azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Former cornerback Roger Wehrli alumni captain of Sunday's game
By GREG GLADYSIEWSKI
Former Cardinals cornerback Roger Wehrli will also be inducted into the Cards Ring of Honor during Sunday's game against the Panthers.
Roger Wehrli remembers standing at the podium in Canton.
Behind him on that August evening were a legion of former NFL players already voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To his left were the other five inductees of the Class of 2007. And among the crowd of several thousand that day were his family and countless friends, all there to enjoy a hero’s honor as one of the finest players in the history of the National Football League.
“It was just amazing,” Wehrli said. “A fairy tale. … A dream come true.”
Sunday, Wehrli will serve as the Cardinals’ honorary Alumni Captain and carve out yet another place in franchise history as the 12th and newest member in the club’s Ring of Honor at University of Phoenix Stadium.
“You play your entire career and do the best you can, then let the body of work stand there for you,” Wehrli says. “To be included among the greatest names in Cardinal history and side-by-side with some of the finest men in NFL history as well—I’m both humbled and deeply honored.”
Wehrli’s journey began in New Point, a small town of just 300 in northwest Missouri. At nearby King City High School he enjoyed playing football, baseball, and basketball—though not necessarily in that order. He was an all-state selection in several sports, including football, but in the long term thought his best chance at a college scholarship would be as a basketball player.
Admittedly, football wasn’t his first love.
“Defense was something we did only when standing around waiting to get the ball back again,” he said. “I really enjoyed basketball more. Up until I took my shoulder pads off the final game of my senior year, I didn’t think I’d be putting them back on again in college.”
With little interest from any of the large Division I football programs at the time, Wehrli was prepared to play football and basketball at nearby Northwest Missouri State.
The following spring, however, he turned heads with an outstanding performance in the hurdles at the high school state track meet on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. He caught the eye of Mizzou defensive back assistant coach Clay Cooper, who then uncovered fuzzy eight-millimeter game film of Wehrli. Believing he had uncovered a diamond in the rough, Cooper suggested to Tigers’ head coach Dan Devine that the school’s final football scholarship be offered to the lanky hurdler.
“They offered me a scholarship very late in the year,” Wehrli remembers. “That was the first time I thought I would play college football.”
Wehrli became a starter in the defensive backfield his sophomore year at Missouri, and by his senior season earned all-America honors at defensive back and was among the top punt returners in the nation.
As the annual NFL Draft approached, Wehrli had little clue any of the pro teams—including the Cardinals—had him rated as one of the top players in college football. But the Cards weren’t about to let the hometown hero get away, and selected him in the first round of the 1969 draft as the 19th pick overall.
His arrival to the Cardinals’ training camp was delayed, however, while he and other college all-America players were in their own training camp for the annual College All-Star game. The matchup pitted a roster of the best college players against the defending NFL champions, which happened to be the New York Jets and their flashy quarterback, Joe Namath.
Though the Jets won the contest 26-24, Wehrli’s first interception as a pro was against Namath in that exhibition game. And in the Cardinals’ first preseason game, ironically against the Jets, Wehrli again picked off another of Namath’s passes in a 13-6 victory.
Two games, two interceptions against a future Hall of Fame quarterback. What could he possibly do for an encore?
For Roger Wehrli, the best was yet to come. And over the next 14 seasons, he would become the standard against which all cornerbacks would be measured.
Gaining a starting role as a rookie in 1969, Wehrli lined up in the same defensive backfield as Hall of Famer Larry Wilson for four years until Wilson’s retirement following the 1972 season.
“He was one of the best cornerbacks I ever saw,” Wilson said. “We played together the last four years of my career and I only wish I could have played longer. He was a true student of the game. Watching Roger on film was a lesson in textbook cornerback play.”
Armed with the confidence of solid fundamentals instilled in him during his days at Mizzou and the tutelage of Wilson, Wehrli intercepted three passes and led the club in punt returns, and just a year later in 1970, “Wehrli-Bird” collected six interceptions and gained the first of several all-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.
He had just scratched the surface of his talent, and credits much of the success he would enjoy over the next decade to Wilson.
“Larry was such a big influence on me when I first came into the league,” he admitted. “Watching how he practices, how he played, how he prepared every week—what it was like to be a professional football player. All you had to do was look at him and try to emulate anything he did because it was going to be the correct thing to do.”
After Wilson retired in 1972, a new era in Cardinal football began when Don Coryell was named head coach in 1973. Coryell’s wide-open offense featured quarterback Jim Hart, running back Terry Metcalf, wide receiver Mel Gray, and tight end Jackie Smith—all protected by an outstanding offensive line led by Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf, Conrad Dobler, and Tom Banks.
While the club’s prolific offense and penchant for last-second victories gained the moniker “Cardiac Cards,” it was the defense which kept the team in games, anchored by Wehrli’s play as one of the top cornerbacks in the game.
“We didn’t have a much-heralded defense, but we had just enough good, solid players,” Wehrli says. “We had a reliable defense which allowed us to stay in those games, keep the score close so we could make the big move in the fourth quarter.”
“During games, Roger was a warrior and a graceful sportsman as well,” Dierdorf said. “We were constantly amazed at his command of the defense, his reliability, and his unwavering toughness and determination.”
Those Cardinal teams of the mid-70s forged a three-year record of 31-11 from 1974-76 and were the dominant team of the much-heralded NFC East. Along with his defensive teammates, Wehrli gave opposing teams headaches trying to figure out how to score against the Cards. And Wehrli was able to maintain enough speed and savvy to play at such a high level in an era when the NFL showcased some of the all-time great quarterbacks—Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Fran Tarkenton, Sonny Jurgensen—and wide receivers—Bob Hayes, Charley Taylor, Paul Warfield, and Harold Carmichael.
With flawless technique and the uncanny ability to read a receiver’s route, several passers of that era simply stopped trying to challenge Wehrli and avoided his area of the field completely.
In particular, Wehrli seemed to have Staubach’s number and intercepted more of his passes—six—than any other quarterback.
“After a while, you just stopped challenging him,” Staubach told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after Wehrli’s selection to the Hall of Fame. “There was no point to it. He was the best cornerback I played against. The term ‘Shutdown Corner’ originated with Roger Wehrli.”
During the 1970s, Wehrli would intercept 32 passes, earn seven trips to the Pro Bowl, be named All-Pro five times, and be selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1970s. By the time he retired following the 1982 season, Wehrli’s 193 games ranked fourth in Cardinal history, his 40 interceptions second only to Wilson’s 52 thefts, and today he still shares the club record with 19 fumble recoveries.
Perhaps Keith Wortman, a Cardinal offensive lineman from 1976-81, summed it up best.
“Sometimes, the Jimmy Stewarts really do win,” Wortman said. “And Roger is George Bailey from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ The voters put George Bailey into the Hall of Fame.”
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1991
By GREG GLADYSIEWSKI
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Former Cardinals cornerback Roger Wehrli will also be inducted into the Cards Ring of Honor during Sunday's game against the Panthers.
Roger Wehrli remembers standing at the podium in Canton.
Behind him on that August evening were a legion of former NFL players already voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To his left were the other five inductees of the Class of 2007. And among the crowd of several thousand that day were his family and countless friends, all there to enjoy a hero’s honor as one of the finest players in the history of the National Football League.
“It was just amazing,” Wehrli said. “A fairy tale. … A dream come true.”
Sunday, Wehrli will serve as the Cardinals’ honorary Alumni Captain and carve out yet another place in franchise history as the 12th and newest member in the club’s Ring of Honor at University of Phoenix Stadium.
“You play your entire career and do the best you can, then let the body of work stand there for you,” Wehrli says. “To be included among the greatest names in Cardinal history and side-by-side with some of the finest men in NFL history as well—I’m both humbled and deeply honored.”
Wehrli’s journey began in New Point, a small town of just 300 in northwest Missouri. At nearby King City High School he enjoyed playing football, baseball, and basketball—though not necessarily in that order. He was an all-state selection in several sports, including football, but in the long term thought his best chance at a college scholarship would be as a basketball player.
Admittedly, football wasn’t his first love.
“Defense was something we did only when standing around waiting to get the ball back again,” he said. “I really enjoyed basketball more. Up until I took my shoulder pads off the final game of my senior year, I didn’t think I’d be putting them back on again in college.”
With little interest from any of the large Division I football programs at the time, Wehrli was prepared to play football and basketball at nearby Northwest Missouri State.
The following spring, however, he turned heads with an outstanding performance in the hurdles at the high school state track meet on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. He caught the eye of Mizzou defensive back assistant coach Clay Cooper, who then uncovered fuzzy eight-millimeter game film of Wehrli. Believing he had uncovered a diamond in the rough, Cooper suggested to Tigers’ head coach Dan Devine that the school’s final football scholarship be offered to the lanky hurdler.
“They offered me a scholarship very late in the year,” Wehrli remembers. “That was the first time I thought I would play college football.”
Wehrli became a starter in the defensive backfield his sophomore year at Missouri, and by his senior season earned all-America honors at defensive back and was among the top punt returners in the nation.
As the annual NFL Draft approached, Wehrli had little clue any of the pro teams—including the Cardinals—had him rated as one of the top players in college football. But the Cards weren’t about to let the hometown hero get away, and selected him in the first round of the 1969 draft as the 19th pick overall.
His arrival to the Cardinals’ training camp was delayed, however, while he and other college all-America players were in their own training camp for the annual College All-Star game. The matchup pitted a roster of the best college players against the defending NFL champions, which happened to be the New York Jets and their flashy quarterback, Joe Namath.
Though the Jets won the contest 26-24, Wehrli’s first interception as a pro was against Namath in that exhibition game. And in the Cardinals’ first preseason game, ironically against the Jets, Wehrli again picked off another of Namath’s passes in a 13-6 victory.
Two games, two interceptions against a future Hall of Fame quarterback. What could he possibly do for an encore?
For Roger Wehrli, the best was yet to come. And over the next 14 seasons, he would become the standard against which all cornerbacks would be measured.
Gaining a starting role as a rookie in 1969, Wehrli lined up in the same defensive backfield as Hall of Famer Larry Wilson for four years until Wilson’s retirement following the 1972 season.
“He was one of the best cornerbacks I ever saw,” Wilson said. “We played together the last four years of my career and I only wish I could have played longer. He was a true student of the game. Watching Roger on film was a lesson in textbook cornerback play.”
Armed with the confidence of solid fundamentals instilled in him during his days at Mizzou and the tutelage of Wilson, Wehrli intercepted three passes and led the club in punt returns, and just a year later in 1970, “Wehrli-Bird” collected six interceptions and gained the first of several all-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.
He had just scratched the surface of his talent, and credits much of the success he would enjoy over the next decade to Wilson.
“Larry was such a big influence on me when I first came into the league,” he admitted. “Watching how he practices, how he played, how he prepared every week—what it was like to be a professional football player. All you had to do was look at him and try to emulate anything he did because it was going to be the correct thing to do.”
After Wilson retired in 1972, a new era in Cardinal football began when Don Coryell was named head coach in 1973. Coryell’s wide-open offense featured quarterback Jim Hart, running back Terry Metcalf, wide receiver Mel Gray, and tight end Jackie Smith—all protected by an outstanding offensive line led by Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf, Conrad Dobler, and Tom Banks.
While the club’s prolific offense and penchant for last-second victories gained the moniker “Cardiac Cards,” it was the defense which kept the team in games, anchored by Wehrli’s play as one of the top cornerbacks in the game.
“We didn’t have a much-heralded defense, but we had just enough good, solid players,” Wehrli says. “We had a reliable defense which allowed us to stay in those games, keep the score close so we could make the big move in the fourth quarter.”
“During games, Roger was a warrior and a graceful sportsman as well,” Dierdorf said. “We were constantly amazed at his command of the defense, his reliability, and his unwavering toughness and determination.”
Those Cardinal teams of the mid-70s forged a three-year record of 31-11 from 1974-76 and were the dominant team of the much-heralded NFC East. Along with his defensive teammates, Wehrli gave opposing teams headaches trying to figure out how to score against the Cards. And Wehrli was able to maintain enough speed and savvy to play at such a high level in an era when the NFL showcased some of the all-time great quarterbacks—Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Fran Tarkenton, Sonny Jurgensen—and wide receivers—Bob Hayes, Charley Taylor, Paul Warfield, and Harold Carmichael.
With flawless technique and the uncanny ability to read a receiver’s route, several passers of that era simply stopped trying to challenge Wehrli and avoided his area of the field completely.
In particular, Wehrli seemed to have Staubach’s number and intercepted more of his passes—six—than any other quarterback.
“After a while, you just stopped challenging him,” Staubach told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after Wehrli’s selection to the Hall of Fame. “There was no point to it. He was the best cornerback I played against. The term ‘Shutdown Corner’ originated with Roger Wehrli.”
During the 1970s, Wehrli would intercept 32 passes, earn seven trips to the Pro Bowl, be named All-Pro five times, and be selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1970s. By the time he retired following the 1982 season, Wehrli’s 193 games ranked fourth in Cardinal history, his 40 interceptions second only to Wilson’s 52 thefts, and today he still shares the club record with 19 fumble recoveries.
Perhaps Keith Wortman, a Cardinal offensive lineman from 1976-81, summed it up best.
“Sometimes, the Jimmy Stewarts really do win,” Wortman said. “And Roger is George Bailey from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ The voters put George Bailey into the Hall of Fame.”
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1991
