What's next? Primanti Brothers opening up a restaurant in the desert?
Bryant McFadden, who signed a two-year, $10 million contract, is the latest former Steeler who will be wearing the
Captain Kangaroo red of the Arizona Cardinals.
He can deny it all he wants, but Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt had a bug
up his ass about not getting the Steelers job when Bill Cowher retired. He's probably got a scorpion up his ass now after
losing Super Bowl XLIII to his former employer.
So Whisenhunt's
going to keep hoarding everything Pittsburgh. I hear his next move is to acquire all 944 bridges in the Pittsburgh area. God
knows what he'll do with bridges in the desert, but he'll
probably have more use for them than he's had for Clark Haggans and Brian St. Pierre.
Along with Haggans and St. Pierre, McFadden joins fellow ex-Steelers Sean Morey and Jerame Tuman in Arizona along
with assistant coaches Billy Davis (the new defensive coordinator),
Russ Grimm, Mike Miller, Matt Raich and Kevin Spencer, all of whom served on the Steelers' staff at one time or another.
I don't begrudge McFadden
big payday. But he might want to take a look at the last defensive back from Florida State to sign with the Cardinals after winning the Super Bowl.
Working
under defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin, the Buccaneers' Dexter Jackson was MVP of Super Bowl XXXVII. He had two interceptions
in Tampa Bay's 48-21 win over the Raiders. Then the Steelers had
a verbal commitment to sign Jackson, but instead he signed with Arizona.
Jackson had six interceptions in 2003, his first year in Arizona, then after that he did about as well in the desert as this
guy:
Since 2003 Jackson has had just four interceptions,
and he just got cut by the Bengals. So now he's wandering around with his pants on his head looking for a new team.
Let's hope that doesn't
happen to McFadden, who served the Steelers well. His four-year tenure was bookended with Super Bowl titles, both of which
he played a significant role in.
It was hard not to like
McFadden after his key play late in the Steelers' 2005 playoff upset of the Colts. The rookie cornerback broke up a deep
pass to Reggie Wayne in the final minute when the Steelers were clinging to a 21-18 lead. That play prevented what could have
been a touchdown or at the very least a chip-shot field-goal attempt for Mike Vanderjagt. Because of that play, the Colts
couldn't get any closer than the 28, and Vanderjagt had to try a 46-yard field goal to tie the game. He missed, and the
rest is history.
Well, McFadden's a Cardinal now. Good
luck to him. But not to Whisenhunt, who apparently doesn't realize there are 30 other teams in the NFL who contribute
to the free-agent pool.
If he wants, Whisenhunt can even
lift the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and plop it down right in the middle of the desert. But
no matter what he takes from Pittsburgh, those Lombardi Trophies aren't going anywhere.
