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Cardinals All-Time Team: Cornerbacks

It's been a while and we need to complete our All Cardinals list as soon as possible. Whats better then voting for the Cardinals all time cornerbacks list over the weekend? As you can see here, we started with the quarterbacks back in March. In case you've never noticed, the results so far are on the left side of the home page.  With training camp already starting and the preseason just weeks away, we still have the corners, safeties, linebackers and coaches left. That brings us to the Cornerbacks. As you can see, the Cardinals have had some noteworthy defenders in the past. Here are the candidates.

 

 

Roger Wehrli - '69-'82

  • 1st Rd Pick
  • 7 Pro Bowls
  • Hall of Fame2_medium
  • 193 games, 66 Starts
  • 40 INTs, 309 yards, 2 TDs

This may be a lock at cornerback as the Hall of Fame corner played his entire career as a Cardinal. Wehrli was drafted in the 1st round of the 1969 draft after he was an All American in college and ran a 4.5 40 yard dash heading into the draft. Wehrli immediately made an impact in his first season as he became an All Rookie choice. Wehrli was regarded as one of the first true speed cornerbacks. Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach called Wehrli the best cornerback he'd ever played against and claimed the term "Shutdown Corner", originated from Wehrli. Roger went on the make 7 pro bowls during his career with the Cardinals, along with 5, 1st team All Pros. With 40 interceptions during his career, he was later inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Cardinals Ring of Honor.  

 

Dick Night Train Lane - '54-'59

    Lane_nighttrain_fa_medium
  • Hall of Fame
  • 4 Pro Bowls, 1 1st team All Pro
  • 68 Games
  • 30 INTs, 628 yards and 2 TDs

Another Hall of Famer that played in the back field for the Cardinals was Dick "Night Train" Lane. Lane was originally undrafted and started his career with the Rams. He began at defensive end, but once the switch was made to corner, it was all over. Lane became one of the hardest hitting cornerbacks for that time, and was also a notable ball hawk. He set a record that still stands to this day, with 14 interceptions in his rookie season. Lane played with the Cardinals from '54 -'59, and recorded 30 interceptions while he was with the team. He was mostly noted for his hard hits, and preferred tackling by the arm and neck. He was later inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974, and will be remembered as one of the greatest football players of All-time.

  

Aeneas Williams - '91-'00

    Aeneasinside_medium
  • 159/160 Games
  • 8 Pro Bowls
  • 46 INTs, 653 Yards 6 TDs and 498 Tackles

Williams is one of the greatest shutdown corners to play the game, let alone for the Cardinals. He was also one of the few bright spots for the Cardinals of the 90's. He jump started his career in his rookie season when he tied for the league lead for most interceptions that year. He went on to  go to 6 straight pro bowls for the Cardinals, and 8 in his career. He was also selected to the 1st team all pro team 4 times. Williams was also one of the key parts of that 1998 team that won in the playoffs, ending a drought of not winning their in over 50 years. Williams intercepted 2 passes that game and 1 in the loss to the Vikings after that. Williams was a great cornerback for his era and even though he spent the majority of his career on bad teams, he will always be remembered as one of the best cornerbacks all time.

 

Lindon Crow - '55 - '57

  • 74590201_medium 36 Games
  • 15 INTS
  • 2 Pro Bowls

The sleeper of the list, and honestly the candidate that's here to fill in the list, is Lindon Crow. Crow was born in Denison, Texas, and was drafted out of the 2nd round in the 1955 draft. He was a good size cornerback for his time standing 6'1, 195 pounds. Although he only played 3 seasons with the Cardinals, he piled up 15 interceptions, and led in the league in 1956 with 11. During his time with the Cardinals, he also made the pro bowl 2 out of the 3 years. Crow went on to play for seven more years for the Giants and the Rams before he retired.

 

That's it for the cornerbacks. Only the top two will be named to the All Cardinal team, leaving a very deserving Cardinal off of the list. So who ya got?

Poll
Who is the Cardinals All time Cornerback?
Roger Wehrli
109 votes
Night Train Lane
37 votes
Aeneas Williams
258 votes
Lindon Crow
1 votes

405 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 4 comments |

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it looks to me as though it’s between dick night-train lane and aeneas…will be interesting to see how that pans out…

safeties are obviously going to be the two wilsons (larry and adrian) who conveniently play free and strong respectively

by beanbaglovers on Aug 1, 2009 6:15 AM MDT reply actions   0 recs

Wehrli

How does a 7 time pro-bowl, Hall of Fame Cornerback manage to only start in 66 of his 193 games played?

Section 135, Row 35

by AJ BirdWatcher on Aug 1, 2009 11:21 AM MDT reply actions   0 recs

Ah, can you say LARRY WILSON???

Yes I know that Wilson STARTED out as a corner and switched to SAFETY. The guy was great. I remember watching him playing the Redskins with TWO BROKEN HANDS IN CASTS. Tackling,batting down passes and hand checking receivers as they came off the line on their routes. Butkus like toughness,and he could lay a lick on you too. Larry Wilson was one of the best. Jerry Kramer of the Lombardi era Packers called Wilson "The finest player in the N.F.L. ". I guess that’s why he’s in the hall of fame.

by Wyoraider on Aug 2, 2009 1:09 PM MDT reply actions   0 recs

Great points and Welcome to RotB.

Life's too short. Be a fan. Magic, Cards,Rays and "the U"! What a winning combo.

by hevchv on Aug 3, 2009 4:02 PM MDT up reply actions   0 recs

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