Super Bowl LIV features several former Arizona Cardinals

Several former members of the Arizona Cardinals are preparing to take the field for the Kansas City Chiefs this coming Sunday

It would be fair to say that several former members of the Arizona Cardinals have moved on to bigger and better things. When Super Bowl LIV gets underway on Sunday, four individuals who once made their home in the desert will be taking the field for the Kansas City Chiefs. Each one of those former Cards will be suiting up against the San Francisco 49ers, a one-time division rival of their’s from the NFC West.

Safety Tyrann Mathieu, who played with Arizona for five campaigns (2013-17), may be Kansas City’s best performer on defense. The “Honey Badger” bolted for the Houston Texans in 2018, before signing a three-year deal with the Chiefs last March. Mathieu, who represented the Cardinals in the 2016 Pro Bowl, racked up 75 tackles, four interceptions, 12 passes defensed and two sacks this past season.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs joined Kansas City on December 16th, after the veteran and the Cards mutually agreed to part ways. The 37-year old registered 37 tackles and 5.5 sacks for Arizona before the organization granted him the freedom to latch on with a contender. Suggs tallied three tackles, two quarterback hits and a sack in two regular-season matchups for the Chiefs.

Back in 2013, the Cardinals traded fullback Anthony Sherman to Kansas City for cornerback Javier Arenas. The 31-year old battering ram has totaled 498 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns in his seven years as a Chief. Arenas ended up playing in just 16 games for the Cards, while Sherman appeared in 112 contests (23 starts) during what has turned into a prolonged stay with Kansas City.

Xavier Williams, who played his college ball at the University of Northern Iowa, originally signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent back in 2015. In 2018, the team declined to match an offer that the defensive tackle received from the Chiefs front office. Since then, Williams has tallied 55 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in his two seasons with Kansas City.

Alex Okafor is another one-time Cardinal who’s currently on Kansas City’s injured-reserve list with a torn pectoral muscle. The defensive end, a fourth-round draft pick of the Cards back in ’13, was inked to a three-year contract by the Chiefs last March. Okafor’s 2019 statistics include 22 tackles, five sacks and nine quarterback hits in 10 appearances (nine starts).

As it turns out, Arizona fans have somewhat of a rooting interest in Super Bowl LIV after all. Five ex-Cardinals have an opportunity to secure a championship ring, so let’s wish them all the best of luck.