All About Anquan

By now you’ve probably seen and heard about Anquan Boldin and his fourth quarter blow-up on the sidelines with Cardinals Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley.  It has been discussed on ESPN and on Sirius NFL Radio this morning.

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but looking further into this issue, it is one that needs to be addressed now and then forgotten about.  The Cardinals can not let this become a distraction.  If they deal with it now, they should accomplish that.  Really the only negative in a very emotional game, you know reporters will want to bring it up for the next two weeks.

As coach Ken Whisenhunt did in his post game press conference, I too at the time chalked it up to emotions.  Then it hit me.  Anquan was being all about himself and at the wrong time.

I get it that Quan wants the ball, especially in crunch time.  The old saying goes winners always want the ball.  However, there is a time and a place for everything.  He chose the wrong time to be selfish.  It was during the crucial fourth quarter drive in which the Cardinals took the lead for good that Boldin was seen screaming at Haley.  Haley later confirmed Quan was upset because he had Steve Breaston in the game instead him.  Like I said, I get that.  Quan has to realize though this is a team sport.  He did a great job of keeping quiet during the season and quietly put together a really great individual season after publicly stating in the preseason he wanted out of Arizona.

Not only did Quan squabble with Haley, he was also seen forgoing the team celebration and heading back into the locker room once the game was over.  That right there is the true definition of being selfish.  He usually isn’t that way, which makes this even that much more disappointing.  I disagreed with the way he handled the whole contract fiasco in August, however I was happy to see how he professionally handled himself as the season continued on and he did not let his contract or his unhappiness with being on the team become a distraction.  Now in the franchises’ most important two weeks ever, Anquan’s spat has the opportunity to put a sour note on it.  Whisenhunt can not let that happen.

What he should do is address it with Boldin in-house, address it with a short response early this week with the media and not let it be an issue by the time they hit Tampa next week for Super Bowl XLIII.  Win or lose, once the game is over in two weeks, then the Cardinals can start addressing what happens with next year’s team, which will include a decision on the direction they want to go with Quan.  Until then, Quan just needs to be a team player, shut up and do his job.  The blow up may have been Quan’s way of getting the Cardinals to make a move, it just was in no way the right time or place to do that and for that he should be ashamed of himself.

Scott Allen