RED SEA CENTRAL
1 down, 11 to go for Fitz?
Posted by Darren Urban on July 2, 2013 – 11:04 am
The University of Pittsburgh announced yesterday that it would be retiring the No. 1 jersey in honor of Larry Fitzgerald's tenure as a Panther, a pretty remarkable achievement when you consider Fitz played just two seasons in college. (Because Fitz went to prep school for a year after high school to improve his grades, he was able to go to the NFL after his true sophomore season.) Fitzgerald was a beast in college. In his final Pitt season in 2003, despite playing for a Pitt team with limited weapons and drawing all the attention of every opponent, Fitz had 92 catches for 1,672 yards (for an 18.2 avg.) and 22 touchdowns. Guess being the No. 3 pick overall was kind of a no-brainer, even if it meant passing on some quarterbacks that turned out to be pretty good themselves.
No word in the announcement, by the way, when the jersey retiring will take place. (And, as a side note, when talking to Larry Fitzgerald Sr. last year for a Fitz story I was working on, he said his son thought about not going to Pitt but Michigan State. "He thought real hard," Fitzgerald Sr. said, "because his girlfriend was there.")
Anyway, Fitz's number being retired usually brings up the secondary question: Would, somewhere down the road, the Cardinals retire No. 11? The answer is probably not. And it doesn't have anything to do with how great Fitzgerald's career ends up.
The Cardinals simply don't retire many numbers. They put players in the Ring of Honor, which doesn't take their jersey number off the market. Hall of Famers like Dan Dierdorf and Roger Wehrli are in the Ring of Honor yet their Nos. 72 and 22, respectively, have been worn often (of late, Brandon Keith and currently DE Everrette Thompson have had 72 and 22 has been worn by Duane Starks, Emmitt Smith and, today, CB Bryan McCann.)
The Cardinals have retired five jersey numbers since the organization started in 1898. Hall of Fame safety Larry Wilson (8), all-around star back and war hero Marshall Goldberg (99), safety/war hero Pat Tillman (40), and two players who died while on the roster, tight end J.V. Cain (88) and tackle Stan Mauldin (77). There are 13 people in the team's Ring of Honor, including Wilson, Tillman and Goldberg but not Cain or Mauldin. That RoH number will rise when safety Adrian Wilson goes in, and I'd expect Fitz to be there someday as well. He just might not be able to take 11 with him, at least not permanently.
Tags: Adrian Wilson, Brandon Keith, Bryan McCann, Dan Dierdorf, Duane Starks, Emmitt Smith, Everrette Thompson, J.V. Cain, Larry Fitzgerald, Larry Wilson, Marshall Goldberg, Pat Tillman, Ring of Honor, Roger Wehrli, Stan Mauldin
Revisionist History: Tillman joins the Army
The latest in a series of offseason posts looking back:
It is Fourth of July weekend, so – while I know everyone knows the Pat Tillman story – I thought I'd take a look back at a thin sliver of the Tillman timeline on this most patriotic of holidays: When Tillman shocked the world and joined the Army.
That offseason began like any other. The Cardinals were coming off a 7-9 season, with some hope going forward after Dave McGinnis' first full season as head coach. The secondary was in flux though – cornerback Duane Starks was a top free-agent target, others were leaving and at strong safety, soon-to-be second-year man Adrian Wilson was being groomed for the starting role over Tillman.
That didn't mean the Cards didn't want Tillman, a free agent. They very much wanted him back, and put an offer (later learned to be three years and worth about $3.6 million) on the table. Yet Tillman didn't sign it. He wasn't at the mandatory minicamp right after the draft in early May, but no one (including me) thought much about it because Tillman was getting married. In hindsight, it did seem strange a guy like Tillman would plan a wedding the one weekend off the offseason he had to be with the team, but again, McGinnis didn't blink an eye at what Tillman – a guy you wanted on your roster – chose to do. Besides, since he hadn't yet signed a contract, it technically wasn't mandatory for him anyway.
At one point, it felt like Tillman was hoping to generate free-agent interest but again, looking back that seems silly. Tillman was the last guy interested in developing leverage in a contract spot. Something was up, however. It was impossible not to get that sense, even though no one was saying anything – and at that point, I don't think anyone really knew.
Your mind starts to race, however. I remember thinking, as a reporter, that maybe Tillman was ill. Maybe he couldn't play football and everyone was trying to keep it under wraps, because why else would he have not signed a contract by that time?
On May 23, 2002, then-PR director Paul Jensen asked three media members – myself, Kent Somers and Mike Jurecki – to come meet with McGinnis about something. We went into a back room, and at that point, all kinds of things are going through your head.
McGinnis didn't wait long. "Pat Tillman has decided to join the Army." And he let it sit there in the air, and I was so shocked my jaw dropped open (I remember because McGinnis good-naturedly reminded me to close it). I thought it was a joke at first but it was most certainly not. With Tillman, it oddly fit. So too did the way the info was disseminated; Tillman had told McGinnis earlier and when McGinnis asked Tillman how he was going to tell the world, Tillman told him, "I'm not going to. You are."
(The Cards knew for a while Tillman likely wouldn't be back with them in 2002, even before the draft. They just didn't know why.)
A few days later, I remember seeing Tillman stopped by the Cards' offices. He was cordial but he wasn't going to talk, on or off the record. That was the last time I saw him.
People tried to guess why he did what he did. They called him a hero before he had even made it into Army Rangers school, which of course, he eventually conquered – like all the things he conquered in his life. And afterward, it was hard not to remember the things he had said the day after the 9/11 attacks, including how much the American flag meant to him.
"In times like this, you realize how good we have it, what kind of system we live under, what kind of freedoms we're allowed, and that wasn't built overnight," Tillman said. "The flag is a symbol of all that. … Many in my family have gone and fought in wars, and I haven't done a damn thing."
Tags: Adrian Wilson, Dave McGinnis, Duane Starks, Pat Tillman
Posted in Blog | 26 Comments »
The free agency effect
Posted by Darren Urban on June 9, 2011 – 4:13 pm
So I was looking over this ESPN.com article by Football Outsiders about the top 10 most disappointing NFL free agents of the past 25 years and it got me thinking about the Cardinals (although no, there are no Cards on the list). My first full free-agent offseason came in 2001, when the Cards — up against the salary cap — chose to sign Seattle guard Pete Kendall as their one big purchase, to team with center Mike Gruttadauria from the year before and first-rounder Leonard Davis to build the "Big Red Line." Kendall, as always, was blunt; when he came in for his press conference and was asked, why the Cardinals, he said, "Because they paid me the most money."
That's usually how it goes.
The bottom line is that, occasionally, help comes via free agency. More often than not, you acquire the best players through the draft because, aside from a player here or there, there is a reason a team lets a player go. Usually it's because they don't see him being worth the money he commands on the open market. (Karlos Dansby? Maybe he was. Antrel Rolle? Probably not.) I would argue that, if you charted all the "bigger-name" free-agent signings in the NFL over the years, there would be more that underperformed to expectations rather than met them.
Anyway, you look back through the years and think about the "key" free agents the Cards signed. How many provided the impact that people thought they would provide the day they signed?
2002 – CB Duane Starks, TE Freddie Jones
2003 – QB Jeff Blake, RB Emmitt Smith, S Dexter Jackson
2004 – DE Bertrand Berry (now this one was a real winner, even with Bertrand's later injuries)
2005 – DE Chike Okeafor, QB Kurt Warner (OK, that one turned out pretty well)
2006 – RB Edgerrin James (Edge was actually pretty effective, but certainly not the star his contract said he should be)
2007 – T Mike Gandy, C Al Johnson, CB Rod Hood (The Cards decide not to get FA "stars" under Whiz, just pieces to the puzzle).
2008 – DE Travis LaBoy, NT Bryan Robinson
2009 – CB Bryant McFadden
2010 – QB Derek Anderson, LB Joey Porter, LB Paris Lenon, K Jay Feely
Certainly a mixed bag over the years. The biggest disappointment? No, I'm not going with Anderson — remember, he was signed to be Matt Leinart's backup, so how much disappointment can there be? (Careful now …) I think I'd probably go with Duane Starks, who parlayed his spot in that great Ravens defense into the idea he could be a shutdown corner, which he wasn't, especially on a team that sometimes used Fred Wakefield as the right defensive end (Fred was a great guy but didn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of quarterbacks). Realistically, Emmitt probably provided what everyone expected and so did Edgerrin, especially since he never seemed to fit Whisenhunt's style (and was clearly at the end, which was proven out after the Cards let him go).
Berry, by far, was the best signing, based on his 2004 season alone. I would have loved to see what sack numbers he would have had if he hadn't gotten hurt every year after that. UPDATE/CLARIFICATION: Some of you want to know how I could ever pick Berry over Warner. The simple fact is that Berry, as a free-agent signee, impacted imemdiately. Warner's time in Arizona didn't come across that well until after a change in coaches. That was Warner's third season as a Card by then. Am I splitting hairs? Maybe. But in the context of this discussion, it's difficult to argue that, as a free agent coming in, Berry didn't produce better than Warner.
Tags: Al Johnson, Bertrand Berry, Bryan Robinson, Bryant McFadden, Chike Okeafor, Derek Anderson, Dexter Jackson, Duane Starks, Edgerrin James, Emmitt Smith, Fred Wakefield, Freddie Jones, free agency, Jay Feely, Jeff Blake, Joey Porter, Kurt Warner, Leonard Davis, Matt Leinart, Mike Gandy, Mike Gruttadauria, Paris Lenon, Pete Kendall, Rod Hood, Travis LaBoy
This is the archive, and commenting on the new site
Christian Kirk charges dismissed
Keim time? Considering depth at safety
With letter, Steve Wilks makes small difference
The future of kickoffs
A potential No. 2 cornerback in trade
Special Cardinals on all-time special teams
Veteran cornerback Breeland on Cards' radar
Josh Rosen and his particular outside noise
Search Blogs:
Archives: Select Month June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009
Cardschatter Twitter
RT @Kyle_Odegard: Steve Keim has the resources to upgrade the Cardinals' roster this offseason. How much -- or how little -- focus should b… 19 hours ago
An amazing four-pack for Fitz. Here's the oral history of that postseason I wrote a couple of years ago:… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 day ago
RT @ProfessorMFitz: As long as they keep paying him 10+ million per yr he's going to play until he's 50...He loves that check too much to l… 1 day ago
RT @FieldYates: Larry Fitzgerald contract extension breakdown: Base salary: $11M Roster bonuses: $500K Incentives: $250K It's the fifth-st… 1 day ago
RT @AZCardinals: On this day in 2016, @LarryFitzgerald put the finishing touches on one of the wildest games in playoff history. #tbt https… 1 day ago
Word From the Birds RSS
Word From The Birds
Huddle for 100
CardsTV
Cards Community
Cardinals Cover 2
Cardinals Underground
Red Sea Report
Big Red Rage
Kingsbury Chronicle
Coaches Chronicle
Cardinals Cheerleaders
Pregame Tailgate
Sync To Your Device
Stadium Essentials
Experience Game Day
A-to-Z Guide
Emergency Evacuation Plan
Club Seating
Lofts & Field Boxes
Pricing Map
Single Game Parking
© 2019 ARIZONA CARDINALS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.