Monday, January 26, 2009

Fighting with one arm tied behind your back

Loved this quote from Cardinals GM Rod Graves, who "drafted Pro Bowlers Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Adrian Wilson and Darnell Dockett, then tapped dynamic rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and running back Tim Hightower in last April's draft."

Graves' late father, Jackie, was a "highly-respected, longtime NFL scout and former player personnel executive with the Philadelphia Eagles until his 1989 death."

"I think about the character my parents gave me," says Graves, who was a scout for the Bears in 1985 when they won Super Bowl XX and would work his way up to become CHI's director of player personnel. "If you have a situation where you feel like you have one hand tied behind your back, you fight like hell with the free arm. That's really been the nature of my approach: 'We're going to fight like hell with the free arm to get to where we are.'"