The All-Time Arizona Cardinals Team Lineup: Fullback

ICYMI:

I wanted to try a new exercise where the fans could assemble the all-time team for the Arizona Cardinals in the days leading up to a much anticipated training camp.

You take ONE game on a neutral field, pick the best player and go position by position, with Cards fans voting to assemble the greatest game-day roster of Arizona Cardinals in franchise history, period.

Again: Here’s a few of the rules and guidelines

-All players must have played for the Arizona Cardinals

-Players must be remembered as Cardinals foremost, or for a majority of their career (aka saying “Boomer Esiason is the greatest Cardinal quarterback ever” because he was a great QB doesn’t count)

-No impossible offensive alignments (ex. putting four tight ends on the field or finding 6 wide receivers)

-Talent wins over longevity (the goal is to find the team you’d take to win in a game) but that doesn’t mean players who played for the Cardinals forever shouldn’t be counted...

-St. Louis Cardinals do count, and if there’s an argument to be made for a Chicago Cardinal they can be included (however, it might be rare to pick them to win a single game on a field compared to today’s players unless they were the caliber of Jim Brown, for example and we’ll get to that in a second)

Let’s begin

Fullback: (1) Starter

Ernie Nevers (1929-1931)

It’s tough to put a player on the Chicago Cardinals as someone who would think could hold a candle to some of today’s players....but Nevers (a Cardinals Hall of Fame member) makes a pretty dang good argument for it.

Five-time NFL All-Pro, 26 Rushing TD and could punt/kick and even pass with the best of him. A legendary athlete who had more yards in a game once than the opponent had as a team and starred as a multi-sport athlete in college.

Think of him perhaps as an early Kyler Murray and you’ll understand maybe a bit more why he could deserve a spot on the all-time team.

Larry Centers (1990-1998)

Man, Centers was a man ahead of his time at the position in the NFL where the running back was en vogue and the fullback was heading out, and was a man ahead of his time in Arizona given that the team didn’t find their footing until later.

Centers in his career hauled in a TON of passes, 4539 and 535 catches (almost a 1st down every time he caught the ball and added 1,736 yards on 517 carries with 29 total touchdowns. Basically he was their only offensive weapon and was like a David Johnson before David Johnson, and if today’s passing game existed in the NFL back then, he would have truly been a superstar player with some outstanding stats put up.

Ron Wolfley (1985-1991)

The Cardinals broadcaster is well-known for being a blocking fullback, but his stats, honestly, aren’t bad either. A 4-time pro-bowler on special teams, he had 263 rushing yards and 200 receiving yards with 4 touchdowns in his career.

Not as athletic as the other two, and statistically not close, but his heart, longevity and the fact that despite Larry Centers making a far greater statistical impact, he still is a fan favorite and might arguably be the most experienced blocker of the bunch if that’s the sort of offense you want to run for the all-time team.

And that’s it for now!

So #Birdgang it’s your time to sound off and make your selection!

For my money, I think it’d be fun seeing a certain center(s) of attention but the others have some say as well for the one game with the best of the bunch, talent-wise.

What do you think?

Continue to tune in over the next few weeks to vote for your selections for the All-Time team of the Arizona Cardinals!