TAMPA, Fla. -- Sometimes, you're just right about a player. You see him early in his career, realize he has a chance to be special, and then you put it out there for the world to read that you indeed believe in that player.
When that occurs, you take a special interest in the player, hoping that your football instincts were correct, enabling you to continue the wild fantasy in your mind that sees you in an NFL general manager's role.
That, of course, is a pipe dream. But being correct on a player isn't.
That player for me was Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson. Long before he was named to the Pro Bowl, long before many recognized him as a legit star, Wilson was one of those players who caught my eye.
You can look it up.
He'll even tell you.
"You've always been my guy," Wilson said. "You saw something in me, recognized me, before everybody else."
What is that they say about a blind squirrel finding an acorn once in while? Wilson is my acorn -- at least in my mind.
When he plays, I watch him closely and study him intensely. On Sunday, in Super Bowl XLIII against the Pittsburgh Steelers, I will have my binoculars on him a lot. His play near the line of scrimmage will be key to stopping the Pittsburgh rushing attack.
As the longest-tenured Cardinals player, he is the face of the team. He is Mr. Cardinal. He's been there for the tough times, the losing years, the sparse crowds and the lack of recognition.
That's what makes this Super Bowl so sweet.
"I can't even put it into words," Wilson said the night of the NFC Championship Game victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. "It has been a roller-coaster ride for eight years and to finally get to this point, to win an NFC Championship, means a lot. I've been saying this all night, the Arizona Cardinals just changed their stripes."
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| Adrian Wilson's friends told him he was was crazy after signing a five-year deal in 2005 to stay with the losing Cardinals. (AP) |
Many now know what those in Arizona have known for some time. He's a heck of player. I was drawn to his play early in his career. He was a third-round pick out of North Carolina State who had actually played corner in college. A big-hitting, fast defensive back who could line up near the line of scrimmage and blitz quarterbacks with reckless abandon, he still had the athletic ability to play man coverage.
Wilson is the prototype modern safety: A good tackler who isn't too stiff for pass coverage.
Yet it was guys like Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams who were getting all the attention at the position, even though Wilson outplayed him for most of his career.
That's what playing in Arizona does to a player. You end up in the desert of anonymity. You wonder if you'll ever play in a Super Bowl, if the spotlight will ever shine on you and your teammates.
"It's a great moment," Wilson said this week. "To be here, to go through all the teams, to go through all the players, it's big for the whole organization; it's big for the players who are here right now."
I have a confession to make about Wilson. When he was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2006, I was given the names on the team before they were to be announced. So I called Wilson to tell him the news. I couldn't let him wait. He was at a shopping mall when I told him, and his excitement came roaring through the telephone.
"I made it?" he said. "I really made it."
He did, but I told him to keep it under wraps. Don't tell anybody, I said.
"Can I tell one person?" he asked. "Can I tell my mother?"
How can you deny that, a player sharing his dream with a mother?
Now he's close to another dream, winning a Super Bowl. There were times when Wilson heard all sorts of chatter in his ears about leaving Arizona. Why stay? They'll never win. But in 2005, he signed a five-year deal that kept him with the Cardinals.
Was he crazy? Friends said he was that and more.
"They called me stupid, they called me crazy," Wilson said. "But you never know. You never know if the grass is going to be greener on the other side. You just never know what the circumstances will be."
As one of the older Cardinals players, Wilson has taken on more of a leadership role. He's not one for many words, but rather does it with deeds. His teammates have responded.
"Adrian has been an outstanding football player in this league for a number of years, and we talked this year about the importance of leadership from a player of his caliber, one that was held in high esteem by other players," said Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt. "He took that mantle of leadership and ran with it. I've seen him grow in that role tremendously this year. One of the biggest reasons for our success this year, especially defensively, has been because of what Adrian has done."
The 2009 season will be the final one on Wilson's contract. Several of his teammates told me it's imperative he gets a new deal from the team. He didn't want to talk about that this week, but you can bet he would love to stay -- although this time the price has to be right, especially if the Cardinals win Sunday.
Wherever he plays, for the rest of his career, this squirrel will be watching his acorn.
madmilo 
