Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
2010 Jim Thorpe Winner
It seems entirely fitting that Patrick Peterson, a.k.a PP7, was this year's recipient of the Jim Thorpe award, which is given annually to the best defensive back in college football. Peterson was not only the best defensive back in the USA---he was also the best and most dynamic punt returner---who displayed a penchant for catching the ball cleanly, making a swift upward turn to make the first defender miss and bolting like a comet through, past and around the traffic toward the the endzone.
Jim Thorpe was the greatest athlete of his generation. He won Olympic Gold Medals in the pentathalon and the decathalon. He was a college football star. He was a pro football star. He also played professional baseball and basketball. The epitaph on his monument is a quote from Gustav V: "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."
The 2011 NFL Combine
Patrick Peterson was the show at this year's NFL Combine. At 6-2, 212 pounds, Peterson ran a blazing 4.34 40 yard dash---the fastest time of any defensive back or wide receiver (the vast majority of whom are 20 pounds lighter).
Peterson further displayed his extraordinary athleticism by registering a 10'6" measurement in the broad jump and a 38" measurement in the vertical jump.
But, most of all, when he was showcased in agility and flexibility drills, he left every scout's jaw agape. Peterson can turn on a dime---he can swivel his hips with tremendous fluidity and quickness while running backpedals at blazing speed.
Best of all, when the ball is in the air he can track it down like radar, get to it lickety-split, leap high into the air, hang suspended in mid air for more than a second or two, reach high into the air with both hands and pluck the ball squarely into his hands....and then he has the uncanny body control to land on his feet, redirect and blaze the ball toward the endzone.
With the #5 Pick in the 2011 NFL Draft the Arizona Cardinals Select: Patrick Peterson, Cornerback, LSU.
Had the draft taken place a week following the Combine, Peterson likely would have been every team's unanimous choice as their number one pick. If there ever was a time for a defensive back to become the first pick of the NFL Draft, this was it.
However, it was especially fortuitous for the Cardinals that the teams in front of them felt the urgency to address other needs. The Cardinals can look back on the Broncos' re-signing of CB Champ Bailey prior to the lockout as a blessing---that and the Broncos' decision to tab LB Von Miller at #2 instead of DE Marcell Dareus, whom the Bills quickly snatched up at #3. The Cardinals can also thank Ocho Cinquo and Terrell Owens for wearing out their welcome in Cincinnati which made it imperative for the Bengals to hop on WR A.J. Green at #4.
So there sat Peterson at #5 for the Cardinals. The phones were ringing. The Lions were so enamored with Peterson that they offered their 1st, 2nd and 4th round picks for a chance to draft him. The Cardinals stayed put and made the pick---which may turn out to be the most electric pick they have made in the first round in a long, long time.
Triple Threat
Thirty-three years ago the Cardinals drafted a defensive back from Henderson State University in Arkansas. His name?
Roy Green.
Roy Green was blessed with uncanny atheltic talent and versatility...and the Cardinals knew exactly what to do with his talent. Perhaps the most electric and dynamic kickoff return in the history of the franchise occurred when Roy Green elected to return a kickoff from six yards deep in the end zone. The explosion of red and white up the field on that blazing 106 yard TD return happened in such a hurry---it left Cardinal fans overwhelmed with joy and awe.
Roy Green played defensive back...but the coaches thought he could be a real throwback and play both sides of the ball. They worked him into their offense as a wide receiver and a mere two years into his career, in 1981, Green caught 33 passes for 708 yards at an eye-popping rate of 21.5 yards per catch.
Green became so dynamic and revered that John Madden named him to his All Madden Team---and---get this---not as one of his All Madden DBs...nor as one of his All Madden WRs---but as Madden himself put it: as his "best player."
Had Madden's video game been as elaborate and popular as it is today during Roy Green's time, one would imagine that the 1985 cover would have been graced by a bolt-of-lightning image of the Cardinals' Roy Green.
With this in mind, it may seem very possible and even likely that PP7 will grace the cover of Madden Football at some point in the near future....because it is entirely likely that PP7 will become the "best player" of his generation.
The Cardinals will know exactly what to do with him. Peterson will become a dynamic cog in the Cardinals' defense...playing zone and press corner, dogging WRs out of the slot and blitzing from the edge in a flash to the QB. He will be playing for a defensive coordinator in Ray Horton who was a pro CB himself---and now is a veteran coach who loves to play aggressively. PP7's fit with Horton is automatic.
In the return game, Peterson will be turned loose---and he will be playing for a special team's coach in Kevin Spencer who knows as well as any STs coach in the NFL how to open up holes for his return men.
And on offense, Peterson will be featured on a number of plays and packages by a head coach in Ken Whisenunt who has been trying for the past few years to utilize some of his more athletic defensive backs in designated roles on offense.
Where Antrel Rolle wasn't fast and explosive enough to break loose on a quick hitch or WR screen...and where Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie lacked the ball awareness and sure hands to be a legitmate vertical threat...PP7 has it all covered. With his 4.3 speed, explosive first step with the ball in his hands, his ability to sight adjust to a football in mid-air and his natural talent for catching the football...he will add the speed dimension to the Cardinals' offense that we haven't seen since, well, Roy Green.
Imagine this:
PP7 may be the first player since Neon Deion to take an intercpetion, a punt and a pass reception to the house in one year. Who knows...maybe he will trump Deion by throwing for one as well!
Bright Path
It seems extremely fitting that the last time Jim Thorpe---the greatest athlete in the world---walked off a football field, he walked off as a Cardinal. The year was 1928. The team was the Chicago Cardinals.
Jim Thorpe, as most of you know, was half American Indian. His last name Thorpe was a derivation of the Sac and Fox Tribe's term "Wa-Tho-Huck" which in translation means "Bright Path."
Patrick Peterson---the 2010 Jim Thorpe Award Winner---donned a brilliant red tie and red hankerchief on Draft Day. It was as if he knew what his destiny was. And when he was asked what it means to be an Arizona Cardinal he said, "I want to help the Cardinals get back to the Super Bowl and this time win it."
Patrick Peterson is precisely the Bright Path the Cardinals need---for he is a one-way ticket Bright Path to the endzone whenever he steps onto the field.
Therefore, let the Bright Path Era in Arizona commence!
As William Butler Yeats would say, "one cannot begin it too soon."
It seems entirely fitting that Patrick Peterson, a.k.a PP7, was this year's recipient of the Jim Thorpe award, which is given annually to the best defensive back in college football. Peterson was not only the best defensive back in the USA---he was also the best and most dynamic punt returner---who displayed a penchant for catching the ball cleanly, making a swift upward turn to make the first defender miss and bolting like a comet through, past and around the traffic toward the the endzone.
Jim Thorpe was the greatest athlete of his generation. He won Olympic Gold Medals in the pentathalon and the decathalon. He was a college football star. He was a pro football star. He also played professional baseball and basketball. The epitaph on his monument is a quote from Gustav V: "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."
The 2011 NFL Combine
Patrick Peterson was the show at this year's NFL Combine. At 6-2, 212 pounds, Peterson ran a blazing 4.34 40 yard dash---the fastest time of any defensive back or wide receiver (the vast majority of whom are 20 pounds lighter).
Peterson further displayed his extraordinary athleticism by registering a 10'6" measurement in the broad jump and a 38" measurement in the vertical jump.
But, most of all, when he was showcased in agility and flexibility drills, he left every scout's jaw agape. Peterson can turn on a dime---he can swivel his hips with tremendous fluidity and quickness while running backpedals at blazing speed.
Best of all, when the ball is in the air he can track it down like radar, get to it lickety-split, leap high into the air, hang suspended in mid air for more than a second or two, reach high into the air with both hands and pluck the ball squarely into his hands....and then he has the uncanny body control to land on his feet, redirect and blaze the ball toward the endzone.
With the #5 Pick in the 2011 NFL Draft the Arizona Cardinals Select: Patrick Peterson, Cornerback, LSU.
Had the draft taken place a week following the Combine, Peterson likely would have been every team's unanimous choice as their number one pick. If there ever was a time for a defensive back to become the first pick of the NFL Draft, this was it.
However, it was especially fortuitous for the Cardinals that the teams in front of them felt the urgency to address other needs. The Cardinals can look back on the Broncos' re-signing of CB Champ Bailey prior to the lockout as a blessing---that and the Broncos' decision to tab LB Von Miller at #2 instead of DE Marcell Dareus, whom the Bills quickly snatched up at #3. The Cardinals can also thank Ocho Cinquo and Terrell Owens for wearing out their welcome in Cincinnati which made it imperative for the Bengals to hop on WR A.J. Green at #4.
So there sat Peterson at #5 for the Cardinals. The phones were ringing. The Lions were so enamored with Peterson that they offered their 1st, 2nd and 4th round picks for a chance to draft him. The Cardinals stayed put and made the pick---which may turn out to be the most electric pick they have made in the first round in a long, long time.
Triple Threat
Thirty-three years ago the Cardinals drafted a defensive back from Henderson State University in Arkansas. His name?
Roy Green.
Roy Green was blessed with uncanny atheltic talent and versatility...and the Cardinals knew exactly what to do with his talent. Perhaps the most electric and dynamic kickoff return in the history of the franchise occurred when Roy Green elected to return a kickoff from six yards deep in the end zone. The explosion of red and white up the field on that blazing 106 yard TD return happened in such a hurry---it left Cardinal fans overwhelmed with joy and awe.
Roy Green played defensive back...but the coaches thought he could be a real throwback and play both sides of the ball. They worked him into their offense as a wide receiver and a mere two years into his career, in 1981, Green caught 33 passes for 708 yards at an eye-popping rate of 21.5 yards per catch.
Green became so dynamic and revered that John Madden named him to his All Madden Team---and---get this---not as one of his All Madden DBs...nor as one of his All Madden WRs---but as Madden himself put it: as his "best player."
Had Madden's video game been as elaborate and popular as it is today during Roy Green's time, one would imagine that the 1985 cover would have been graced by a bolt-of-lightning image of the Cardinals' Roy Green.
With this in mind, it may seem very possible and even likely that PP7 will grace the cover of Madden Football at some point in the near future....because it is entirely likely that PP7 will become the "best player" of his generation.
The Cardinals will know exactly what to do with him. Peterson will become a dynamic cog in the Cardinals' defense...playing zone and press corner, dogging WRs out of the slot and blitzing from the edge in a flash to the QB. He will be playing for a defensive coordinator in Ray Horton who was a pro CB himself---and now is a veteran coach who loves to play aggressively. PP7's fit with Horton is automatic.
In the return game, Peterson will be turned loose---and he will be playing for a special team's coach in Kevin Spencer who knows as well as any STs coach in the NFL how to open up holes for his return men.
And on offense, Peterson will be featured on a number of plays and packages by a head coach in Ken Whisenunt who has been trying for the past few years to utilize some of his more athletic defensive backs in designated roles on offense.
Where Antrel Rolle wasn't fast and explosive enough to break loose on a quick hitch or WR screen...and where Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie lacked the ball awareness and sure hands to be a legitmate vertical threat...PP7 has it all covered. With his 4.3 speed, explosive first step with the ball in his hands, his ability to sight adjust to a football in mid-air and his natural talent for catching the football...he will add the speed dimension to the Cardinals' offense that we haven't seen since, well, Roy Green.
Imagine this:
PP7 may be the first player since Neon Deion to take an intercpetion, a punt and a pass reception to the house in one year. Who knows...maybe he will trump Deion by throwing for one as well!
Bright Path
It seems extremely fitting that the last time Jim Thorpe---the greatest athlete in the world---walked off a football field, he walked off as a Cardinal. The year was 1928. The team was the Chicago Cardinals.
Jim Thorpe, as most of you know, was half American Indian. His last name Thorpe was a derivation of the Sac and Fox Tribe's term "Wa-Tho-Huck" which in translation means "Bright Path."
Patrick Peterson---the 2010 Jim Thorpe Award Winner---donned a brilliant red tie and red hankerchief on Draft Day. It was as if he knew what his destiny was. And when he was asked what it means to be an Arizona Cardinal he said, "I want to help the Cardinals get back to the Super Bowl and this time win it."
Patrick Peterson is precisely the Bright Path the Cardinals need---for he is a one-way ticket Bright Path to the endzone whenever he steps onto the field.
Therefore, let the Bright Path Era in Arizona commence!
As William Butler Yeats would say, "one cannot begin it too soon."
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Very similar team to the 2008 Cards
