Former Steeler Bryant McFadden relishes new role with Cardinals

McFadden ready to step in for Cardinals

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Bryant McFadden went from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Arizona Cardinals — on purpose.

The cornerback left the Super Bowl champion Steelers to sign with the Cardinals, whom Pittsburgh beat in Tampa last February.

McFadden says the long-downtrodden franchise is headed in the right direction.

“Here, before, it was a team that was up and down,” he said. “You never really saw the same team. But as last season progressed, you saw a talented ballclub with talented individuals and a coaching staff that’s stable.

“With all that being said, it’s kind of easy to cross over, because it’s like a dynasty trying to start up,” McFadden said. “It’s a blessing to be here with a talented group of guys, and being a part of something that’s going to be on the rise.”

There’s a vast difference between a franchise that has won six Super Bowls and a club that has played in one. But McFadden, who played for two Steelers Super Bowl winners, said it was an easy decision to accept a two-year, $10 million offer from Arizona last March.

“It’s not that far away,” McFadden said after a workout this week among the tall pines at Northern Arizona University. “The most important thing that we need to try to get here is the chemistry and consistency. Week in and week out, always be the same type of ballclub. That’s something that we’re working on, and we’re using these practices here as a stepping stone.”

McFadden isn’t the first Steeler to head for the desert. Coach Ken Whisenhunt and his top aide, Russ Grimm, came from Pittsburgh in January 2007.

McFadden said Whisenhunt was one of the main factors in his decision to sign with Arizona.

Another reason: McFadden is impressed with the Cardinals’ young talent, including their other starting cornerback, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

The Cardinals saw the 6-foot, 190-pound McFadden as an upgrade for an inconsistent defense. His physical style is a marked contrast to Rodgers-Cromartie’s game, which is based on speed and athleticism.

They also want McFadden to set an example for some of their younger players.

“The thing about what ‘B-Mac’ brings, you look over in practice, if you’re a young guy and you get tired and you kind of want to slow down, you see that old vet running around and pushing himself and doing it right,” Arizona defensive coordinator Bill Davis said. “Then they just fall into line. Before you know it, habits are formed. So an old guy’s habits kind of trickle into the young guy’s habits.”

McFadden was a young guy when he won his first Super Bowl ring with Pittsburgh, after his 2005 rookie season. He capped his four-year tenure in the Steel City as a starter in Pittsburgh’s dramatic 27-23 victory over the Cardinals in Tampa.

Now McFadden is hoping to take his winning ways to the desert. The concept would have seemed ludicrous until last winter, when the 9-7 Cardinals reached the playoffs for only the second time since they moved to Arizona in 1988.

Arizona made an improbable run to its first Super Bowl before losing a heartbreaker to McFadden and the Steelers.

The veteran out of Florida State earned a starting job with the Steelers last year, missing six games with a broken forearm.

He has seven career interceptions, and he returned one for a touchdown.

When he signed with the Cardinals, McFadden was expected to compete with Rod Hood for a starting spot. He became the presumed starter when the club released Hood last spring.

McFadden will see his former teammates on Thursday, when the Cardinals go to Pittsburgh for a preseason rematch of the Super Bowl.

“That should be very exciting,” McFadden said.