Jake Plummer: Cardinals are doing all the right things

Unless you’ve only been an Arizona Cardinals fan for the past couple of years, you probably understand they have not exactly been regular visitors to the NFL’s postseason.

Including this year’s appearance, they will have made the playoffs five times since moving to Arizona in 1988, with four of them coming in the last eight years.

The one time they made it past Week 17 prior to this recent stretch was in the 1998 season, when second-year quarterback Jake Plummer led Arizona to a 9-7 record, which garnered a Wild Card Round berth.

That season, Plummer and the Cardinals went into Dallas and knocked off the Cowboys 20-7 before succumbing to the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round. While that was disappointing, it was an incredible run that energized the Valley behind its football team and quarterback who starred at Arizona State University.

“That was big, for me here I laugh because I spent 10 years in the Valley and I really only had two great years, ’96 with ASU and ’98 with the Cardinals,” Plummer, now an analyst for the Pac-12 Network, told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Monday.

Though the Cardinals had played with minimal success up to that season and struggled in the years that followed it, the playoff run gave the state a glimpse of what was possible and how much fun it could all be.

“I talked with Larry Centers and Kwamie Lassiter, Frank Sanders — all these guys — that team was huge that there’s a team still here in the Valley, that ’98 team is the reason why,” Plummer added. “The way we did it, too, you go back and watch that season, last three games, Cardiac Cards. It was meant to be.

“To win a game in the playoffs for the first time in 50 years; I tell people I got my Super Bowl ring that year except it wasn’t a Super Bowl ring, because what we accomplished was just about the same as another team winning  Super Bowl for the Cardinals, the franchise.”

At this point, of course, just making the playoffs and maybe winning a game isn’t quite enough. Since Plummer led the team into Arlington and won that faithful afternoon, the franchise has been to and lost a Super Bowl, and this season enters the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the NFC and one of the favorites to win the title.

These are not your father’s Arizona Cardinals, nor are they Plummer’s. And he’s happy to see the change, which has permeated all throughout the organization and can be seen in the revamped training facility, stadium, coaching staff and roster construction.

“Whether it’s facility or not, it’s keeping players around that’s the key,” Plummer said. “Larry Fitzgerald has been a Cardinal and has remained a Cardinal. Back when I was playing, we lost a guy like Larry Centers, Jamir Miller — guys that were pillars on each side of the ball — Lomas Brown, too. Some amazing players that were just cast aside because somebody else was coming up and you could save some money here on the cap and this and that.

“Championship teams aren’t built that way, so whether you have a nice facility and a cafeteria that makes you fresh bacon and a frittata or whatever you want, it’s all about keeping the guys that are key players on that team.”

Indeed, after the team’s surprising playoff run in 1998 the Cardinals parted with Centers, one of the most popular players on the team, in favor of rookie Joel Mackovicka, who was more of a traditional fullback compared to the pass-catching Centers. Miller left for Cleveland and the team signed free agent Rob Fredrickson to replace him, and Brown was let go so the team could plug rookie L.J. Shelton into his spot.

The following season, with increased expectations, the Cardinals were 2-6 at the season’s midpoint before reeling off four straight wins. There was no late-season magic like the previous season, however, as the Cardinals lost their final four games to finish 6-10.

“It was tough because after ’98 I hurt my thumb in the preseason and I didn’t feel like I could miss a game because I knew I had to be out there when I really should have taken time off, let my thumb heal and come back,” he said. “But we just lost that momentum and lost some really key players and didn’t have it after that.

“So yeah, it was a bummer, but hey, we got that stadium passed.”

University of Phoenix Stadium opened in 2006, and it is an obvious thing to point to when discussing the franchise’s turnaround from where it was when Plummer played to where it is now.

Including Saturday’s Divisional Round matchup with the Green Bay Packers, the Cardinals have sold out all 104 games in the building, and have compiled a 19-5 home record in Bruce Arians’ three seasons with the team.

“As this Cardinals franchise has grown and the stadium gets built and they get to the Super Bowl, you feel the momentum now,” Plummer said. “You come around, I see Cardinals stuff out and about, when in the past 10 years or so you wouldn’t see anybody wearing any Cardinals gear; yeah, they might root for them if they’re doing well, but I think that fan base is growing.

“Bruce Arians is a great coach; Steve Keim, I have to give a shoutout to him for finding talent. His scouts find guys that have talent that when they get here and get coached by this awesome coaching staff, they become great players.”

Plummer cited John Brown and David Johnson, while also mentioning how excited he is to watch Markus Golden.

“The Cardinals are growing,” he said, noting he visited the team’s Tempe training facility earlier in the day. “They’re doing all the right things. They’ve got the pieces in place — Mike Bidwill’s in charge and kind of loosening it up a little bit, doing his thing. So I’m happy to see them doing well.

“It was a great year, a great season, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t go and get another victory and hopefully another one and get to the big dance.”

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