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"The Tugboat"
http://eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=4049
Arizona's new QB building rapport with teammates
By Darren Urban, Tribune
It was lunch — nothing fancy, just some barbecue from Honey Bears, with all the fixins’ — after an average offseason workout a few weeks ago.
But it was a gesture Jeff Blake thought was important; more than buying a meal for some of his new Arizona Cardinals’ teammates. It was about getting some of them to sit and talk even though it was months before training camp.
“He was saying he couldn’t believe it didn’t happen on a regular basis, lunch here with the guys,” running back Marcel Shipp said. “It was just work and leave. Jeff just wants the team to bond more and respond to each other.”
And most importantly, respond to him.
The Cardinals have their first mandatory workouts of the offseason starting today at their Tempe complex, the unveiling of an offense that has undergone serious changes. None are more drastic than the switch at quarterback from Jake Plummer to Blake.
Seizing the Cardinals as his team has been Blake’s goal since signing 50 days ago. Leadership, as Blake has learned during his 11 years in the NFL, takes work.
“I don’t want to just see these guys once in a while, bump into them and say, ‘What’s going on?’ You can’t build anything like that,” Blake said. “(Guys) want to know when I leave, when I am coming back, when I am going to be here, because they care.
“Then, when we go and play football, and I have to step on their toes a little bit, the response is not going to be, ‘Hey, man, who are you talking to?’ The response will be, ‘I got you, let’s go.’ ”
Blake’s career is checkered a little more than he would have preferred. He has had stops with the Jets, Bengals, Saints and Ravens. While he has started in his last three stops, he has also had the role of backup in all four places.
The only time his team has made the playoffs, in New Orleans, Blake was the starter until he suffered a broken foot. He has never played in the postseason.
The idea that Blake is somehow snakebit, however, brings him a chuckle.
“I look at it differently,” Blake said. “I look at it as I have stood the test of time. I’m not supposed to be here. Think of all the first-rounders that were supposed to be here.”
He wasn’t happy in Baltimore, where he was expected to re-sign and be the starter. But the Ravens offered him a three-year contract worth only $4.8 million, Blake said, including $1.8 million in guaranteed money in the first year. It was a pittance for a NFL starting quarterback.
So Blake decided to shop himself, even though the Ravens promised to pull their offer if he did. In the open market, he was stuck in line behind Kordell Stewart, a player the Cardinals and Bears wanted.
Blake’s visit to the Valley portrayed a man who not only wanted to come to Arizona but thought he could captain a winning product. Stewart, lukewarm toward the situation during his visit, did not exude the same conviction.
“Jeff made it clear he wanted to play for the Arizona Cardinals,” said vice president of football operations Rod Graves, who handed Blake a three-year, $7.5 million deal, including $3.5 million in the first year.
Blake has an edge about him, a confidence bordering on cocky. He announced during his original visit that it didn’t matter who his receivers were in Arizona because he could make one of them a star.
Already, he was laying the groundwork to endear himself to his teammates.
“You like to hear that,” receiver Bryan Gilmore said. “When you have a player like that, he understands names are just names. I can’t do anything about my name. (The confidence) transfers to us, because we didn’t have to worry about proving (to him) we can play the game.”
Ask Blake about replacing Plummer, and he says it means nothing to him. But he is quick to point out that, unlike many quarterbacks, he has never spent a season as a starter where he has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. “That went on a long time around here,” Blake said, a reference to Plummer’s troubles with turnovers. Blake also wants to trump Plummer in another area — leadership off the field. That, Blake said, should mean more on the field.
“I came in to do what they paid me to do, and that is lead our team and win some games and get us in the playoffs,” Blake said. “I don’t care if I get to the Pro Bowl, I don’t care if they say Jeff Blake did it or not. As long as we get there.”
Arizona's new QB building rapport with teammates
By Darren Urban, Tribune
It was lunch — nothing fancy, just some barbecue from Honey Bears, with all the fixins’ — after an average offseason workout a few weeks ago.
But it was a gesture Jeff Blake thought was important; more than buying a meal for some of his new Arizona Cardinals’ teammates. It was about getting some of them to sit and talk even though it was months before training camp.
“He was saying he couldn’t believe it didn’t happen on a regular basis, lunch here with the guys,” running back Marcel Shipp said. “It was just work and leave. Jeff just wants the team to bond more and respond to each other.”
And most importantly, respond to him.
The Cardinals have their first mandatory workouts of the offseason starting today at their Tempe complex, the unveiling of an offense that has undergone serious changes. None are more drastic than the switch at quarterback from Jake Plummer to Blake.
Seizing the Cardinals as his team has been Blake’s goal since signing 50 days ago. Leadership, as Blake has learned during his 11 years in the NFL, takes work.
“I don’t want to just see these guys once in a while, bump into them and say, ‘What’s going on?’ You can’t build anything like that,” Blake said. “(Guys) want to know when I leave, when I am coming back, when I am going to be here, because they care.
“Then, when we go and play football, and I have to step on their toes a little bit, the response is not going to be, ‘Hey, man, who are you talking to?’ The response will be, ‘I got you, let’s go.’ ”
Blake’s career is checkered a little more than he would have preferred. He has had stops with the Jets, Bengals, Saints and Ravens. While he has started in his last three stops, he has also had the role of backup in all four places.
The only time his team has made the playoffs, in New Orleans, Blake was the starter until he suffered a broken foot. He has never played in the postseason.
The idea that Blake is somehow snakebit, however, brings him a chuckle.
“I look at it differently,” Blake said. “I look at it as I have stood the test of time. I’m not supposed to be here. Think of all the first-rounders that were supposed to be here.”
He wasn’t happy in Baltimore, where he was expected to re-sign and be the starter. But the Ravens offered him a three-year contract worth only $4.8 million, Blake said, including $1.8 million in guaranteed money in the first year. It was a pittance for a NFL starting quarterback.
So Blake decided to shop himself, even though the Ravens promised to pull their offer if he did. In the open market, he was stuck in line behind Kordell Stewart, a player the Cardinals and Bears wanted.
Blake’s visit to the Valley portrayed a man who not only wanted to come to Arizona but thought he could captain a winning product. Stewart, lukewarm toward the situation during his visit, did not exude the same conviction.
“Jeff made it clear he wanted to play for the Arizona Cardinals,” said vice president of football operations Rod Graves, who handed Blake a three-year, $7.5 million deal, including $3.5 million in the first year.
Blake has an edge about him, a confidence bordering on cocky. He announced during his original visit that it didn’t matter who his receivers were in Arizona because he could make one of them a star.
Already, he was laying the groundwork to endear himself to his teammates.
“You like to hear that,” receiver Bryan Gilmore said. “When you have a player like that, he understands names are just names. I can’t do anything about my name. (The confidence) transfers to us, because we didn’t have to worry about proving (to him) we can play the game.”
Ask Blake about replacing Plummer, and he says it means nothing to him. But he is quick to point out that, unlike many quarterbacks, he has never spent a season as a starter where he has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. “That went on a long time around here,” Blake said, a reference to Plummer’s troubles with turnovers. Blake also wants to trump Plummer in another area — leadership off the field. That, Blake said, should mean more on the field.
“I came in to do what they paid me to do, and that is lead our team and win some games and get us in the playoffs,” Blake said. “I don’t care if I get to the Pro Bowl, I don’t care if they say Jeff Blake did it or not. As long as we get there.”
