Building Dream Cardinals Olympic Flag Football Squad

A unanimous 32-0 vote by NFL owners to allow their players to participate in the future flag football tournament event being added to the Olympic Game was passed this week.

It’s a no-brainer for a league that worships the almighty dollar, but it also provides a new platform for football nuts to get a taste of the action and on the largest stage imaginable.

While football fans dream about their perfect flag football lineups for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, we turn our attention specifically to the Arizona Cardinals and wonder how good of the team we could assemble.

I will be assembling my roster using players throughout franchise history that I would use to compete in front of the world and represent Arizona.

In addition to five starters on offense and five in defense, in including a single reserve for each position. The roster total is 16 players.

I do have one small caveat, and I know a lot of people are going to miss this unfortunately… But this list is specifically for players who spent a good chunk or a majority of their career in state. That means you won’t see players like Dick “Night Train” Lane or Ottis Anderson here, as they played in different cities for the franchise.

With that stipulation now in the ether, it’s on you if you don’t understand why a franchise legend who never played in the state of Arizona was left off.

Now then, let’s start our team off with everyone’s favorite quarterback…

Building All-Time Cardinals Flag Football Team

Quarterback: Kyler Murray

In a flag football tournament, I need a quarterback that can throw the ball to all three levels of the field and make place with his legs. Not a single quarterback in Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals football history stacks up the way Murray does to fit that criteria.

Sure, it can be easy to pick on Murray for his inconsistent NFL career numbers on an annual basis, but in a scrimmage atmosphere, he should dominate.

Running Back: David Johnson

The Cardinals haven’t had very many dynamic, running backs since arriving in Arizona, and it made them ineligible for some of the more prolific rushers in franchise history. Johnson is available here, however, and I didn’t need to think twice.

His prime may have been short-lived, but he was a terrific player and one of the best pass-catching backs in that time.

Wide receiver: Larry Fitzgerald

This needs very little explanation. Fitzgerald is one of the greatest receivers in NFL history and not including him in a flag football tournament would be asinine.

Wide receiver: Anquan Boldin

This is another selection I don’t feel needs much defense. Boldin had multiple 1,000 yard seasons in the desert, including the best rookie season in franchise history.

Reuniting Boldin with Fitzgerald makes the duo as potent in flag football as they were in their primes on the field.

Wide receiver: DeAndre Hopkins

Hopkins only played three seasons with the Cardinals, and it was a weird stint marred with injuries and a suspension in his final season. But when he was on the field, he was playing like one of the best receivers in the team’s history.

Hopkins can stretch the field for me and win the 50/50 ball when I have to chuck it down the field.

Edge: Chandler Jones

The franchise's all-time sack leader is a no-brainer piece for me to lead the defense. Jones was an unstoppable force during his time with the Cardinals, and no pass rusher in the team’s history sniff how good he was.

Jones is also athletic enough to chase down mobile quarterbacks or even play near the line of scrimmage.

Cornerback: Patrick Peterson

The biggest no-brainer on defense requires little explanation. Peterson is fast with great ball skills and was a shut down corner in his prime.

Plus, he can play some receiver in offense to switch things up if need be  

Cornerback: Aeneas Williams

I couldn’t drum up a better number two corner option opposite Peterson than wWilliams. In his prime, Williams was amongst the best corners in football and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for good reason.

Williams has even better ball skills than Peterson, making him a beyond perfect compliment for the team to use in coverage.

Safety: Tyrann Mathieu

The Cardinals have a litany of options to choose from at the safety position and my decision is going to the Honey Badger himself.

Mathieu was an excellent player in the desert, but unfortunately his time was marked with injuries. Still, we can’t forget about the magical 2015 season he had that should’ve won him Defensive Player of the Year honors, even after tearing his ACL late in the season.

Safety: Antrel Rolle

Rolle played safety and corner for the Cardinals to provide me great versatility for how to play him. It also provides him with two separate sets of instincts that make him an exceptional threat in the secondary.

I can count on plenty of turnovers to be generated here as my center fielder on the back end.

Reserves

QB: Kurt Warner

Even on a flag football tournament, you can’t justify leaving Warner off. Sure, he’s not going to be able to run around as fast or effectively as Murray, but he won’t have problems spreading the ball around to consistently be moving the chains.

RB: Edgerrin James

At first, I thought I was cheating by including James, but he managed two seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards in three years with the Cardinals a home run for it.

WR: Steve Breaston

Breaston is my designated deep threat with this team. He was quietly good in the desert and was a member of the last NFL team to host three receivers over 1,000 yards in the same season. As my reserve option, I’m feeling great.

EDGE: Karlos Dansby

Maybe I’m cheating here, but Dansby posted enough sacks and played all over the defensive front seven in his long career, spent mainly with the Cardinals, that I’m justifying it. He’ll get after the quarterback and also create turnovers.

CB: Garrett Williams

Man, this seems incredibly premature, doesn’t it? I did look at Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, but I truly do believe Williams has been better in two seasons than DRC was in his three.

SAF: Budda Baker

You may be sacrificing turnover prowess with Baker, but the tackling machine is gonna pull a lot of flags and keep everything in front of him.