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Matt Leinart achieved numerous accomplishments in his football career.
He was a two-time national champion and Heisman Trophy winner at USC and was a first-round draft pick when he tried his luck in the NFL.
While he pushes on into the next phase of his career as a college football analyst on FOX Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff,” he recently partnered with Abbott in hopes of tackling the need to address blood shortages in the U.S.
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Former NFL quarterback Matt Leinart speaks to the media about the “We Give Blood Drive” during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on July 23, 2025. (Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images)
The “We Give Blood Drive” campaign is something that hit a little closer to home for Leinart.
“Gosh, my mom passed away from cancer years ago, but she needed blood transfusions,” he explained to Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “We have friends that have kids who are dealing with pretty severe illnesses that needed transfusions to live, and they’re gonna be OK, which is great.
“One in 83 new moms need blood after childbirth. My wife just gave birth to our third child. Fortunately, she didn’t need it but when you start to sort of hear the stats around this, and then you’re like, ‘Oh wow, that could’ve been us.’ It just means more. It impacts you in that way. Those are just a few examples of why it could kind of hit home.”
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USC Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart in action during the 2005 Orange Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners in Miami on Jan. 4, 2005. (Preston Mack-USA TODAY Sports)
Leinart expressed the importance of giving blood as some blood centers only have less than a day’s supply of blood available.
“One donation could save up to three lives, which I just want to hammer that point home,” he said. “That’s how important this could be and the impact it could have.”
Abbott’s campaign will also pit Big Ten Conference schools against each other to see which one can donate the most blood over the course of the season. The winning school will receive $1 million to advance student and community health initiatives.
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The competition will begin on “We Give Blood Day” on Aug. 27, and it will run through the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 6.
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