There are many things to discuss with one of the NFL’s most vibrant personalities in Arizona defensive lineman Calais Campbell. We could start with his trip to Nigeria this offseason with teammate Sam Acho to assist a hospital that treats poor families. Or his screenwriting classes that's led to a rough draft of a script about “a workforce David vs. Goliath story.”
What he can also discuss is football because, you know, that's his job. Specifically, Campbell is asked about the NFC West, the toughest division in the NFL, and if the Cardinals can win it.
"Yeah, we can," he says.
Last year the 49ers went to the Super Bowl and almost won it. The Seahawks made the playoffs and have chance to make the Super Bowl this season. The Rams are a trendy pick to win the division based on their division leading 4-1-1 record last year. Yes, the Rams -- not the 49ers or Seahawks -- had the best division record. The Cardinals went 5-11 overall and finished last.
“That was last year,” Campbell says, “and I think you’re going to see a different team this season. A very different one.”
What will be so different this season from last?
“We have a quarterback,” he said.
And there it is. The big reason why the Cardinals could end up being one of the true surprises in football comes down to two words: Carson Palmer.
“I think it’s very likely we can win the division, yes,” Campbell said. “I respect every opponent in our division. Every one. But I think of it this way. We were able to hang in a bunch of our division games without a real quarterback.
“I don’t want to disrespect anyone but now we have a real quarterback to go with a good defense. When we play with a lead, we’re hard to beat. This is the first time in years that we have an offense that matches our defense.”
He added: “I was talking to Carson the other day and he said he’s never really played with a good defense before. I told him it’s been awhile since I played with a good quarterback.”
Arizona had one of the best defenses in football last year (Campbell was a big part of the reason why). It ranked 12th in yards allowed while Arizona’s offense scored just 250 points. The only team that scored less was Kansas City with 211.
Last season Arizona was plagued by a plethora of crap at quarterback that included John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, Brian Hoyer and Ryan Lindley. This led to one of the NFL’s greatest weapons, Larry Fitzgerald, having career lows in almost every significant receiving category.
In 2011 the quarterbacks were Kolb and Skelton and one year before that in 2010 they were Derek Anderson, Skelton and Max Hall.
You have to go back to 2009 to find a good Cardinals quarterback. That was Kurt Warner. The addition of Palmer means the Cardinals now have what the rest of the teams in the division possess: a capable thrower.
Now, I’m not as high on Palmer as Campbell is, but Campbell is right in that Palmer gives the offense a basic level of competence and with some of the weapons the Cardinals have on offense, there is actually potential for the Arizona offense to be pretty good.
The defense is already there. Campbell is one of those players who may not be a household name with some fans but inside the sport is considered one of the most talented defensive players in the game.
Campbell also said he’s fully bought into the new coach, Bruce Arians, after initially being unsure what to expect. Campbell added something else that was interesting. “A lot of the defensive linemen wanted (then Arizona defensive line coach) Ray Horton to get the head coaching job,” he said.
After Horton was passed over, he left Arizona to become the defensive coordinator in Cleveland. Meanwhile, Arians has made believers out of the linemen who actually wanted Horton to get the job Arians eventually did.
“I’ve been really impressed with Coach Arians,” Campbell said. “The entire team feel the same.”
Off the field, the Life of Campbell has been just as fascinating as what’s happening with the Arizona team. He spent a week in Nigeria recently volunteering at hospital there. While the country is oil rich it remains drastically impoverished. Nigeria just signed a deal with China to get a $1 billion loan to help build its infrastructure.
In the week Campbell was there, the hospital received more than 3,000 people and much of the country has shortages of medicine and equipment.
“You really see how night and day it is between America and there,” Campbell said. “We can get treatment and medicine here. The hospitals there can’t do basic things.”
In Arizona, Campbell has also been spending his time learning the art of filmmaking by taking classes at local college. His goal post-NFL is to become a director.
If he were to direct a movie now, it might be called: “The Cardinals Have a Quarterback.”
And they can win again.
