The Arizona Cardinals Get Respect At The Pro Bowl

For the first time, probably the first time in franchise history, the Arizona Cardinals are soaking up the spotlight and getting a little taste of respect in a league where organizations can be made or broken during the off-season. With the Cardinal’s off-season looking scary, they are taking advantage of the relaxation and admiration the Hawaii has to offer.

“It’s the first time we’re being respected as a team,” said receiver Anquan Boldin, making his third trip to Hawaii. “Individually, I’ve been getting respect for a number of years, but to see our team get the respect is gratifying.”

Since no one in their wildest dreams expected the Arizona Cardinals, the Cardiac Cards, to make it to the Super Bowl, it is a mixed reception of awe, disbelief, and reverence.

“You even get that sense from these great players,” Kurt Warner said. “They were in a little bit in awe of the run we had and really appreciated it. I don’t know if you polled the guys in our organization and how many would’ve expected it, but you know guys didn’t expect it from the outside,” he said. “Even with the great players we have, nobody expected it. So when you get the congratulations, you almost get a sense of respect that comes with that.”

With losing season after losing season, and an overall pitiful record, the Arizona Cardinals astonished everyone and ‘Shocked the World’ by becoming NFC Champs and making it to the Super Bowl. What is more astonishing is that they were literally 2-minutes away from winning the big game.

“You want to win, but you can appreciate it when the other team beats you,” Warner said. “You don’t beat yourself. You don’t make mistakes. You don’t throw a game away. Another team came out and did what they had to do to beat us and that’s why they’re the world champs.”

Cardinals who are playing in Sunday’s Pro Bowl game in Hawaii are Kurt Warner, Adrian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Sean Morey.

Contract Negotiations, The Fate Of The Cardinals, In Bidwill’s Hands

The Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley has gone to the Kansas City Chiefs,  defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast has just cut ties, Kurt Warner is on the verge of retirement, Karlos Dansby wants to leave for Dallas or New York, and Anquan Boldin might join him there. It is a dismal situation for a team that was never expected to make it to the Super Bowl, and is never expected to make it again.

While Coach Whisenhunt is looking to promote from within and possibly have Russ Grimm step into Haley’s, and Pendergasts, old shoes, contract negotiations and salary disagreements are out of his hands. The infamous Bidwill bank account will have to subsidize their players if they hope to make the post-season once again.

According to The Arizona Republic, Dansby played under the franchise tender of $8.065 million last season and is believed to be seeking a deal worth more than the six-year, $42 million contract that Calvin Pace signed with the Jets last spring.

Kurt Warner is looking at a two-year contract extension for over $18 million, and Boldin has two years left on his $22.75 million deal at $2.75 million and $3 million.

The Arizona Cardinals have continued to stay well beneath the salary cap. Will Bidwill stretch that proverbial pocket of his and use his extra $40 million to contract another Super Bowl berth?

Cardinals team president Michael Bidwill said before the Super Bowl, “We view (Anquan) as one of our core players. We’ve tried to work with him to restructure his deal and extend it.”

The irony of the situation is that the problem may not lie in the money offered, it may lie in the trust lost.

“I don’t think the relationship can be repaired with the organization,” Boldin told USA TODAY after Thursday’s NFC practice for Sunday’s Pro Bowl. “It takes more than, ‘Well, we did you wrong and we’ll pay you this.’ It’s not about the money. It was always about the principle. Guys being true to their word. I guess I was expected to uphold my end of the bargain, and it wasn’t reciprocated.”

With two receivers who led nearly every record in the 2008-2009 season, a quarterback to stand in the Hall of Fame, and offensive and defensive coordinators who know this game like the back of their hand, the Arizona Cardinals were a force to be reckoned with. If the franchise can remain loyal to its fans and its players, and perhaps stretch its budget as well as its ‘employee relations,’ Boldin, Dansby, James, and Warner will hopefully return next season. It is about to get bumpy in Cardinals Camp.

Will Kurt Warner Retire?

Kurt Warner told reporters on Tuesday that there is no other team he’d like to retire with. In his Hall of Fame career, Warner is one of the few quarterbacks who was able to bring two different teams to the Super Bowl, one of those teams for the first time in franchise history.

There is no question I want to finish my career as an Arizona Cardinal,” Warner said. “If I am going to play, I don’t want it to be anywhere else.”

If he does decide to stay with the Cardinals, it will be to the sweet tune of $18-20 million two-year contract extension. That amount of money is respectively hard to pass up. However, Warner told reporters that his decision will be made in time (two to three weeks according to local AZ commentary), and will be based on his faith, his family, and not on what occurred Sunday or how well he thinks he can play.

“It’s never about touchdown passes and winning games and all that stuff… Obviously that plays into it and it is fun, and that’s why I play the game, but that will not be the determining factor on me coming back or not coming back…I suppose when I get all the information and sit back and pray about it, we’ll see what God wants me to do.”

Kurt Warner’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, told local Arizona newspapers that the decision will be made at the right time, in the right state of mind, and in the right way.

“It’s a grueling, brutal sport,” Bartelstein said. “Any player in his 30s… wants to make sure he’s doing things for all the right reasons.”

Warner has had a tumultuous football career, stretching from arena play to Europe, to the Rams, Giants, and finally the Cardinals in 2005. Although he took the Rams to Super Bowl XXXIV and defeated the Tennessee Titans, it wasn’t until this 2008 season that he found his rhythm and confidence again.

Warner replaced Matt Leinart many times in the 2007 season, as Leinart continued to play poorly and accrue injuries. During the off-season, it was a battle for the starting QB position, and Coach Whisenhunt awarded the prize to Kurt Warner. He’s had his embarrassing moments, and his glory. It is plain to see that without Warner, the Arizona Cardinals would not have made it to Super Bowl XLIII, and would not have made history.

On Warner’s shoulders the Cardinals triumphed, while Leinart could only watch and hopefully learn. If Warner does decide to retire, will Leinart have what it takes to step in his shoes? Coming out of USC, most would have said he was better than Warner. But immaturity, inexperience, and injury have kept him from making a stand.

Kurt Warner is the heart of this Arizona team, and without him we are back to square one.

Penalties were to blame for Cardinals Super Bowl loss

The Arizona Cardinals played sloppy, nervous, and emotional, but did they deserve to lose? In a Super Bowl that ranks second in all-time viewership, many have some strong opinions about the abundance of penalties called at Raymond James Stadium. To be more specific, the abundance of penalties called on the Cardinals.

Every sport’s commentary that you will come across during the next few days will tell you one stark aspect of Super Bowl 43 that stood to brutalize the Arizona Cardinals. With 35 seconds remaining in the game, Big Ben found Holmes in the corner of the end zone where he made a Dwight Clark-like catch.

(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

After making his game-winning grab for the Steelers, Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes clearly, and right in front of the refs, celebrated “excessively” by doing his LeBron James talcum powder impersonation. The refs were silent—a horrible non-call. Had the officials done the right thing the Steelers would have had to kick off from their 15 yard line and then, who knows? – Forbes.com

The NFL has a simple and clearly defined rule that players can not use the ball as a prop when celebrating. Doing so after a touchdown results in an automatic 15 yard penalty on the subsequent kickoff. If we can assume the same type of return, the Cardinals would have started their final drive from their 38 yard line instead of their own 23. – Revenge Of The Birds

NFL rules prevent a player from using the ball as a prop during any celebration, so Holmes should have been hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. This would have meant that Jeff Reed would have kicked off from his own 15 yard-line. The Cardinals probably would have ended up with the ball on their own 40-yard line. – The Bleacher Report

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

On top of the record-breaking amount of penalty calls by the refs, headed by Terry McAulay, there were a record breaking amount of missed penalties. Personal foul after personal foul was called on the Arizona Cardinals, including a facemask that occurred simultaneously between two opposing players (Rodgers-Cromartie and Holmes), and a roughing the passer that was called on Dansby yet missed a few plays later when Warner was thrown to the ground in the same fashion.

In a Super Bowl where 18 penalties were called, 11 of those on the Arizona Cardinals, a small amount of tainted opportunities plagued one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time.