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Is current head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, the All Time Cardinals head coach?

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The final segment of the All-Cardinal team is today and I have to say, I'm relieved it's over. Searching and searching for players can be a bit strenuous at times. However, it does give you some satisfaction researching Cardinal history. It took all of the off season and the lone bye week, but we're finally on to the last segment and the last piece of the Cardinals All-Time team - The head coach.

Ken Whisenhunt - '07 - Present

• 18-17 Record
• 3-1 in playoffs
• 1 NFC Championship, 1 SB appearance

The man, the myth, the legend - Ken Whisenhunt. In all seriousness, Whisenhunt was the first Cardinals head coach to lead his team to the Super Bowl, and break many more records all in two years as the head coach. He's brought a winning attitude to the desert, something the last six head coaches have failed to do. The team and the fans believe that they are winners, and that they will contend every year. He's good with the players, and respects the fans(After the playoff wins, he ran around both the Panthers stadium, and University of Phoenix stadium shaking every fans hand) Arizona fans have been waiting for this for the last 20 years, and we now have a coach that can deliver a winning product. Whisenhunt, or the Whiz, should expect to see a long term contract in the near future, and will possibly cement himself in Cardinals history as the greatest coach of all time.

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Since we are post-bye week, we're attempting to finish the All-Cardinal team, and we started over the weekend with the middle linebackers, and you can see the rest of the All-Cardinal team on the left pane of the home page. We are also approaching the Cardinals next opponent, the Houston Texans, so we must finish this week. Not to worry, as we only have the head coach after this. So to continue on, we move on to the outside linebackers - a group that has talented nominees, starting with Ken Harvey.

Ken Harvey - '88 - '93

• 47.5 Sacks, 2 FF 
  
• 437 Tackles
• 90 Games played, 64 Started

Ken Harvey was undoubtedly one of the best outside linebackers for the Arizona Cardinals, let alone the NFL. Harvey played the first 6 years of his career with the Cardinals, being used primarily as a pass rusher. In his six years in the desert, he sacked quarterbacks 47.5 times, which ranks 4th all time for the Cardinals. Harvey was also a consistent linebacker for the Cardinals, playing in 90 games over his career with the team. Unfortunately, Harvey may always be remembered as a Redskin, the place in which he played the remainder of his career. He ended with 4 pro bowls and 89 sacks, an impressive number for an outside linebacker.

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Seeing as it's the bye week and nothing new will break until later in the week when we prepare for the Texans, I'd figure we'd get back, and finish, a segment that started in the off season. We began working on the all Cardinals team and nearly finished, and only have the linebackers and head coach to vote for. So here is your list of nominees for the middle linebackers:

Ronald McKinnon - '96 - '04

• 119 Starts
• 12 Sacks, 12 FF/7 FR
• 10 INTs, 89 Yards, 1 TD
• 701 Tackles

McKinnon was originally an undrafted free agent pick up by the Arizona Cardinals in 1995. He may have been one of the best undrafted rookies to sign with the Cardinals in their history, as he was very productive with his time on the team. In the 9 years with the Cardinals, he piled up 701 tackles, which averages to 77.8 per season. McKinnon was one of the more dependable players on defense, evidence being his 119 starts. McKinnon was a leader of the defense that you could rely on, with his solid tackling, and ability to both pressure the quarterback or drop back in coverage. He remained at his position until current starter, Karlos Dansby was drafted in 2004. After he left the Cardinals, he played one season in New Orleans, and hasn't played since. Today, he's actually listed as a free agent, and is able to sign with a team.

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In our last segment of the All-Cardinal team, we ended with the cornerbacks. We're now up to safeties, and the decision seems to be made already. I wanted to keep the open polls going to select the entire team, but I think everybody will agree that these two are locks at their positions. The two Wilsons, Adrian and Larry, beat out any other nominee I could think of by a long shot. One's already in the Hall of fame, and the other has cemented himself as a CFL(Cardinal For Life). Here are the starting safeties for ROTB's All-Cardinals team:

Adrian Wilson - '01 - '08

•  18.5 sacks
• 18 INTs, 433 Yards, 2 TDs
• 59 PD
• 13 FF, 495 Tackles
• 118 games, 2 Pro Bowls
• 12 taken before,

Wilson was originally drafted in the 3rd round of the 2001 draft. Unbelievable, 13 other defensive backs were taken before Wilson that year in the draft. A-dub's always been a force on the defense, and as we all know, the D just isn't the same if he's not on the field. Whether it be a pick or a big sack, he's generally around the ball carrier making big plays. His recent 5 year deal will keep him as a Cardinal till he's 35, which is generally the age of retirement. He's currently in the prime of his career and coming off another pro bowl year. He's also 13th overall for career sacks, but 1st for a defensive back for the Cardinals franchise. He's also a member of the 18/18 club with 18 sacks and 18 interceptions. Wilson has said he wants to reach the 30/30 club before he retires which is certainly possible. One things for sure, Wilson is currently the longest tenured Cardinal and it seems he will finish his entire career as one.

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Immediately it will be apparent that the All-Time Defensive Ends list is biased to recent franchise history and this is due primarily to one simple fact:  quarterback takedowns, aka sacks, didn't become an official NFL statistic until 1982.  As Hall of Fame DE Deacon Jones succinctly stated, "Since when does ‘all-time’ begin in 1982?", and for a franchise as old as the league this makes our list a bit of an oxymoron.  Sacks will forever be the scale that defensive ends will be measured by and why some deserving names may be missing.  As always, if there is an omission, please vote "Honorable Mention" and pitch your case as these articles are not only to help pass the off-season away but an opportunity to learn about the rich history of the Cardinals franchise. Before we move on, we should note that Tom Banks won the all-time center position on the offensive line.

Freddie Joe Nunn DE/OLB ('85-'93) 

• 66.5 Sacks
• Career Sack Leader for Cardinals
• 1 All-Conf 2nd Team
• 11FR, 439 tackles

Originally drafted as an outside linebacker, Nunn turned into a sack master when he was moved to defensive end, racking up 11 and 14 sacks in '87 and '88 respectively.  A solid edge rusher throughout his career, Nunn averaged over seven sacks a season during his nine years with the Cardinals and is the career leader for sacks with 66.5. He could undoubtedly be one of the more underrated defensive ends in NFL history as never made it to an All-Pro team or a Pro Bowl.

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Before we get to the next position, I think it's safe to say that Larry Centers won the full back spot on our all-Cardinal team. Many thanks to all that voted for him. The next position up is offensive lineman. The Cardinals have had some great lineman in the past, but not so many recently. And maybe not so much to do a valid pole. So the locks so far on the team start with the obvious, Dan Dierdorf. He will be named the as the 1st starting tackle. We also felt that Conrad Dobler should be named as one of starting guards. Ernie McMillan gets the other tackle spot, along with Ken Gray getting the other guard. The center position could either go to Tom Banks or Bob DeMarco. So what we've decided to do here is make Dierdorf, Dobler, McMillin, and Gray as locks for the O-line, and the center position will be up for grabs.

Dan Dierdorf T ('71-'83) - 6-time Pro Bowler, 6-time 1st team All Pro, added to 70's All Decade team, and Hall of Famer.

Deirdorf was a second round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1971. He started his career at left tackle and guard before solidifying the right tackle position for the next 8 years. He spent a total of 13 seasons as part of the St. Louis Cardinals and played in 160 games. For the 1976 and 1977 seasons, Dierdorf manned a streak in which he didn't allow any sacks, and was part of an offensive line that only gave up 8 sacks in 1975 (which was the record at the time). Deirdorf went on to play center towards the end of his illustrious career. He will be remembered as possibly the greatest Cardinals offensive lineman of all time and that's why he's in the Hall of Fame. 

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Before we move onto other positions, congrats to Ottis Anderson for taking a comanding lead for the All-time running backs. He and Charlie Trippi will be added as the running backs on the All-Cardinal team. In the process of presenting the Cardinals' All-time Running Backs (think "halfback") a number of great players were believed to be errors of omission for not being included in that article.  Those players would find their way to the RotB All-Cardinal Team: Fullbacks vote.  With the decline of terms such as "tailback" and "halfback" and fullbacks becoming little more than blockers it's easy to forget that fullbacks once had a prominent part of a football team's offensive schemes.  Do the names Larry Csonka, Franco Harris, and Jim Brown ring a bell?  Fullbacks, all of them and the Cardinals have some great fullbacks of their own, many from those "old-school" days and even from more recent Cardinals history.

Ernie Nevers   Five-time NFL All-Pro, 26 Rushing TD, 3 FG, 34 XPM, Hall of Fame '63 (NFL records from that era are fragmented and his total yards with the Cardinals isn't known)

Ernie Nevers has been described by some as the greatest football athlete ever.  In fact, his college coach (none other than "Pop" Warner at Stanford University) claims that he was better than Jim Thorpe as he "had all of Thorpe's talent but tried harder".  Nevers was a multi-sport star, playing professional basketball and baseball (gave up two of Babe Ruth's 60 homeruns during the 1927 season) before the Duluth Eskimos lured him to the NFL with a then record $15,000 annual salary.  He was the epitome of "ironman" missing all of 27 minutes of the Eskimos' 1926 season, a season that included 29 games, 28 of which were on the road.  Nevers joined the Chicago Cardinals in 1929 and still holds the NFL record for most points scored in a game with 40 points against the Chicago Bears that first season (six touchdowns and four extra points), a record that has lasted 80 years and will likely never be broken.  Nevers played fullback and was the headcoach in his final two years with Chicago before wear and tear finally caught up with him.  He may have played only five years in the league but his talent was so amazing he had no problem entering the Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1963.

Ollie Matson  3331 yards on 761 carries (4.4 yards/carry), 24 TD; 2150 yards on 160 receptions, 16 TD; 6 kick return TD, 3 punt return TD,  8459 all purpose yards; 6 Pro-Bowls, 5 NFL All-Team, Hall of Fame '72.

Ollie Matson was the lone bright spot for the 1950's Chicago Cardinals (28-58-3 
during his tenure with one winning season in '56).  Originally drafted as a fullback and earning Rookie of the Year honours in 1952 in that capacity (had two INTs on defense too!), Matson was better known as playing as a left-winger (halfback) in the T-formation.  Matson was also a beast with the return game, averaging 28.5 yards on kick-offs and 10.9 yards on punt returns.  The former #1 overall pick was traded to the Rams for nine players after the '58 season (Bidwell Curse:  '59 team finished a half-game worse at 2-10 then moved to St. Louis) and played for eight more seasons. 

Jim Otis 3,863 yards on 1,011 carries (3.8 yards/carry),19 TD; 268 yards on 45 receptions, 1 TD; Pro-Bowl '75 (1,076 rshing yards that season)

Jim Otis started his career with the Saints and Chiefs before finding a home in St. 
Louis.  Up to this point he was considered a "bust" and was expected to little more than support for Donny Anderson and Terry Metcalf.  Instead, Otis lead the Cardinals in rushing in perhaps their second best regular season peformance of 11-3 while helping Metcalf to 816 yards.  Otis continued to be a solid fullback for the Cardinals through 1978, gaining 664 yards in his last season before Wayne Morris took over. 

Larry Centers - 1,736 yards on 517 carries (3.4 yards/carry), 10 TD; 4,539 yards on 535 receptions (8.5 yards/catch), 19 TD; Two-time Pro Bowl.

Larry Centers was the face of the franchise, at least on offense, of the Cardinals in the '90's as the team attempted to find success in the Valley of the Sun.  Centers wasn't a threat to run the ball but was a major weapon on third downs when the pressure came and the QB had to dump it off.  Centers kept the chains moving and kept the fans cheering for a score, part of his allure to Arizona fans over the years.  He had back-to-back 1,000 yards from scrimmage years in '95 and '96 (Pro Bowl years) with career highs in receiving yards (962 yards in '95) and rushing (425 yards in '96).  Centers finally tasted success with the Plummer-led '98 team but was one of many lost in the '99 roster purge.  After stops in Washington and Buffalo, Centers earned a championship ring with the New England Patriots in '03.

Honorable Mentions: Marshall Goldberg ('39-'48), 2,419 total scrimmage yards (tsy), 16 TD; Earl Ferrell ('82-'89) 4,578 tsy, 32 TD; Wayne Morris ('76-'83) 4,545 tsy, 42 TD total; Pat Harder ('46-'50) 2,881 tsy, 38 TD, Pro-Bowl 1950.

Two new members of the All-Cardinal team have been added in receivers, Larry Fitzgerald, and Roy Green. They took a commanding lead and only Anquan Boldin came close. Moving on from wide receivers, brings us to tight ends. When I started the All-Cardinal team, I wanted it to be a team created by ROTB members. I was considering making the tight end position into a vote, but I realized that there really wouldn't be a point. The Cardinals had one of the greatest tight ends in history during their time in St. Louis and there's never been anyone to come close since. That man is Jackie Smith. Smith was a Cardinal for his entire career until he played in Dallas for his final season. Smith played 15 seasons with the Cardinals and was the best tight end in their history. He was a dominant threat as a receiver, a punishing run blocker, had a great work ethic, and ran his routes and yards after the catch like no other. He was one of the most dependable players on the team while playing in 121 straight games and 198 overall. He was a dependable receiver as well, because he put together a run of 45 games with at least 1 catch. He was your prototypical hard-nosed tight end. One day the Cardinals may have a tight end who can compare to Jackie, but for now, he's the top-dog.

• 480 Catches
• 7918 Yards
• 40 Touchdowns
• 16.5 AVG
• 327 Rush Yards 3 TDs
• 5x Pro Bowler
• Hall of Famer

There's no denying that he is the greatest tight end in Arizona Cardinals history. He doesn't need a popular vote from ROTB and will be the tight end on the All-Cardinal team. Is there anybody you think should be a tight end on the All-Cardinal team? Leonard Pope? We'll move on to the running backs later this week.