Bold 2010 Prediction: Most Polarizing Cardinal

[40yearfan]

10 days ago, Neil Rackers had a chance to win a playoff game on the final play of regulation.

a 34 yarder for a trip to the NFC semi-finals. a 34 yarder to extend the season.

65,000 fans, dizzy from roller coaster ride game, stood and considered the distance between the 34 yard line and victory. They relaxed a little when they considered the perfect kicking conditions.

How many 34 yarders in a row could Neil Rackers hit in practice with just his team mates watching?

100? 200?

The snap is down, the kick is up...!

As the ball sailed through the air, I sat in front of my TV arms raised in victory. Surely the stage was so big, the kick so important, that simple self-preservation would override the yips.

For if Neil Rackers missed this kick, and the Cardinals lost the game, he would be the most vilified football player in this sad sack franchises history. He would have to fear for safety.

Wide left!!

A 34 yard choke job for the ages.

Sorry Neil. You're richer and better looking than me, but you're still a real @ss clown for missing that one.

And if the defense hadn't of given up 45 POINTS, we wouldn't have been in that position in the first place, yet I hear no one complaining about how poorly Dockett and company were playing. Even Michael Jordan missed shots at the buzzer that would have won the game. No one is perfect.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

FWIW, going by this thread already, i say Rackers(and Rakers ) will indeed be the most polarizing figure. I would just assume see him go especially if he think he's in for any kind of raise. We could pay a kicker 1/3 of his salary to miss clutch kicks.

 

[Duckjake]

FWIW, going by this thread already, i say Rackers(and Rakers ) will indeed be the most polarizing figure. I would just assume see him go especially if he think he's in for any kind of raise. We could pay a kicker 1/3 of his salary to miss clutch kicks.

With 120 Division I schools you would think that there would be at least one kicker graduating that could kick well in the NFL.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

With 120 Division I schools you would think that there would be at least one kicker graduating that could kick well in the NFL.

I don't know why the transition seem to be so hard. Mike Nugent was dead on money in college. I would give him another shot next year. Either him or Russel Erxleben .

 

[Duckjake]

I don't know why the transition seem to be so hard. Mike Nugent was dead on money in college. I would give him another shot next year. Either him or Russel Erxleben .

Erxleben was definitely a money player.

http://www.quatloos.com/forex_erxlegen.htm

 

[BullheadCardFan]

With 120 Division I schools you would think that there would be at least one kicker graduating that could kick well in the NFL.

How about this guy?

Leigh Tiffin Alabama

 

[PACardsFan]

It doesn't even have to be a football player. Go sign a soccer player from Brazil, Argentina, Spain etc, etc, etc. Now these guys know what real pressure is. When they don't perform, they get stabbed or shot to death in the parking lot. The NFL would be a stroll in the park!!

 

[Second Deck]

Just further proof of why Rackers needs to be gone. His biggest/only fan can't even spell his name right.

Don't let the facts influence your statement. We have two Rackers supporters on this site. I to went back and looked at the 2007 season and there was only one game that could be attributed to a Rackers miss. In that game we lost in OT with a Warner fumble in the end zone.

I love the toughness of Rackers.

 

[Shane]

Don't let the facts influence your statement. We have two Rackers supporters on this site. I to went back and looked at the 2007 season and there was only one game that could be attributed to a Rackers miss. In that game we lost in OT with a Warner fumble in the end zone.

I love the toughness of Rackers.

3

 

[Stout]

Don't let the facts influence your statement. We have two Rackers supporters on this site. I to went back and looked at the 2007 season and there was only one game that could be attributed to a Rackers miss. In that game we lost in OT with a Warner fumble in the end zone.

I love the toughness of Rackers.

The game we lost in OT with a Warner fumble in the end zone? THE ONE WHERE RACKERS MISSED THE CHIP SHOT?!?!? I don't EVER want that game used to defend him! I was at a major sports bar and everyone, from my friends to the folks around me, agreed that the game was over when we were in field goal range. Then he CHOKED THE GAME AWAY. It was one of the most embarassing losses I can recall as a Cards fan. It reeked of 'same old Cards'. And it should have been a win, except he choked it away.

 

[kerouac9]

I love the toughness of Rackers.

Just to be clear, you're not talking about MENTAL toughness here, right?

The kind of toughness that is most important in NFL kickers?

You're talking about some other kind.

 

[conraddobler]

Any coach that goes into the season with Rackers as the kicker, has yet to learn the kicker rule.

Kickers are clutch or they're worse than useless.

Ask the Chiefs about Lynn Elliott, the guy Jimmy Johnson cut by tossing his gear in the parking lot, the Chiefs cut Nick Lowery to save money and get deeper kickoffs and all they got was 3 missed chipshots in a playoff game against the Colts and an early trip home after going 13-3 with homefield throughout the playoffs.

Mark my words, his defenders will just vanish if he ever misses a really big kick that costs us a playoff game, but it dosen't have to be like that.

 

[Second Deck]

Any coach that goes into the season with Rackers as the kicker, has yet to learn the kicker rule.

Kickers are clutch or they're worse than useless.

Ask the Chiefs about Lynn Elliott, the guy Jimmy Johnson cut by tossing his gear in the parking lot, the Chiefs cut Nick Lowery to save money and get deeper kickoffs and all they got was 3 missed chipshots in a playoff game against the Colts and an early trip home after going 13-3 with homefield throughout the playoffs.

Mark my words, his defenders will just vanish if he ever misses a really big kick that costs us a playoff game, but it dosen't have to be like that.

Can you clue me in on how many kicks Nick Lowery made in the playoffs to win the game?

 

[Duckjake]

Can you clue me in on how many kicks Nick Lowery made in the playoffs to win the game?

1994: 32 yarder to beat the Steelers in OT.

He also kicked 3 FGs but missed one in the game Marino and the Dolphins rallied to win 17-16 in 1991. Don't know at what point in the game the miss occurred.

 

[chickenhead]

I don't think Rackers is as awful as some do, because in a lot of ways he's average. Which actually makes him overrated and overpaid. He is replaceable, IMO.

 

[cardsfanmd]

I am all for the cards keeping Rackers for KOs and long FGs, but can we please bring in a guy like Matt Stover in for the short/clutch kicks.

 

[az jam]

I am all for the cards keeping Rackers for KOs and long FGs, but can we please bring in a guy like Matt Stover in for the short/clutch kicks.

Don't want two kickers on the team. Get off the Rackers bandwagon and dump him

 

[cardsfanmd]

Don't want two kickers on the team. Get off the Rackers bandwagon and dump him

I know without a doubt my father and I have started the most anti-Rackers threads on this board over the last 3 years. I don't know what I was thinking with that last remark, I must be getting soft in my old age.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I know without a doubt my father and I have started the most anti-Rackers threads on this board over the last 3 years. I don't know what I was thinking with that last remark, I must be getting soft in my old age.

i think it's that avatar or the fact that Syracuse has a legit b-ball team this year that is making you soft.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

another thing about kickers being a dime a dozen,look at Garret Hartley. He became the Saints kicker with about 6 weeks left in the season and then hits the game winner against Minny and sets a SB record with three 40+ yard FG's. Yet you have the franchised Shayne Graham kicking his way out of Cincy in the playoffs. I would never give a kicker any sort of big money.

 

[chickenhead]

I know these guys aren't playing fantasy football, but there's a reason the guy in the fantasy draft who starts a run on kickers is a fool, and the managers who continue it are even bigger ones. Week in and week out a kicker's productivity can be replaced. In fantasy it's easier because you're drawing from a pool of starting kickers with matchups you can evaluate, but there isn't a true shortage of candidates in the real world. There over 100 division 1A college football teams, over 100 division 1AA teams, 8 CFL teams, and soccer/rugby players around the world.

 

[cardsfanmd]

i think it's that avatar or the fact that Syracuse has a legit b-ball team this year that is making you soft.

Don't I own your avatar?

 

[NuttinButTDs]

Shane Graham could be available. It is reported that Bungles plan to release him.