ESPN recently did a coaches poll that yielded some not-so-surprising results. Most would agree that Rodney Harrison is considered a dirty player and the coaches, in this case, agreed. ESPN polled all 32 NFL head coaches on four different subjects (smartest offensive player, smartest defensive player, owner with the best reputation and dirtiest player) and for what it's worth only 18 coaches voted for a 'dirtiest player.' The results though, even with a small sample size, is pretty clear with 11 of 18 votes going against Patriots' safety, Rodney Harrison. Other receiving votes included Roy Williams (2) and Antonio Pierce, Hines Ward, Kevin Mawae and Olin Kreutz (each receiving one vote), and one coach said that he could think of a dirty player. So how is this Cardinal-related?
The article also mentions that safety Adrian Wilson leads the entire NFL in personal fouls since 2001. He's been flagged a total of 17 times since then with Harrison and defensive end Will Smith coming in second with 14.
They also mentioned that Wilson leads the league in unnecessary roughness penalties since 2001 with 8. That immediately led to me pose this question to myself, have I ever watched Wilson play and though he was a 'dirty player?' For the life of me, I can't remember a play when I thought 'who that was dirty,' but my memory isn't the best in the world. The Baltimore game stands out in my recent memory, where a Wilson penalty set up the Ravens for the game winning field goal, but that was questionable at best and even the NFL.com recap mentions that.
So that finally brings me to the question: Adrian Wilson, dirty player or just an aggressive hard-hitting safety? On a discussion note, do the Cardinals have a 'dirty' player?