Upon watching Hall of Fame legends such as Larry Csonka need assistance to get up on stage at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, it makes sense that players want to retire while they can still walk. Over the years, fans have been quick to criticize players retiring still in their prime such as Barry Sanders (Detroit Lions), Robert Smith (Minnesota Vikings) and Tiki Barber (New York Giants). The fact of the matter is that the human body is simply not made to withstand the impact of 300 pound people colliding into it at full-speed. The more I see legends of the gridiron hobbling around in their 40’s and 50’s the more I understand retiring early.

In the case of Kurt Warner, he has done everything he can in this game. 2 league MVP’s (1999 and 2001), 1 Super Bowl MVP (1999), 3 Super Bowl Appearances (1999, 2001 and 2009), Highest completion percentage in a single game (regular season) – 92.3% (24/26) (9/20/09), Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Game) – 414 yards vs. Tennessee Titans (only QB to pass for 400+ yards in the Super Bowl; also owns 2nd and 3rd highest yardage total in Super Bowl with 377 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and 365 against the New England Patriots), Most Yards Passing, Super Bowl (Career) – 1,156 yards, Only quarterback to throw for over 14,000 yards with two different teams (Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams), One of only 2 players in NFL history to throw 100 touchdown passes with two different teams (Fran Tarkenton is the other), Most Consecutive Games w/300+ Yards Passing – 6 (tied w/ Steve Young and Rich Gannon), Highest career completion percentage, Playoffs – 66.5% and Most touchdown passes in a single postseason – 11 (in 2009, tied w/Joe Montana, who did it in 1990).  

After throwing for 5 touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers with was actually one more than his total incompletions for the game (4), It would be the ideal situation for Kurt Warner to retire while still on top of his game. Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals now march on to New Orleans to face Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. The Cardinals are 7 point underdogs going into the game, which will likely be another offensive showcase. As Kurt has shown his whole career, he revels in the underdog role and I would most certainly not discount the Cardinals chances of winning. However, if this in fact Warner’s final game, I will understand and appreciate what he did for the NFL as well as the formerly beleaguered Arizona Cardinals franchise. Let me be the first to say thank you Kurt.

Anquan Boldin has made it well known that he is unhappy with this current contract. However after committing 4 years and $40 million to Larry Fitzgerald the Cardinals can’t afford to pay Boldin the kind of money he percieves he is worth. The Cardinals have plenty of wide receiver help  beyond Boldin. This was evident last week against the Chicago Bears as Steve Breaston’s 5 catches and 66 yards as well as 2nd round draft pick in 2008 Early Doucet with 4 catches for 31 yards. The proof is also in the record, as the Cardinals are 7-3 when Boldin is out with injury. The Cardinals will go into next season liking needing a middle-linebacker as Karlos Dansby will test the free-agent market. In addition, the Cardinals offensive line will likely need re-tooling as Mike Gandy and Deuce Lutui will be free agents as well.

Boldin is still under contract to 2011, but the Cardinals should work out a draft day trade and send Boldin on his merry way. He is still an excellent wide receiver and would command plenty of trade value if he comes back and plays solid football later this season. With his Terell Owens like tendencies of late, Boldin is more of a detriment to the Cardinals over the long term than an asset.

The Arizona Cardinals had a Wednesday evening practice at Lumberjack Stadium in Flagstaff AZ, and rookie running back Beanie Wells “twisted” his sore ankle on a running play. Wells was stopped in the backfield by Darnell Dockett and aggravated his sprained ankle when he tried to make a move to get away. Wells promptly sat out the rest of practice; however he is insisting he will be ready to play when San Diego comes to town on Saturday.

It looks more and more like Tim Hightower will be the starter at running back for their opening game against the San Francisco 49ers September 13th at 1:15 pm Arizona Time. Hightower is in his 2nd year and started 7 games at running back last season; averaging a meager 2.8 yards per carry. However, Hightower did score 10 touchdowns and had caught 34 passes. Hightower is definitely a game worthy competitor, however I am unsure he can handle the duties of feature back on his own. Hightower lacks the big play ability that the Cardinals need at the running back position (Hightower’s longest carry in 2008 was 30 yards).

Arizona Cardinals rookie Michael Ray Garvin will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Garvin was a standout sprinter from Florida State and CB/Kick Returner for the football team. Garvin looked exceptional in the 1st pre-season game against the Steelers and showed promise of replacing Steve Breaston in kick and punt return duties. According to Coach Ken Whisenhunt, Garvin is expected to miss 1-2 weeks of action.

The Arizona Cardinals were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-10 in a rematch of last year’s Superbowl. However, in this case the starters were only on the field for one quarter. The score is basically meaningless considering the Steelers scored both of their touchdown’s in the 4th Quarter on a pair of short runs by Isaac Redman from little know Bowie State (In Maryland just in case you were wondering). The same holds true for the Cardinals who score their only touchdown in the 4th Quarter as well on a 20-yard pass by former University of Pittsburgh QB Tyler Palko to WR Onrea Jones from Hampton University. The early part of the game was primarily dominated by defense specifically James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley from the Steelers and Calais Campbell from the Cardinals.
Here is a breakdown of individual successes last night:

Matt Leinart: Leinart definitely made it look like there is no real competition between him and Brian St. Pierre for backup QB. Leinart was 8-14 for 83 yards and looked like a Field General leading the Cardinals to a Field Goal to end the first half.

Calais Campbell: Campbell made it look like the Cardinals will not miss Antonio Smith this season. Although he did not record a sack, he had Ben Roethlisberger in his grasps on one occasion and made him move around the pocket on various occasions.

Michael Garvin: The 5′8″ Wide Receiver from Florida State looked as if he was on the verge of breaking every return for a touchdown last night. Garvin returned 4 kick-offs for 120 yards (30 yard average) and 3 punts for 30 yards (10 yard average). To top it off, Garvin also caught one pass for 15 yards. Garvin may be a viable option to get Steve Breaston off of special teams, to ensure the 3rd Wide Receiver stays healthy.

Greg Toler: The only player ever drafted from St Paul’s College (VA), looked solid. Toler was able to break up numerous passes and was a sure tackler ending the night with 3 tackles. His combination of size 6′0″ 191 lbs and speed may allow him to be a Nickel-Back as soon as this season.

Ben Graham: Normally people do not like to talk about the Punter, however in his case he deserves mention. Graham had 3 kicks inside the 20 as well as a 59 yard bomb of a punt. This man from Australia is going to be valuable in the field position game this season.

The Cardinals next face the San Diego Chargers on August 22nd at University of Phoenix Stadium. Hopefully, Beanie Wells will be in action!

Somewhere Allen Iverson must be having a conniption fit; because today we are talking about practice! 12,000 fans showed up in Flagstaff over the weekend to watch a scrimmage between the potential 1st team offense and 1st team defense. Surprisingly though, the defense dominated for a solid majority of the scrimmage. The offense did however come alive at the end, to the fans delight of course.

It is truly amazing what one season will do for a much maligned franchise. In the past, camp crowds were more in the 500-1000 fan range. People around the valley of the sun have gone as far as saying the Arizona Cardinals will never have a consistent following due to how many transplants live in Arizona. Anybody who had been to a game at Sun Devil stadium when the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers or Pittsburgh Steelers can attest to the fact the Cardinal fans were outnumbered on their own turf. Times have obviously changed. With the building of a modern 21st century facility now known as University of Phoenix Stadium, and the hiring of Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt the mentality of this franchise is no longer lovable loser. With last year’s exciting Superbowl run, the Arizona Cardinals have effectively secured a fan-base for years to come. This is obviously aided by the emergence of a high-powered offense that the fans love in this city (see Phoenix Suns).

The criticism to Arizona Cardinal’s fans will remain for awhile until it is proven that the fans will show up in droves regardless of the team being a winner or a loser. That is why Raiders and Browns fans are so impressive (albeit nuttier than a Payday Bar), they show up in full attire even when the team is 3-13. The national exposure is now there for the Cardinals as well to get a larger fanbase. Larry Fitzgerald is considered by many (including myself) to be the best Wide Receiver in the NFL. In addition his face is on the cover of Madden 2010, which can only help with the younger fan-base out there. Cardinal fans have a long way to go to prove themselves as “great” fans, however by making University of Phoenix sound like a volcanic eruption on Sunday’s is a great start!!!!

The fans at NFC Champ Camp in Flagstaff, Arizona got a major scare upon watching Chris “Beanie” Wells leg get rolled upon by 660 pounds of human. Numerous observers that were at Cardinal Camp believed Wells had blown out his knee. He signed a five-year, $11.8 million contract late Friday night and was participating in his first team activity due to Ohio State’s academic calendar which prohibited Wells from participating in OTA’s in May. Turns out that after an MRI it is merely an ankle sprain that will likley only take a week to recover from. However, expect the Cardinals to be hyper-conservative, so he could sit longer.

Wells came into camp weighing a svelt 227 lbs (he was 238 when he ran 4.59 at the combine). Chris Wells was perhaps the best Running Back in this past NFL Draft, however many were concerned about injury issues and Wells slipped to 31st to the Arizona Cardinals. Now, upon being injured on the 1st day of NFL Training Camp many have given Wells the label “injury prone”.

That moniker is pretty much a joke in my opinion. Wells played 4 years at Ohio State in the Big 10 conference which boasts monstrous farm raised lineman. Albeit maybe not the fastest lineman, but definitely no slouches in hitting. Wells missed zero games his Sophomore year in route to gaining 1609 yards that season. His Junior year was somewhat tumultuous missing 3 games with a foot injury. Point being, Wells missed 3 games in College total!!! I seem to remember a Running Back from Oklahoma that was labeled as injury prone coming out of College with a history of high ankle sprains and a broken collarbone. That player is of course Adrian Peterson, who is by and large considered the best Running Back in the NFL. The fact of the matter is NFL training staffs are excellent and when Wells returns to the field expect him to do well and forget about the label….it is ridiculous.

Yesterday, ESPN.com came out with their pre-season Power Rankings for the 32 NFL teams. One would expect that the Arizona Cardinals coming off of a near Superbowl victory and improving their team on various fronts would be at least in the top ten. Wrong, ESPN ranked the Arizona Cardinals 12th in their pre-season rankings. Teams like the Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers were all ranked ahead of the Cardinals despite getting worse due to aging players (San Diego and Carolina) or getting worse by losing free-agents (Baltimore).  It looks like once again the Cardinals failures in the past are influencing writer’s opinions.

The Arizona Cardinals come into this season toting two legitimate shut down Cornerbacks in Dominiqa ue Rodgers-Cromartie and Bryant McFadden.  Cromartie showed during the post-season run that his blazing speed and natural ball skills make him an excellent Corner. McFadden signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals, after spending his 1st 3 years of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Couple these two Corners with Pro Bowl Safety Adrian Wilson and the Cardinals now have one of the most potent secondaries in the NFL.  Furthermore, the Cardinals depth in the Secondary is incredible, Antrel Rolle can play both Safety and Nickel Cornerback covering a slot Receiver. This flexibility allows for the Cardinals 3rd round pick, Rashad Johnson to get on the field as the 2nd Safety.  Johnson was a unanimous All-SEC first-team choice in 2008. He received SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, as he delivered 89 tackles (60 solos), ranking second on the team. He had five stops behind the line of scrimmage andcaused a fumble for the fifth time in his career. The safety led the Tide with five interceptions and eleven pass break-ups, as he guided a squad that ranked third in the nation in total defense (263.5 ypg.). In addition, he was Team Captain as a Junior and Senior. Only, one other player in Alabama’s history was a Captain as a Junior.

Despite having great skill and ability in the secondary, an unpressured NFL Quarterback can still easily pick apart even the best of secondaries. This is possibly the chink in the armor of the Cardinals currently. The Cardinals did finally sign their 2nd-round pick from Connecticut DE Cody Brown yesterday. Brown recorded 11 sacks, five forced fumbles anda career-high 56 tackles last season. His 11 sacks were good for second in the Big East andrank as the third-highest single-season total in school history. Brown however, is somewhat of an in-between player at 244 pounds. Therefore, he will likely need to bulk up to contend with the massive  Offensive Lineman in the NFL. Bertrand Berry led the Cardinals in sacks last year with only 5. To be a legit title contender again this year, the Cardinals will need to have someone step up and put some pressure on opposing Quarterbacks.

The Cardinals high-flying Offense from last year is expected to carry over to this year without a hitch. The Cardinals still have the triumvirate of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston at Wide Receiver. Each Receiver had over 1000 yards receiving each last season. The Cardinals main weakness on offense was Tight-End, which may have been addressed through the signing of Dominique Byrd formerly from USC. Byrd was out of Football last season after having two terrible years previously with the St. Louis Rams. Byrd however spent the off-season working out with Larry Fitzgerald and appears primed to make the roster. Ben Patrick will be serving a suspension for the 1st 4 games of the season and free-agent signee Anthony Becht will likely fill in admirably in blocking situations. The Cardinals are returning last year’s Offensive Line that kept the fragile Kurt Warner on his feet and gun-slinging. The O-Line only allowed 28 sacks last year good for 11th best in the NFL. Finally, the highly anticipated 1st round draft pick RB Chris “Beanie” Wells joins Tim Hightower in the backfield as a two-headed monster. The Cardinals cut ties with the disgruntled Edgerrin James this off-season, leaving the battle for #1 wide open. Numerous people have already anointed Wells as the starter due to his illustrious career at Ohio State. However, Hightower will still get considerable playing time due to the fact Wells will need to prove he can catch the ball out of the backfield in the Cardinal’s Modified West Coast Offense.

From the early looks of things, I would definitely say the Cardinals are a top 10 team in the NFL right now. Fellow Cardinal Fans: how many times have you been able to say that in your lifetime coming into a season???

Over recent months, Anquan Boldin has become increasingly frustrated with the stalled contract talks with the Arizona Cardinals. Boldin assumed that he would likely be traded before or during the NFL draft. However, with 2 years still left on his contract the Cardinals were in a position of power and did not receive any offers that satisfied them. Today numerous media outlets have indicated that Anquan Boldin will be firing Drew Rosenhaus and seeking different representation.

This situation began when Boldin worked out his first large contract with the guidance of Drew Rosenhaus before he was able to test his actual market value in the free-agent market. Boldin quickly outplayed the contract by gaining 4496 yards over the last 4 seasons. According to ESPN.com , Boldin has two years remaining on a contract Rosenhaus renegotiated in 2005. He has stepped up attempts to secure a new deal after teammate Larry Fitzgerald signed a four-year, $40 million extension in 2008. The Cardinals have said they first plan to renegotiate contracts for safety Adrian Wilson and linebacker Karlos Dansby.

The Cardinals had reportedly offered to re-negotiate Boldin’s contract but under Rosenhaus’ guidance he recommended that Boldin wait until Fitzgerald’s contract was done to set the market value. This was a grave mistake; Fitzgerald became the most heralded receiver in the NFL and Boldin struggled with injuries throughout the playoffs. In addition, the recession came to fruition and now Boldin will not be able to receive Fitzgerald type of money.

Firing Rosenhaus is a great move for Boldin. Boldin is a warrior on the field and does not deserve the stigma of being associated with a slimy agent such as Rosenhaus. If I am guessing, Boldin will go out and dominate this season and receive the contract he deserves based on his play and not non-professional tactics such as faking injuries.

Today, Boldin, The Cardinals and Cardinals fans won a major victory!

The name Anquan Boldin has been synonymous with “warrior” ” fearless” and “dynamic” with the Arizona Cardinals over the years. Through the bad times, Boldin’s dominant play stayed consistent. However, in recent months Boldin’s name is becoming increasingly synonymous with “whiner”.  As one would suspect, this is a product of the company he keeps; namely agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Boldin’s distaste of his current contract is nothing new; he adamantly complained that he was underpaid before last year’s Super Bowl run. However, this year Boldin has sunk to an all-time low: faking an injury to stay out of Mini-Camp.

In late July 2005, Boldin signed a four-year, $22.67 million contract extension through 2010. The deal contained $10 million guaranteed, including a $5 million signing bonus. 2009: $2.75 million, 2010: $3 million. At the time of this deal, it looked like a pretty fair offer. In addition, Boldin himself was not coerced into signing this contract and could have simply waited for free-agency if money was his main concern. The fact of the matter is, that NFL contracts are worth about as much as the paper they are written on. Teams are allowed to cut players and not have to pay them anything beyond guaranteed money. Until that is changed and teams will honor the entirety of the contract; players will continue to hold-out over contract disputes. Let’s be honest here, football players take a constant beating and to allow teams to cut a player after he has been hurt in a previous year is reprehensible and disgusting. However, by the same token, if a player wants to re-work their contract before it is over, they should return a pro-rated amount of the guaranteed money. For example, if a player got a $10 million signing bonus for a 5-year deal and wants to re-work the contract after only 3 years; they should pay the team back $4 million.

We all know that the ideas above will likely not occur. Year after year fans have to deal with the circus over contract disputes. In my opinion, players in the NFL should never sign long-term deals; because like it or not after 5 years that player is going to perceive they are underpaid.