Step away from that ledge, fans

Friday was a bad day to be a fan of the Cardinals. The weird thing is that nothing that happened was surprising: Anquan Boldin's trade was two years in the making, I think everyone expected Karlos Dansby to leave, and while Antrel Rolle's signing with the Giants was surprising, the surprise was not that he signed with them, but that he (not Darren Sharper, Bob Sanders, Ed Reed, Adrian Wilson, Troy Polamalu, Nick Collins, or Brian Dawkins) is now the highest paid safety in NFL history. Combine these with Kurt Warner's retirement (which, as we remember, was not all that surprising either), and I could sense uneasiness in the Redbird Nation, as if all those years of misery were approaching again like Lost's black smoke monster (ticking sounds and everything).

I, myself, felt the uneasiness and wondered if there simply would be too many holes to fill, too many changes, too many starters and leaders gone, for the Cardinals to stay competitive. I had a night of doubt. But then, on Saturday, moments before leaving to pick up my oldest daughter from a friend's birthday party, the familiar sound of the guitar intro for Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" (my phone's text message tone) brought great news- an ESPN breaking news text message stating that Adam Schefter is reporting, "Jets trade S Kerry Rhodes to Cardinals for 4th-rd pick in 2010 and 7th-rd pick in 2011." That moment reminded me that I was being foolish, considering I just wrote this not long ago after the breaking news of Coach Whisenhunt's new contract (in "Cards Bus Going in Right Direction"):

Right now, the team is at a turning point. It has lost its elite quarterback. It is losing one to 3 key starters on defense. It may be dealing a starter on offense. Normally, I would be back to bracing myself for meagerness. I'm not saying that won't take a step back this year. It might. But knowing that The Whiz is in the driver's seat and that the organization has packed its bags and loaded them onto his bus, I trust that joining them for the ride is going to be enjoyable on the whole for many years. I can't wait to see where the next stop is going to be.


I had momentarily (ok, maybe it was about 20 hours, but in my defense, I was spending the night and early morning at the Phoenix Zoo with my oldest and about 30 other 4th graders- it was great daddy-daughter time, but you do realize that there were another 30+ 9 and 10 year olds there, too) lost sight of the fact that these Cardinals have a plan. The Whiz knows what he is doing. Here is what he said on the trade:

"We had a good contingency plan in place if we lost Antrel and we acted quickly. We all know that the safety position was a hole we needed to fill. Kerry has the experience and ability to step in right away. He fits a lot of things that we do."

This deal looks great. Personally, I have NEVER drunk the Antrel Kool-Aid. He has been, for years, my least favorite player on the team- just ask my buddy, Nate. He can confirm this for you. When he was named to the Pro Bowl, I was dumbfounded. I am glad he's gone. I don't deny that he is exciting to watch when he gets the ball in his hands, but I never felt, as a fan, that he made much of an impact. As a cornerback (and he was expected to be dynamic- much like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie), he was a bust. He was dreadful in pass coverage. He is known as a physical player, but he never showed great tackling- acceptable, but not elite. He has been a bonehead, being called for numerous personal fouls. It has been said that he was good in the slot, but the only thing memorable he did was the one game against Cincinnati, and his interceptions were not the result of good coverage, but rather ok instincts on horrible throws right at him. I've always thought that Rolle has been simply one of the luckiest players in the NFL because, for all the things he has not done well, he happens to be remembered for scoring touchdowns. On half of his touchdowns, he got the ball and there was no one in front of him. My wife (who is beautiful, but anything BUT athletic) could have scored on those plays. When he was given punt return duties, it was downright scary. He didn't come up on kicks he should have caught and caught ones he should have let go, and did absolutely nothing special if he happened to actually get the ball in his hands (which is his supposed strength). As a safety, he wasn't bad, but I never saw anything to think that he was good. He, in my eyes, was simply serviceable as a free safety, and that status was barely for me. Rolle was one excruciating overthrow by Aaron Rodgers in overtime from being another Aaron Francisco (are you still as mad as I am about him and his play in the Super Bowl? Yeah, I thought so). Rolle got beat badly on that play.

Fortunately for him, he was considered a free agent prize. The New York Football Giants now have made Antrel Rolle the highest paid safety in league history. Does anyone else find this weird? In any case, the Cardinals now have Kerry Rhodes, and had to give up very little for him. To be fair, Rhodes does come with a fed flag. He was considered the bust of the Jets defense. He was benched for two games, although he returned later as the starter and made solid contributions to the league's #1 rated defense. It turns out that he had some differences with the new defensive coaching staff. Even so, he is the same age as Rolle, he is bigger, and while he is not known for his physicality, he is much better in coverage than Rolle. But that's not all- he is signed through 2013, and gets paid only a portion of what Rolle now makes, or even what he would have made here in Arizona. This is a GREAT thing. For less money, we get an upgrade (and on a more personal level, my TV screen may have been saved from the remote control violence that Rolle had the potential of provoking). There's no way to convince me otherwise (but I do welcome attempts).

Does this answer all the questions I have? Not yet. But one thing I do know is that, unlike in times past, these Cardinals are not just letting important talent run away. There is a vision, a plan. There is hope. So, Redbird faithful, do not fear, the Whiz is here. He is the leader of this team and will not let it take too much of a backward step, if in fact there will be a step back. If you had the urge to move toward the ledge to begin contemplating jumping again (because we all have done that before) into hopeless, faithless fandom, step back, pull up a chair, and enjoy the view and the ride. That's what I will be doing.

Cards' Bus Going In Right Direction

I've always been a Cardinals fan. As a teenager, I listened to as much of the games as I could because there was no TV for us as a family on Sundays. Now that I think about it, had we watched TV, it's not like it would have mattered. I only could have watched half the games because of the blackout rule. But to be honest, it took until 1998 (the year I returned home from a religious mission to Argentina and, incidentally, the year the Cards made the playoffs and beat the Cowboys) until I felt emotionally invested in the team. I cheered, wanted them to win, but it was rarely with any faith. I always knew that it was, a) a crummy team, or b) a team that no matter what happened, would find a way to disappoint me. Every year was the same- the hope that a team with an overall lack of talent (overall because there were always some very good players) would somehow overachieve, stay healthy, and get lucky. Years of being competitive at home and awful on the road. Bad drafts or drafting players that would flourish AFTER leaving Arizona. Major injuries to key young players. Player signings motivated more for ticket sales than for performance on the field. Not paying players that deserved to be paid. In all, the team did not ever seem to have a vision or a plan of any sort.

Things have changed. Today's news of the contract extensions for Coach Ken Whisenhunt and GM Rod Graves symbolizes the completion of a team's transformation from the league's "armpit" (as said by Simeon Rice) to an actual winning football franchise. Whisenhunt is the first coach to get a contract extension since the team moved to Arizona. He becomes one of the five highest paid coaches in the league. To me, it shows that the organization has a plan, a vision, of what it wants to do and is willing to stick to it.

To be fair, the change started with Dennis Green. He drafted some quality players and began the culture change, but he could not carry it out. Also in fairness to ownership, as they claimed that if the team had a new stadium that they would be able to be more competitive because of the added revenue streams (something that I believed about as much I believe that Santonio Holmes actually got both feet down...which I don't!), they have delivered on that claim. They have shown that they are no longer complete misers, that they will spend money when it is needed. Russ Grimm was paid so he would not leave. Strength coach John Lott got paid. Kurt Warner got paid. Adrian Wilson got extended. Larry Fitzgerald got paid. Now, Coach Whiz got paid.

The extension is evidence of just how much respect Whisenhunt has earned from the organization, and that it is on board with his plan for the team. He has shown himself to be a company man, as he refused to worry about his contract status when he had more than a year left, showing his players by example to stick to the football issues until the time comes to worry about money issues. He has shown leadership skills and has brought the spirit of competition and improvement. He has drafted players with a plan for now and for the future, thinking ahead to positions in which current players may leave, in addition to getting talent that can contribute in the first year. He has changed Matt Leinart into a blue collar football worker. He has handled Anquan Boldin's outbursts with class and dignity. He took Kurt Warner and helped him resurrect his career, and was intelligent enough to adapt to the skill set of his quarterback and personnel when his personal offensive philosophy was different. He is an Arizona rock star- not in personality or in ego (Buddy Ryan/Dennis Green), but in status.

Right now, the team is at a turning point. It has lost its elite quarterback. It is losing one to 3 key starters on defense. It may be dealing a starter on offense. Normally, I would be back to bracing myself for meagerness. I'm not saying that won't take a step back this year. It might. But knowing that The Whiz is in the driver's seat and that the organization has packed its bags and loaded them onto his bus, I trust that joining them for the ride is going to be enjoyable on the whole for many years. I can't wait to see where the next stop is going to be.