesday afternoon. “Win the Pac-12, and get into the Rose Bowl, that was it. And now those memories grow larger as time goes on.”

The Rose Bowl Hall of Fame was established in 1989 and has become an annual tradition with over 100 inductees.

Leinart played in two legendary Rose Bowl games, one which saw a victory over Michigan in 2004, and the historic loss to Texas in 2006. That game has often been called the “greatest college football game ever played.”

USC lost, 41-38 in a thriller to the Texas Longhorns and their star quarterback, Vince Young.

“It gets easier as it gets further away,” Leinart smiled.

Leinart joined an elite quartet of inductees into the Hall Tuesday. Also honored were Cornelius Greene of Ohio State, one of just a handful of players to play in four Rose Bowls; University of Washington’s Jacque Robinson , MVP of the 1982 Rose Bowl, and Harvard’s Eddie Casey, hero of the 1920 Rose Bowl game. Casey’s award was accepted by current Harvard Coach Tim Murphy.

The afternoon luncheon at the Rose Bowl was emceed by EPSN Sports Center’s John Anderson, who joked that he was a “Rose Bowl groupie,” and that the Rose Bowl game highlights shown at the event could never exceed those that he created in his mind as a young boy in the backyard of his Green Bay, Wisconsin home.

Tournament of Roses President Laura Farber, welcoming the honorees, said the group was entering “a class of amazing. amazing people, players and coaches who have impacted the game in so many memorable ways. We are so proud to honor them.”

Harvard’s Eddie Casey was a small bolt of lightning for the Crimson in the 1920 game against Oregon. He produced half of Harvard’s total yardage in the game, rushing and passing, and was named MVP. He later became the varsity coach in 1931, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

Greene, meanwhile, reminded the packed crowd that he “never lost to Michigan,” and seemed amused that two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin was not voted the MVP on the Ohio State team. That honor went to Greene, his dorm roommate.

Washington’s Robinson led the Washington Huskies to a 28-0 pounding of Iowa in the 1982 Rose Bowl game, and was the first freshman to ever be named MVP in the history of the Rose Bowl. He joined the Husky Hall of Fame in 2016.

Leinart, Greene, Robinson and Murphy will ride in the 2020 Rose Parade Wednesday, before visiting the Rose Bowl later that afternoon for the Game.