Clayton Tune: The Fateful Path of an NFL Legacy by Walter Mitchell photo: @azcardinals.com via Instagram During the second night of the 2023 NFL Draft, Clayton Tune received a call from the Green Bay Packers. The Packers wanted to assure Clayton of their interest in drafting the University of Houston quarterback at some point on day three. When the Arizona Cardinals selected Clayton Tune with the #139 pick a day later, he was surprised, given that the Cardinals had not expressed any significant interest in him during the pre-draft process. The Cardinals were not one of the six teams that brought him in for 30 visits (Texans, Saints, Browns, Steelers, Bucs, Giants). Tune had also been given a private workout by the Rams. The eventual link the Cardinals had to Clayton Tune was that Israel Woolfork was one of his coaches at the Senior Bowl. At that time, Woolfork had just finished his second year of a Bill Walsh/Bill Willis coaching fellowship with the Cleveland Browns. A...
Here we Cards fans wondering whether a 3 season losing coaching staff might be fired and Sean McVey cans his ST coach because of mistakes made in a loss to Seattle. The contrast highlights a significant difference in organizational philosophy: the Rams prioritize immediate accountability for performance, while the Cardinals'…
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ReplyDeleteThis is probably a little silly, but as I reflect on the 2025 season I can't help but go back to Demercado's dropped TD ball in the Titans game. We were 2-2 at that point. I was at the game and my eyes saw the drop but my brain refused to believe I saw what I saw until the play went for review.
ReplyDeleteIt was at that point that I knew we were a lost cause this season. It told me everything I felt I needed to know about how our players were being coached. Maybe that sounds a little harsh, but that is how I felt. The Cardinals play in what is frequently the best division in football with little margin for error. A play like that was enough error for the lowly Titans to take advantage. The Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers have an even bigger advantage without gifts like that.
It was also one of the few plays compelling enough to get our coach to uncross his arms and then cross a line that should never be crossed. I told my wife at the time "that play might have cost Gannon his job" even before I saw his over-the-top reaction.
Maybe I'm being melodramatic here, but I felt our season was essentially over starting with that play and all these weeks later I can't say that I feel any different now.
Great comment!
DeleteThanks, Since61!
DeleteI think the important context here is that the Colts made a similar mistake vs. the Rams a week before.
Obviously, players have been making this mistake for years. However, that we would be doing it the following week after every player in league was likely shown that tape (and it happening vs. a divisional team) told me everything about Gannon’s team this year.
You listen to Gannons day after press conference and he seems very confident that he will be returning. If that is the case then Ossenfort will be returning as well. That would be a new threshold in bad in the NFL for retaining your job. How does this team even succeed next year if that is tge case?
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