Bordow: Leinart’s private life not my business

I guess I’m supposed to be disappointed that Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart is holding beer bongs and having a hot tub party with young women at his house.

Coach disappointed with Leinart's actions

(Those are the latest photos of Leinart making the rounds on the Internet).

I guess I’m supposed to be upset that he’s not sitting at home, studying his playbook and watching film of the Seahawks defense.

Well, I’m not.

What Leinart does in his private life — as long as he doesn’t break the law — is none of my business. I may not agree with it morally, but I’m not the Leinart police.

Now, if it’s proven that he was supplying underage girls with alcohol, that’s another matter completely. And one the police should look into.

But let’s not pretend Leinart is the only single, millionaire athlete who chases women on a weekend night. In fact, I can guarantee you many of Leinart’s teammates are doing the exact same thing.

If not worse.

Look, the photos wouldn’t be an issue at all if Leinart already had established himself as a successful NFL quarterback. Then he would be viewed as a modern-day Joe Namath, a man’s man and a ladies’ man.

But because he’s been injured and ineffective, the partying is supposed to be a sign that he’s not taking football seriously enough.

Please.

First of all, it’s the offseason.

Second, how do we know Leinart wasn’t at the Cardinals’ facility all day, working out, meeting with coaches, watching film, etc?

Answer: We don’t. But we’re more than happy to jump to conclusions based on a few photos.

Does Leinart need to be smarter about his nocturnal habits? Absolutely. He’s the starting quarterback for the Cardinals and a guy who once was linked to Paris Hilton.

What goes on in his home isn’t going to stay in his home. Particularly with cell phone cameras.

My guess is that’s why Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said he was “disappointed” in Leinart. Whisenhunt couldn’t have been surprised or dismayed by Leinart’s party.

He knows what young, single, NFL players do at night.

What likely bothered him was the publishing of the photos on the Internet. Fair or not, it further cemented Leinart’s image as a Hollywood playboy type and forced the Cardinals to again answer questions about their quarterback’s commitment.

You know what’s truly ridiculous about this story?

It will remain relevant only if Leinart continues to struggle on the field. Then the photos will be alleged evidence that he’s spending too much time in the bars and not enough time on the playbook.

But if Leinart throws for 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns and the Cardinals make the playoffs, he’ll be the Valley’s most popular athlete and the images from his party will collect dust in the attic.

One final thought: As journalists, we need to be careful how we handle stories — and photos — like this.

We’re not gossip columnists. We shouldn’t be stalking hotels or bars to see if an athlete is cheating on his wife.

Should we limit our coverage to what happens between the lines? Absolutely not. If that had been the case, we never would have heard about BALCO.

But as long as an athlete is not breaking the law or his conduct is somehow detrimental to his team, then we should keep our nose out of his beer bong.

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Listen to Scott Bordow every Monday at 2:25 p.m. on The Fan (1060 AM) with Bob Kemp.