Desmond Ridder eager to remind fellow Cardinals QB Clayton Tune about college wins

New Arizona Cardinals quarterback Desmond Ridder may not know Kyler Murray just yet, but he and Clayton Tune go way back to their days battling one another in the American Athletic Conference.

But from what the record books show, their duels were one-sided, with Ridder holding a 3-0 record that included a 2021 AAC championship over his new teammate.

The tilts weren’t close, either, with Ridder’s Cincinnati squad posting a combined 111-53 points advantage over Tune and Houston during that span. Now, the two will share the same sideline.

“Clayton is like a younger brother to me,” Ridder said. “We met multiple times, trained together multiple times, beat him in a championship. … It’s just going to be fun to be out there.”

And just like an older brother to his sibling, Ridder is going to make sure Tune relives the multiple Ls taken with the help of a special memento from their last matchup against one another.

“Funny thing … my uncle collected all the confetti from a championship game in Cincinnati and for Christmas the year after, they had boxed it up and made memorabilia of it,” Ridder said. “He sent me a text message after (the trade was announced) and was like, ‘I have an extra one if you want to give it to Clayton as a present.’

“I might have to pack that one with me just bring him some confetti and bring up some memories for him.”

All jokes aside, Ridder believes Arizona’s quarterback room boasts a “good combination” of signal callers that bring something different to the table.

“It’s almost a perfect combination,” Ridder said. “Somebody asked me awhile back, ‘How’s it going to feel to not be the most athletic in the quarterback room?’ Because for most of my life, I’ve been the most athletic, I’ve been able to jump the highest, run the fastest, but Kyler might have me in that (40-yard dash) or that 10-second split by just a couple seconds or whatever it may be.

“I’ve been in the league for a year longer than (Tune), so to hear how last year went for him, the past 3-4 years have went for Kyler and then I’m right there in the middle, I think it’s a good combination of the three. We all have three different types of skillsets, all perfecting in a different craft in other ways. It’s just going to be fun to be out there, to get to throw with them, get through OTAs, see how they learn, see how they work.”

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