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Ex-Cards look back on dog days
JIM BROCKMAN
Herald Staff Writer
Pittman, Rice and Jackson all paid their dues in Arizona and survived
TAMPA - Players don't leave Arizona.
They flee. They run from the Cardinals as fast as they can to save their NFL careers.
Three current Tampa Bay Buccaneers are among the Arizona refugees around the league. Defensive end Simeon Rice, safety Dexter Jackson and running back Michael Pittman all survived their Arizona stints.
None of them has anything good to say about their former team. The closest any of them came to saying something positive was Pittman stressing that he never had a problem with any of his coaches there.
It was also Pittman who made the most revealing remark about his old team without even realizing it. He likened it to a sentence rather than the four seasons he spent there.
"I did my time there," Pittman said after Wednesday's practice at One Buccaneer Place. "I do appreciate the fact that they drafted me. But it's not a franchise I would want to stay with. It's not the coaches. It's just the ownership (Bill Bidwill) and the way the team was run."
When told he actually compared playing football for Arizona with a jail term, Pittman said he didn't say that. Then he slipped and said it again.
Pittman couldn't help himself from saying it again. He also couldn't help himself from laughing after hearing himself say it again.
But being an Arizona Cardinal was never a laughing matter.
"It's a place I would never want to go back to," Pittman said. "Honestly, I would retire before I would go back to Arizona. It just seems like they don't want to build a championship there. It's all about making money."
Rice escaped Arizona after the 2000 season. His take on his time there was colorful to say the least.
"When I was out at the black hole in the armpit of the NFL . . ." Rice said.
That's really all you need to know.
Jackson was voted the MVP of Tampa Bay's victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. Following that, he signed a $12.5 million contract with the Cardinals.
Jackson was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2003, his first season in Arizona. This year, under first-year head coach Denny Green, Jackson was released with a back injury without playing a down.
That didn't surprise Pittman.
"That's the Cardinals," Pittman said. "That's just the way they are. I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible."
Jackson had several harsh comments about Arizona and Green after the Bucs re-signed him on Nov. 16. Since returning to Tampa, his view of the Cardinals has mellowed somewhat.
"No, I can't," Jackson said when asked if he still had animosity toward the organization. "That's done. That's spilled milk. Life goes on."
However . . .
"It would really be nice (to make some big plays), just to show them that they made a mistake," Jackson said.
Rice and Pittman were both Cardinals the last time they made it to the playoffs in 1998.
"The owner needs to step up and pay some players and get some key marquee players," Pittman said. "If you ask other players who played for that team, they'll say the same thing. They tender a guy (an offer) and then let him go to test the free agent market."
JIM BROCKMAN
Herald Staff Writer
Pittman, Rice and Jackson all paid their dues in Arizona and survived
TAMPA - Players don't leave Arizona.
They flee. They run from the Cardinals as fast as they can to save their NFL careers.
Three current Tampa Bay Buccaneers are among the Arizona refugees around the league. Defensive end Simeon Rice, safety Dexter Jackson and running back Michael Pittman all survived their Arizona stints.
None of them has anything good to say about their former team. The closest any of them came to saying something positive was Pittman stressing that he never had a problem with any of his coaches there.
It was also Pittman who made the most revealing remark about his old team without even realizing it. He likened it to a sentence rather than the four seasons he spent there.
"I did my time there," Pittman said after Wednesday's practice at One Buccaneer Place. "I do appreciate the fact that they drafted me. But it's not a franchise I would want to stay with. It's not the coaches. It's just the ownership (Bill Bidwill) and the way the team was run."
When told he actually compared playing football for Arizona with a jail term, Pittman said he didn't say that. Then he slipped and said it again.
Pittman couldn't help himself from saying it again. He also couldn't help himself from laughing after hearing himself say it again.
But being an Arizona Cardinal was never a laughing matter.
"It's a place I would never want to go back to," Pittman said. "Honestly, I would retire before I would go back to Arizona. It just seems like they don't want to build a championship there. It's all about making money."
Rice escaped Arizona after the 2000 season. His take on his time there was colorful to say the least.
"When I was out at the black hole in the armpit of the NFL . . ." Rice said.
That's really all you need to know.
Jackson was voted the MVP of Tampa Bay's victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. Following that, he signed a $12.5 million contract with the Cardinals.
Jackson was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2003, his first season in Arizona. This year, under first-year head coach Denny Green, Jackson was released with a back injury without playing a down.
That didn't surprise Pittman.
"That's the Cardinals," Pittman said. "That's just the way they are. I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible."
Jackson had several harsh comments about Arizona and Green after the Bucs re-signed him on Nov. 16. Since returning to Tampa, his view of the Cardinals has mellowed somewhat.
"No, I can't," Jackson said when asked if he still had animosity toward the organization. "That's done. That's spilled milk. Life goes on."
However . . .
"It would really be nice (to make some big plays), just to show them that they made a mistake," Jackson said.
Rice and Pittman were both Cardinals the last time they made it to the playoffs in 1998.
"The owner needs to step up and pay some players and get some key marquee players," Pittman said. "If you ask other players who played for that team, they'll say the same thing. They tender a guy (an offer) and then let him go to test the free agent market."
Thats not funny
