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No. 3 On My Favorite/Least Favorite Arizona Cardinals Player List

The end of this recent series is almost over. Today I share with you my third favorite and least favorite Arizona Cardinals players. One is a current player I have already said is one of my absolute players. The other is a current player but a former Cardinals player. 

The player who is number three on my favorite Cardinals list is receiver Steve Breaston and the guy number three on my least favorite list is Leonard Pope.

Star-divide

I'm pretty sure my admiration of Breaston is well documented. He is one of the players I would most like to meet. 

It would be hard not to like him, in my opinion. As a late round pick who was expected to be nothing more than a special teams player and return specialist, he has proven to be a reliable, tough receiver. He's the type of guy that you have to root for. He is very driven and has performed at high levels, yet people still believe that it is more about Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin why he has had success. 

Then there is of course the poetry and the famous lockout video poem. He embodies every trait of a player that I admire.

Leonard Pope is a different story. His being on my bad list is not about the way he has acted off the field, but rather about the disappointment of his performance on the field. It turns out that he is a great guy, as he recently saved a kid from drowning.

However, I dislike him because of the disappointment he caused me. I was very excited in his talent when he was drafted. I loved the idea of a big, tall pass-catching tight end. However, his penalties drove me nuts. False start! The weird thing is that when I look at his stats he only had three penalties in 2008. Who knew?

I guess it comes down to how much I expected of him and had hoped he would turn into an elite player at his position. He's not a bad guy, he didn't do anything heinous. He just didn't do much when I hoped for so much more. That's why he ended up so high on this list.

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I think the media built up Pope when he got drafted... Cause I had big expectations for him as well.

I thought after his 2nd season when he caught 5 touchdowns and had just over 200 yards he’d be a solid TE… Guess I was wrong.

by Pyromnc on Jul 15, 2011 3:16 PM MDT reply actions  

+1

I had big expectations for a big TE who could be a secret weapon in the endzone. Instead we had a big waste of space. His blocking was not very spectacular, and he dropped a lot of passes.

Good pick at #3 for Fav and least Fav.

Section 103, Row 19

by CardsFan08 on Jul 15, 2011 5:53 PM MDT up reply actions  

Pope reminded me of that TE the raiders raved about for years

Also, Dudley I think. Both freaks athletically but never translated to the field.

by Punisher3190 on Jul 16, 2011 10:21 AM MDT via mobile reply actions  

Oh man I thought Pope was poised for a breakout season in 2008

His best games where towards the end of 2007, before yet another injury, but I really thought he’d become a legit starting tight with defenses having to focus on our stellar WRs.

by Steamin' Beamin' on Jul 16, 2011 10:10 PM MDT reply actions  

Pope

I had such high hopes for someone who was nearly, maybe we should have tried him at DE, oh well he’s Haley’s problem now.

by Cardsfan928 on Jul 17, 2011 12:18 AM MDT reply actions  

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