The Arizona Cardinals can do nothing right in anyone's eyes, and Mike Florio’s take on Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon attending a ceremony confirms that.
Listen, the Arizona Cardinals have their issues. They flunked an NFLPA survey earlier this offseason, then news came out that owner Michael Bidwill conducted serious misconduct in the workplace.
Both issues mentioned above should be critiqued, and changes must be made to address them. But that shouldn’t give media anchors, like Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the idea to criticize the Cards at every turn.
Days after the Cards unveiled much-needed new uniforms, we saw nothing but criticism regarding the threads, which were a major upgrade over the old Reebook era look. Now, after Ossenfort and Gannon have gone out of their way to fix everything that’s wrong with the organization, even supporting their much-maligned quarterback, it’s still “wrong.”
If Ossenfort and Gannon opted not to attend the unveiling, I’m sure the media would’ve put a negative spin on it. Something like, “they should’ve supported Murray,” or something similar. Again, the Arizona Cardinals can do nothing right in the eyes of many in NFL circles.
Arizona Cardinals, Ossenfort, Gannon were right to attend the unveiling
So what exactly did Florio take issue with? Here is what he also had to say on the ordeal:
"“Maybe it’s generational, maybe I’m just talking to the older guard, but some people I talked to were happy that this happened because it’s all one big competition. And the people who were locked in all weekend long looking at fifth-round, sixth-round, seventh-round prospects and studying film … they just kind of smile and nod when they hear something like this because it’s all about the commitment you’re willing to put in.”"Mike Florio, via Bickley & Marotta
Okay, so maybe I missed the memo, but I wasn’t aware that it’s frowned upon these days to take a few hours’ break. Actually, you can look at a number of studies that actually show that taking a break every now and then is actually beneficial, and not harmful, to a massive workload that involves a seven day a week job like being an NFL general manager or a head coach.
Further, was this past weekend reserved for scouting those projected to go on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, or something? Perhaps Ossenfort and Gannon also weren’t aware such a “rule” spontaneously manifested into existence, so they did their homework early so they could fly over to Norman, Oklahoma, for the unveiling.
Kidding aside, Gannon and Ossenfort attended the ceremony so they could support their franchise quarterback. Heard a few Cardinals players also attended, indicating that not only is this team closely-knit at the moment, but they also seem to be on the same page with their new general manager and head coach.
Overall, to me, anyway, it looked as though it was more like another indication that the Arizona Cardinals culture is pointing north. And after the turmoil surrounding this organization, it should be good news to Cardinals fans everywhere, even if others want to give them a hard time.
Source: Florio: Teams happy Cardinals attended Kyler Murray statue unveiling over draft prep by Tyler Drake, ArizonaSports.com