COLUMN: Fantasy Football — Cardinals win Super Bowl
With one second left in Super Bowl XXXVII, running back Thomas Jones put the nail in the coffin as the Arizona Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-7.
The victory gave the Cardinals, and rookie Head Coach Jim Higgins, a 19-0 record for the season.
I bet you are thinking I am nuts.
First off, the Super Bowl is still almost four months away. Second, the Cardinals have a 2-2 record so they couldn’t be undefeated. Finally, the Cardinals coach is Dave McGinnis, not this Higgins character.
All I have to say is in real life the previous paragraph may be the case, but inside the Madden 2002 video game, anything is possible including a Cardinals Super Bowl win.
My team tore through the NFL season, defeating tough division foes such as the St. Louis Rams and the San Francisco 49ers twice during the year.
Jones swept the awards as well; winning NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Best Running Back, earning a Pro Bowl birth and being named Super Bowl MVP with 81 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.
During the regular season Jones amassed 2,033 yards and 25 touchdowns while averaging 9.9 yards per carry.
The rest of the team pitched in as well, with quarterback Jake Plummer throwing for 3,062 yards and 51 touchdowns while only being picked off twice, and wide receivers David Boston and Frank Sanders both had more than 1,000 yards receiving.
On defense, cornerbacks Duane Starks and Darrien Gordon – who I signed before the season as a free agent, each had five interceptions.
The return game had to be the best ever as Bobby Newcombe, a free agent signee, and Antwaan Randle El, who I acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh, each returned four kickoffs for touchdowns.
Newcombe also returned five punts for scores as well. Randle El took the opening kick of the second half of the Super Bowl 83 yards for a touchdown to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead.
The Cardinals came from nowhere to make a name for themselves this season.
The season came from a good mix of chemistry and some key last-minute acquisitions put together by the general manager and coach, Higgins.
While it took a while to master the different techniques the game has to offer, I found that my preference for a solid running game that opened up the passing game made it easy for my troops to come from behind.
One downside was the unrealistic trades I was able to make.
I got Randle El and quarterback Tommy Maddox for my third round pick in the upcoming draft, wide receiver MarTay Jenkins and backup quarterback Chris Greisen; who is not even on the Cardinals team this year.
After our record-making season, there is no rest.
I have already been busy re-tooling for the 2003 season.
My biggest coup of the off-season was trading a first-round draft pick for quarterback Joey Harrington.
I was also able to “beef up” my defensive line by adding 339-pound defensive tackle Gilbert Brown to the middle of my front four. After pulling off such great feats however, I am wondering if I could do what no one has been able to do since the infamous Joe Gibbs left the Redskins, take Washington to the Super Bowl.
If I could pull Harrington away from the Lions, maybe I just figured out a way to solve the Redskins quarterback misery.
Jim Higgins is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. He is waiting for the day the Redskins return to the Super Bowl. Comments can be sent to jwhigg@cc.usu.edu