Ken Whisenhunt on Peterson: 'I'm pretty sure Patrick's going to be a pretty good player.' (AP)
TEMPE, Ariz. -- If one play can illustrate everything about a player, Patrick Peterson's tell-all moment came in overtime on Nov. 6 against the St. Louis Rams at University of Phoenix Stadium.
As he drifted closer and closer to the goal line to receive Donnie Jones' punt, pride conflicted with prudence. He wanted to make a play for a 1-6 team desperate for some kind of spark, but the 1-yard line was no place for heroics.
Just as he thought about letting the ball go into the end zone, he noticed teammate Richard Marshall had stayed on his block (the gunner) instead of releasing at the 20-yard line as is customary.
With his right foot mere feet from the goal line and five Rams already inside the 15-yard line, Peterson took a chance.
"I broke all the rules," the Cardinals rookie cornerback said. "You want to put your heels on the 10-yard line and if the ball goes over your head you let it go into the end zone. I've never seen a punt return taken from the 1 before and I probably shouldn't have been the first."
Running laterally to escape backside pursuit, Peterson cut upfield at the right hash marks and broke a tackle at the 15. He broke two more at the 30 and spun away from Jones as the crowd rose for the crescendo. With only rumbling long snapper Jake McQuaide to beat, Peterson took one last look behind him before busting out a Deion Sanders high-step into the end zone.
In the interview room following the 19-13 win, worry-worn coach Ken Whisenhunt embraced the moment and his rapidly rising star.
"He's my new son," a hoarse Whisenhunt cracked. "We just adopted him."
So has an entire city yearning for some hint of hope from their football team in the wake of Kurt Warner's retirement. They may have found it.
There is an air about Peterson that feels different. It's an aura you only sense around the great ones. Since returning the very first punt he fielded for a touchdown when he was 8 years old, Peterson has known he possesses special gifts. But there is no arrogance in him. He exudes the quiet confidence of a star so accustomed to success that its presence is assumed.
"A lot of swag about himself," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "You sit back and watch the Chicago Bears with Devin Hester, DeSean Jackson in Philly. To know you've got a guy with just that much capability that has the opportunity to be better and [is] also younger, it's exciting."
Peterson tied the NFL single-season record with his fourth punt return for a touchdown (80 yards) on Nov. 27 at St. Louis. In a bizarre coincidence, Fox play-by-play man Sam Rosen was on the call for all four TDs.
Peterson was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week and NFC Special Teams Player of the Month following return No. 4, and the size 12 Nike cleats he wore for No. 3, the 99-yarder, are on permanent display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"My kids' kids' kids are going to have the opportunity to go to Ohio and see their great-grandfather's cleats," Peterson beamed. "They might at least have an idea who I was."
Peterson is undoubtedly the most impactful rookie to burst on the Cardinals' scene since receiver Anquan Boldin arrived with 1,377 yards in 2003. But with all that he has already accomplished, it's instructive to remember that Peterson is just 21 years old. He should be a senior in college. He's still just a kid.
That much was clear to safeties Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes, who spent hours of down time with Peterson in their shared dorm room during training camp in Flagstaff.
"We would come in from night meetings and all be sitting in the main study," Rhodes said. "Every night, before bed, he had to have chocolate chip cookies and milk from the cafe."
Peterson was widely regarded as the best player available in the 2011 draft after a sensational career at LSU in which he won the Jim Thorpe and Chuck Bednarik awards as college football's best defensive back and best defensive player, while also being named the SEC Player of the Year on defense and special teams.
As the No. 5 overall pick, he was the crown jewel in a draft that may prove to be the best of the Whisenhunt era. But with the lockout wiping out OTAs and minicamps, Peterson was behind the curve at the most difficult defensive position.
When the lockout ended, the Cards traded 2009 Pro Bowl corner Dominique-Rodgers Cromartie to Philadelphia for quarterback Kevin Kolb. When their other starter, Greg Toler, was lost in the preseason with a torn ACL, Whisenhunt had no choice but to break his own, unstated rule of never starting a rookie.
"It was a struggle early," Whisenhunt admitted. "It's tough when you're a young player at that position and you're thrust into the starting lineup."
Part of Peterson's challenge was adapting to a brand new scheme. But he also had to adapt to a dramatically higher caliber of quarterback and the smaller windows into which those quarterbacks were willing, and able, to throw.
"He assumed that because he had good coverage they wouldn't throw the ball to him," first-year defensive coordinator Ray Horton said. "In this league, they come after you."
Peterson struggled early, and despite the obvious excuse of a lost offseason, some in the local media were already willing to label him a bust. Through 10 games, he was penalized 10 times, the most on the team. Much of it was a product of his physical style.
"At the end of the day, every DB is touching every receiver at some point in the route," Peterson said. "Sometimes, the refs are gonna get ya', sometimes, they're not. Dub [Wilson] always says, 'Just continue playing football.'"
The conventional wisdom says Peterson should adapt to the tendencies of the officials, but Horton hopes the opposite is true. He hopes Peterson will someday get the same respect as Jets corner Darrelle Revis and Eagles corner Nnamdi Asomugha.
"It's kind of like the [Michael] Jordan rules," Horton said. "You start to understand that this kid is good and he's going to be on a guy because he's so good. He's just there all the time. If he gets a penalty, theoretically you'll take it every time because you want a guy challenging."
Horton believes Peterson is "right on pace" in his progression as a corner. Nobody thinks he's on pace as a return man.
"He's way ahead," said Whisenhunt, who called Peterson the most natural punt returner he has ever watched.
His growing reputation led the Dallas Cowboys to kick away from him on Sunday, affording Peterson just one return opportunity.
"It's very important to keep him contained and to tackle him well," Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. "He's exceptional. I think the evidence has been out there over the course of the first 11 games."
Cardinals running back Chester Taylor played last year in Chicago with the most celebrated punt returner in league history: Hester.
"They're both special," Taylor said. "They both obviously have tremendous speed but the difference is, Patrick breaks more tackles while Hess makes more people miss."
Special teams coach Kevin Spencer took it a step further.
"We always say Patrick will make the first guy miss and we'll block the other guys, but it's more like Patrick will make the first guy miss and run over three guys on the way," he said. "He really is a very unique combination of strength and speed."
Peterson was watching a replay of the 1993 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns recently. He has developed a fascination with Jordan -- an appropriate obsession given his stature and his voice, which is a dead ringer for the NBA legend's.
"You always want to compare yourself to the greatest," Peterson said.
Normally cautious, Whisenhunt is beginning to expect such goals from his uncommonly talented rookie.
"I saw something written that it takes three years [before] you really know about a player," Whisenhunt said. "I don't necessarily agree with that. I'm pretty sure Patrick's going to be a pretty good player."
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