Bordow: Rodgers-Cromartie plays like vet

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie came to the Cardinals with a reputation.

He was fast.

Not fast like most NFL skill players, mind you, but 4.29 40-yard dash fast. Deion Sanders fast.

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Normally, rookies have to prove their rep is for real. But none of the Cardinals have challenged Rodgers-Cromartie to a race, and he's pretty sure why.

"I hope nobody is that crazy," he said with a big smile.

You know what's really nuts? That a cornerback from Division I-AA Tennessee State who calls reporters ma'am and sir would lead all NFL rookies with six interceptions and already have established himself as the Cardinals' best corner since Aeneas Williams.

"When you take an athletic talent like him and couple that with the fact he wants to improve and be better, you have the opportunity for a great player," general manager Rod Graves said.

Rodgers-Cromartie already may have had greatness thrust upon him. How many cornerbacks, rookie or otherwise, could have held Carolina wideout Steve Smith to two catches last week? The speedy and elusive Smith never was able to shed DRC, who was in single coverage most of the night.

But there was a moment in that game that said more about Rodgers-Cromartie's development than Smith's paltry numbers. On the first play of the second quarter, DRC intercepted a Jake Delhomme pass at the Cardinals' goal line.

Here's Rodgers-Cromartie's explanation of the play, and you tell me whether he sounds like a rookie or a 10-year pro:

"I know they like to run a lot of high-low (one short receiver, one deep receiver) in an area. He (Delhomme) was rolling my way and I saw him looking so I stopped a little bit like I was going there (with the short receiver). As soon as he released it, I went back. I baited him into it."

Rodgers-Cromartie wasn't always so well-informed. He thought his freakish athletic ability would get him by in the NFL just like it did in college. While his teammates watched film to get a read on their upcoming opponent, Rodgers-Cromartie would doodle in his notebook.

As a result, he started the year as the No. 3 cornerback behind Roderick Hood and Eric Green.

Then he got punked by safety Adrian Wilson and defensive backs coach Teryl Austin.

"They set me up one day," Rodgers-Cromartie said. "They told me to leave my notebook in there. When I came back my notebook was open. That means somebody went through it.

"They realized I wasn't taking notes, and they got on me. ... I had to grow as a player. I was willing to put the time in and accept coaching. Since then I've been a whole lot better."

Rodgers-Cromartie got his first start of the season in Week 8 against St. Louis, and he's been a fixture since.

It's not a stretch to imagine DRC as a perennial Pro Bowl cornerback, someone in the same class of a Champ Bailey or Asante Samuel. He has those kinds of skills, and at 6-foot-2, the frame to deal with the NFL's big receivers.

One opposing quarterback is certainly impressed.

"I see a very good athlete. I see a guy with great feet. I see a guy with great instincts who is going to be a very good corner in this league," Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb said. ... "I've seen his confidence continue to rise week in and week out, and he's really playing at a high level right now."

Five years ago, Rodgers-Cromartie never imagined he would be in the NFL, much less starting for a team one win away from the Super Bowl. As a freshman at Tennessee State, he was so frustrated by his lack of playing time he thought about quitting the team.

Only a pep talk from his father, Stanley, convinced him to hang in there.

"He saw the potential in me," Rodgers-Cromartie said. "He said to just stick with it, that as long as I stayed humble the opportunity is going to come. That's what I did. I kept my mouth shut and when the opportunity presented itself I took advantage of it."

Rodgers-Cromartie does anything but keep his mouth shut these days. It's not that he's a trash-talker. Far from it. But if he senses there's no life in a Cardinals practice, he'll do or say something to try to shake the team from its doldrums.

"I'll dance, do something crazy. I do impersonations," he said. "Out there on the field, that's like a playground. I love going out there because I'm going to have fun."

His teammates will sometimes roll their eyes at his antics. But they'll put up with him on Wednesdays because of what he does on Sundays.

"He's a veteran now. All that rookie stuff is over," linebacker Karlos Dansby said. ... "He's becoming a student of the game, and we love him for it. He gives us an opportunity to blitz and send the heat, and he's holding his own out there."

Actually, Rodgers-Cromartie is still a rookie in one respect. After today's practice he carried Adrian Wilson's shoulder pads off the field and placed them on a shelf in Wilson's locker.

That, he can handle. But he doesn't know how he's going to deal with the crush of ticket requests if the Cardinals make it to the Super Bowl. DRC grew up in Bradenton, Fla., about 20 minutes outside Tampa.

"They're going to have to give me a whole side (of the stadium)," he said. "I'm bringing the whole town."

First things first. The Cardinals have to beat the Eagles on Sunday. But if they do, what a story DRC will have to tell on Media Day.

From Tennessee State to the Super Bowl. From nearly quitting school to becoming one of the NFL's best young players.

That's some fast track he's on.