Arizona Cardinals' Ben Graham, of Australia, works on snap drills for field goal attempts during afternoon practice at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training facility Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. The Cardinals will face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, on Sunday. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
On the eve of the new NFL season Ben Graham’s Arizona Cardinals hold the familiar title of underdogs, despite coming within 30 seconds of snatching victory in the last Super Bowl. And the Australian says they can’t wait to prove the doubters wrong – again.
“We’re used to being underdogs,” said former Geelong AFL star turned NFL punter Graham after a training session on Wednesday at the Cardinals’ practice facility in Tempe, Arizona.
“I guess the Cardinals haven’t had much success over the years and some people may see last season as a fluke, but we can’t control their opinions.”
Fellow Aussie punter Sav Rocca and his Philadelphia Eagles are anything but underdogs with Las Vegas bookmakers.
The Eagles are among the favourites to go all the way, but dogs of a different kind – the four-legged brutes that suffered as part of new recruit Michael Vick’s illegal dogfighting activities – hang like storm clouds over the team.
Vick, one of the NFL’s most dynamic quarterbacks, is also one of America’s most despised men after being prosecuted and jailed for dogfighting offences.
The jury is still out on whether Vick, released from prison in May after serving 18 months, will help or hinder Rocca’s Eagles.
The other member of Australia’s NFL punting trio, Mat McBriar, is used to the ups and downs of being part of the NFL’s glamour team, the Dallas Cowboys.
But the most ominous obstacle for him in 2009-10 is not the egos of team-mates, inflated hopes of Cowboy fans desperate for a Super Bowl or speculation about whether quarterback Tony Romo is back with former flame Jessica Simpson or moved on to another Hollywood starlet.
The Cowboys have a new $US1.2 billion ($A1.39 billion) stadium and McBriar’s daunting obstacle is a giant scoreboard hanging above the field containing the world’s largest high-definition television screen – a 49m by 22m monstrosity.
It is just 27.4m above the field and in the stadium’s debut game last month, a pre-season workout for the Cowboys against the Tennessee Titans, the Titans punter AJ Trapasso hit the scoreboard, forcing the kick to be replayed.
McBriar, who unlike Graham and Rocca did not play in the AFL but honed his punting skills while a member of the University of Hawaii team, will see plenty of the scoreboard during his team’s eight home games this season.
“You’re just going to have to kick around it somehow,” McBriar told The Dallas Morning News newspaper.
Graham said his Cardinals are fired up to go one step further after February’s thrilling 27-23 Super Bowl loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers won with a touchdown in the final 30 seconds of the game.
The Cardinals kept wide receiver Anquan Boldin, despite his pleas to be traded over a pay dispute, while the team lost offensive co-ordinator Todd Haley who left to become head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Veteran quarterback Kurt Warner signed a new two-year $US23 million ($A26.65 million) deal to stay with the Cardinals.
Graham is also enjoying job security after the past tumultuous season where he was fired twice by the New York Jets and hired and cut after just one week with New Orleans Saints before being picked up by Arizona late in the season on a week-to-week deal.
Graham was so unsure about his future in Arizona last season his wife Katie, daughters Sophie and Rosie and son Jack, stayed back in their home in New Jersey, where they lived during his three years with the Jets, while he rented a Phoenix apartment.
Arizona management, impressed by his big and accurate boot during the team’s Super Bowl run, signed him in March.
Graham and his family have now settled into a new home with a pool in the desert and sun-bathed city of Phoenix after years enduring the cold winters of New Jersey.
“We hunted around a bit and made sure we found the right pad with a fenced pool for the kids,” Graham said.
“The kids are enjoying school and things are good out here.”
The Grahams remain close with the Roccas in Philadelphia.
“I keep in contact with Sav,” Graham said.
“Our wives keep in contact because there’s not many people who can relate to what they are going through in terms of living overseas and husbands playing NFL.
“Sav is looking forward to another year and had a bit of surgery in the off-season.
“I spoke to him the other day and wished him all the best for the new season.”
AUSSIES IN THE 2009-10 NFL SEASON
BEN GRAHAM
Team: Arizona Cardinals
Position: Punter
Age: 35
Height: 196cm
AFL History: GeelongSAV ROCCA
Team: Philadelphia Eagles
Position: Punter
Age: 35
Height: 195cm
AFL History: Collingwood; North MelbourneMAT MCBRIAR
Team: Dallas Cowboys
Position: Punter
Age: 30
Height: 185cm
AFL History: N/A
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