Cards find themselves at Super Bowl

Cards find themselves at Super Bowl
January 27
Arizona Republic
"Given the Cardinals' performance in the playoffs, it figured that their charter flight to the Super Bowl would catch a tail wind and land a little early.

The wind, after all, has been at the Cardinals' backs for the past month.

A team that found itself a month ago found itself arriving for Super Bowl XLIII on Monday, an amazing accomplishment considering the Cardinals didn't participate in the first XLII of these title games.

Though the flight was shorter than expected, the Cardinals had plenty of time to reflect on a season and careers.

"Honestly, I had to fight some emotions," said defensive end Bertrand Berry, who is in his 11th NFL season. "It's taken me this long, the ups and downs, the trials and all that; it's overwhelming when you just stop and think about it. I tried to fight back tears."

Some players, such as Berry, have waited their whole careers to make it this far. Others, such as special-teams captain Sean Morey, were here just three years ago. That makes it no less special, said Morey, who will face his former team, the Steelers, on Sunday.

Though this appearance might be "surreal," Morey said, it also is no fluke. The seeds of the Cardinals' resurgence were planted last spring when players started workouts with strength and conditioning coach John Lott.

No one saw this coming, but it's not as if the Cardinals are being unjustifiably rewarded. Morey, for instance, has bounced around from team to team, from the Patriots to the Eagles to the Steelers and to Arizona. Last spring, he was even released by the Cardinals, who were juggling their salary-cap figure while Larry Fitzgerald's contract was finalized.

"John Lott says it all the time," Morey said. "He says, 'What you do in the dark shall shine in the light.' I've spent a lot of time in the dark, so to speak, and I've never wavered.

"I'm just real happy, and I feel blessed and fortunate that I have another opportunity to play in a meaningful game in February."

The Cardinals are in their first Super Bowl, but certain parts of this trip should be familiar to them. They played in Tampa in 2007, and earlier this season stayed in a hotel outside Washington, D.C., for a week to prepare for their game against the New York Jets.

That didn't turn out well. Tight end Leonard Pope and safety Adrian Wilson suffered injuries in practice that week. The Jets took a 34-0 halftime lead and won by 21, and the whole trip seemed like an experiment gone awry.

"It was a miserable trip; let's be honest," Morey said.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt said then the week would be good preparation for a Super Bowl. People smirked, but Whisenhunt's comment proved prophetic.

"This situation (the Super Bowl) sort of recreates that atmosphere, and players are probably more prepared for the distractions," Morey said.

Whisenhunt has said throughout the season that his team reacts better the second time it has been through someth
Link