Boldin takes center stage
January 21
Arizona Republic columnist Paola Boivin
"Super Bowl frenzy has arrived, which means the Cardinals season is officially available in high definition and double-digit megapixels. The smallest blemishes are magnified, a reality Anquan Boldin needs to take to heart.
Among the headlines in Tuesday's national papers:
"Anquan Boldin, Super Crybaby" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
"Baby of the Day" (St. Petersburg Times)
Former NFL safety Matt Bowen blogged on NationalFootballPost.com that "I've seen my 5-year-old nephew act better in times of adversity." The Miami Herald ran a story debating a Boldin trade and a YouTube video showing the wide receiver's shouting match with offensive coordinator Todd Haley in Sunday's NFC title game earned a five-star rating.
We love our reality TV, don't we?
The worst part? Many are slapping "diva" before Boldin's name, lumping him with the NFL's wide receiving Brat Pack. Terrell Owens, Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss. Really? Then show me the police files suggesting criminal behavior. Show me the teammates calling him a locker-room cancer.
You can't, because Boldin is none of those things. His teammates love him, which tends to be the case when a guy works hard and plays without fear.
He's never embarrassed this organization off the field. His foundation has helped countless underprivileged children, and let's not forget he helped convince Edgerrin James to play here. In many ways, he's exactly the type of player the NFL wants as a representative.
His shouting match with Haley over his exclusion in a personnel grouping was ill-advised but not uncommon. That God-fearing quarterback himself, Kurt Warner, is often bickering with Haley - so frequently that Warner's wife, Brenda, regularly asks, "So what were you and Todd fighting about this week?"
Warner sent a text and talked to Boldin after the game and said Monday that, "I don't foresee anything being a problem."
Haley is the first to call this a non-story and had numerous heat-of-the-moment battles with Owens when Haley was the Cowboys' wide-receivers coach.
Even Boldin's decision to not stay on the field and celebrate with his teammates after beating Philadelphia was dumb, but nothing bigger. I doubt any of the Cardinals were looking around asking, "Where's Anquan so I can share this moment with him?"
If anything, he cost himself a memorable moment. He's a big reason the team is playing in the Super Bowl, and he passed up a powerful 30 minutes on the field with friends and family. That's his loss. Here's the problem and what Boldin needs to remember: For the next two weeks, the Cardinals are no longer a non-story, no longer a punch line. They're a collective group of players and coaches who worked hard and earned the right to a little media dignity.
Yet, instead of talking about the accomplishments of this organization, coach Ken Whisenhunt was forced to answer questions Monday about Boldin's attitude.
Instead of addressing
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