The road back...

It's good to be back in a football mindset after the offseason. It felt really good to see all my teammates again. I'm still so proud of how we responded to everything to get to the Super Bowl. 

I think I handled the situation leading up to the Super Bowl pretty well. I tried not to let myself get overwhelmed by the situation and just focus on what was going to be the biggest game of my life. I kept my routines the same. Now that I've been there I know what to expect. 

I think we proved a lot to the doubters last year. Fluke teams don't make it to the Super Bowl, but if we need to prove ourselves again then we will. But I feel that we're here to prove to ourselves that we're a good football team. Having a good regular season and hopefully going into the playoffs with a winning record is our goal. 

After the season I took about a month off to rest and heal up a bit. In mid-March I started to get my running and weights in. After a few weeks I was pretty much back in football shape.

OTAs ended on June 11th and I was really impressed with the effort that the new guys were showing out there. I have never seen such high competition like that in OTAs before. Every player was going after it full speed every play. 

Rookie CB Greg Toler has impressed me a lot too. He has great potential. I think he had five interceptions in OTAs which is a lot for a rookie. We sit down and talk all the time. I have told him how to defend certain passes and things, but he has exceptional athleticism, explosive speed, good ball skills and he is eager to learn. 

We're looking forward to getting Anquan Boldin and Darnell Dockett back on the field in a Cardinals uniform because they're two of our top guys. We couldn't have made it to the Super Bowl without them, no doubt. We need them back. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with what they're doing. I just know they're doing what they think they need to do.  We report to training camp on July 29th. I dread going to training camp but only because it forces me to be away from friends and family. It wears on your body and mind after a while, but it's necessary.

We intend to prove that there is no such thing as a fluke Super Bowl team.

Antrel Rolle is a starting defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.rolle21.com. Follow him on Twitter as antrelrolle.



(playerpress.com)