Arizona's Wilson Rewarded For Staying Home

Adrian Wilson had seen it all in eight seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. Everything, that is, except winning.

That all changed this season when the Cardinals finished 9-7, the franchise's first winning record since 1998.

The longest-tenured Cardinal, Wilson has seen the franchise play its home games in two stadiums. He has played for three head coaches. He has seen the Cardinals trot out seven starting quarterbacks.

Now, the strong safety will play in his first Super Bowl.

"I don't think it was tough," Wilson said about the team's history. "But it was challenging.

"It really tests your character, to see what kind of person you are. To be with a team this long and go through so many difficult times, it gives you a breath of confidence that you can turn the team around, you can turn the organization around."

Wilson had an opportunity to leave the Cardinals' losing ways behind as an unrestricted free agent. But in 2004, he accepted a five-year extension with Arizona worth $21 million.

"They players on other teams 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. You never know what the circumstances will be.

"Like I said before, this group of guys who are here with me today, those guys who are in the locker room, they deserve something like this."

Defensive end Travis LaBoy, who came to Arizona in the offseason after four seasons with the Titans, also said he heard from players around the league questioning why he would leave a winning franchise in Tennessee for the dreadful team in the desert.

LaBoy said he could only imagine what Wilson endured his entire career in Arizona.

"He's been fighting through years of the team's failure," LaBoy said. "... I can only imagine what he's going through - taking it all in and really enjoying it."

LaBoy said he noticed a difference with Wilson and some of the other Cardinals who have been with the team for an extended time.

"You could really see it when we won the first playoff game vs. the Falcons," LaBoy said. "Then we beat the Panthers and Eagles.

"The emotion from those guys - you could see in their emotions the struggle they had to go through to get to where they are, never even experiencing winning, then getting to the playoffs and advancing all the way to a Super Bowl."

It certainly hasn't been an easy road for Wilson. In five of his previous seven seasons, the Cardinals lost 10 or more games.

Despite the losing, Wilson persevered. His best season was in 2006 when he earned a Pro Bowl invitation.

"It has been a great journey, because the guys on this team are a very special group," Wilson said.

Cardinals coach Ken Whis- enhunt said Wilson deserves a great deal of credit for Arizona's Super Bowl run.

"I think one of the biggest reasons we've had success this year not only defensively but as a football team is because of his leadership," Whisenhunt said. "That's something as a new program going forward that is always hard to get.

"You can't just say, 'You're going to be a leader,' and guys can do that. They have to earn it. Adrian has been an outstanding football player in this league for a number of years. ... He took that mantle of leadership and ran with it."

Wilson said he didn't let the Cardinals' past losing ways drag him down, especially when he would talk in the offseason with other NFL players.

"That's always said, but you always have to be able to stick things out," Wilson said. "The old saying: Patience is a virtue. You can't build a team in, you know, two days.

"You know you have to stay the course and stay confident and turn things around. Everyone is really enjoying this - the opportunity to really change this organization."