Rodgers-Cromartie a diamond in the rough

Four separate high school coaches didn’t quite see the potential in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. No NCAA Division I coach saw it either. All they needed was 12 seconds last Sunday to see that he’s doing just fine.

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When Rodgers-Cromartie picked off a Marc Bulger pass and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown — clinching the Cardinals’ first division title since 1975 in the process — he slowed down at the end to soak it all in.

“It was like receiving a present out of nowhere,” Rodgers-Cromartie said. “It lights up your day.”

The Cardinals might be saying the same thing about their rookie cornerback.

It’s been a meteoric rise for Rodgers-Cromartie, who wasn’t good enough to get a Division I football offer or even get regular playing time at four different high schools, but he has already become a starter in the NFL in his rookie campaign.

He has three interceptions on the season while continually taking the best shot from opposing passing games.

“It’s that never-give-up attitude,” Cardinals cornerback Rod Hood said. “When you go through that kind of stuff, you have to have more confidence than the average person, because you’ll quit (if you don’t).

Over his career, he continued to plug, continued to keep working. And now it’s paying off for him.”

Rodgers-Cromartie got so discouraged after sitting on the bench his whole junior year of high school that he quit school in Orlando and moved back to his hometown of Bradenton, Fla., to live with his mom.

“I was on the team, but I was just a practice-squad dude,” he said. “I started doubting football because no one was giving me a shot. But I never doubted my own talent.”

Rodgers-Cromartie played just enough as a senior to hook on at Division II Tennessee State. He played well there, but teams still doubted his ability because the competition was subpar.

A stellar pre-draft combine and Senior Bowl quelled those fears, and he was chosen 16th overall by Arizona. While some worried about him being chosen ahead of running back Rashard Mendenhall — after Arizona picked Levi Brown instead of Adrian Peterson in 2007 — those concerns have eased as Rodgers-Cromartie has shined.

Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said it’s been the dedication of Rodgers-Cromartie in practice that has made his progression take off.

“Dominique is starting to get a lot more confidence with the position,” Whisenhunt said. “But I really believe it’s a function of working harder on the practice field. It seems like when he finishes in practice, those things show up in the games.”

Rodgers-Cromartie has quite the cast to defend during the week. He said the different elements Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston bring prepare him for Sundays.

“I just take it all in every time they beat me,” Rodgers-Cromartie said. “I look at what I did (wrong) for when I go against somebody (on Sunday). Sometimes I’m not even worried (on game day), because I have some of the best receivers on my team.”

Maybe soon, other teams will realize that.

“They’ll always try to come at a rookie, see what he’s made out of,” Hood said. “If he continues to make plays, they’ll stop coming at him.”