How did they get here? Cardinals have come a long way, baby

Who says this is no country for old men?

Kurt Warner, who's 37 years old (Paleolithic by NFL standards) will carry his old bones into Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII. Warner is 10 years younger than the vibrant, lithe Barack Obama, who was just sworn in as President XLIV.

Ken Whisenhunt brought a Pittsburgh mentality to a franchise that lacked it. (Getty Images)

It's definitely a year of change. Ken Whisenhunt, the whip-smart coach of the Cardinals who mentored Ben Roethlisberger when he was with the Steelers, decided on an aging Warner over Matt Leinart, a Heisman Trophy winner in 2004. The team promptly turned in an underwhelming 9-7 season, included terrible losses to New England and Philadelphia.

Some people declared that Arizona was the worst team in the history of the playoffs. Whisenhunt didn't care. He benched Edgerrin James, then reinstated him. He didn't care if Anquan Boldin complained about his contract, or if James made noises on the bench.

"We wanted Ken to bring a Pittsburgh mentality to the desert," said Michael Bidwill, son of owner, Bill Bidwell. "I think he's done that."

There will be much debate on whether the explosive Arizona offense can produce against the suffocating Pittsburgh defense, whether James can establish himself against the top-ranked defense in the league, or whether the Steelers can stop three 1,000-yard receivers.

So here instead is a quick Cardinal primer, for those conversations on a bus or in a bar.

Larry Fitzgerald has 419 receiving yards in this postseason, breaking Jerry Rice's playoff record of 409 set in 1988. Fitzgerald is arguably the best receiver in the NFL. He also has a PhD in dealing with the media, perhaps because his father has been the sports editor of the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder for more than 20 years.

"I can watch my son play and be very proud, but I also know I have a job to do," said Larry, Sr., who was in the press box last week in Glendale to cover the NFC Championship. "Larry Jr., has always been well behaved, and he's always been around great athletes. He'd come to the Vikings practice and toss the ball around with Chris Carter and Randy Moss. He'd play catch with Kirby Puckett. I hosted a radio show with Denny Green, and another one with Daunte Culpepper."

There's more. Fitzgerald has also traveled the world, climbed Machu Picchu in Peru and bungee-jumped in New Zealand. He dresses like someone out of GQ. And he's so good on the field that offensive coordinator Todd Haley told Warner, one of the best progression passers in the league, to hang a little longer on Fitzgerald, knowing the 6-foot-3 natural athlete could go up and get the ball among two or even three defenders.

Warner is going to his third Super Bowl, eight years after the Greatest Show on Turf beat the Titans on the last play of the game and he was named Most Valuable Player. Warner said having Fitzgerald and Boldin reminds him of when he threw to Issac Bruce and Tory Holt on those glorious Rams teams.

Whisenhunt has other Cards in the deck. Defensive end Bertrand Berry has two small mementos in his locker. One says, "Be Great in '08", and the other is a small championship patch from a pee-wee team he played for in Humble, Texas. The name of the team? The Cardinals. Berry, with a smile, says a Super Bowl patch would mean almost as much.

The Cardinals were founded in 1898 on the South Side of Chicago. Although charter members of the NFL (1920), they've never been to a Super Bowl. Last Sunday, as confetti rained down on the field and "We Are the Champions" thundered from the sound system, the players were emotional. Even former players were emotional.

"This is so deep, so meaningful," said secondary great Aeneas Williams, hugging defensive back Adrian Wilson. Williams played for four Cardinals coaches in a career that took him to six Pro Bowls but never a Super Bowl.

Other former Cardinals felt the impact, too.

"I can finally take the Cardinals off my inept list," said Hall of Fame member Dan Dierdorf, maybe the greatest Cardinal of them all. "Everyone is celebrating."

Back in September, the Cardinals were 45-1 longshots to win the Super Bowl and a slightly better 40-1 at the start of the playoffs. They've scored at least 30 points in each of their playoffs win. But of course they are underdogs to the Steelers

So what, they shrug. They know they're the unexpected guests, but it's been a year of unlikely events. Maybe Whisenhunt will exact revenge against his former team. Maybe Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" will be about James and not Willie Parker. And who knows? Maybe Troy Polamalu will get tangled up in Fitzgerald's hair.