(My Sportsbook) - In sports and in life, timing is everything.
The Arizona Cardinals wouldn't have gotten to Super Bowl XLIII without having played their best football of the season in January. And the odds of punter Ben Graham having the opportunity to stand on football's grandest stage seemed even longer than that of his team.
"If someone had (told) me six or seven weeks ago that I would've been in this position, I would've paid them a million dollars," said Graham shortly after the Cardinals' 33-25 victory over Philadelphia in the NFC Championship.
Less than two months ago, Graham was out of football and contemplating whether to end a long and storied career as a professional athlete that began 16 years ago in his native Australia, when he debuted for the Geelong Cats in his homeland's national league at the tender age of 19. Now the well-traveled left-footer is on the verge of becoming the first-ever Aussie to participate in a Super Bowl.
After 12 successful seasons in the Australian Football League, Graham made the transition to the American game when he made the New York Jets' roster in 2005. He served as the team's punter until being released on September 29, just one day after the 35-year-old boomed kicks of 51 and 45 yards in a 56-35 Jets' victory over Arizona at the Meadowlands.
Graham caught on with the New Orleans Saints in late October, but was cut loose after just one game. He spent the next few weeks working out at his New Jersey home in hopes that another team would call, while simultaneously wondering whether that chance would ever come again.
The Cardinals, unhappy with the inconsistent play of previous punter Dirk Johnson, contacted Graham, who also serves as the holder for kicker Neil Rackers, after a Thanksgiving Day loss in Philadelphia and signed him on December 1.
"I practiced and trained hard every day, waiting for that next opportunity," said Graham. "I just cannot believe how it's turned out."
The long layoff seemed to affect Graham early on, as he averaged a pedestrian 42.5 yards per punt over Arizona's final four regular season games. Although that number has gone down in the playoffs, he seems to be regaining his touch, having placed nine of his 15 postseason punts inside the enemy 20-yard line. Four others were fair-caught by the opposition.
A groin injury suffered just prior to the NFC Championship also affected Graham's performance in the title game, when he averaged just 37.2 yards on five kicks. With two weeks to rest prior to the Super Bowl, however, he expects to be close to 100 percent for the biggest game of what's been an eventful career.
Below is a capsule look at the special teams of the Arizona Cardinals:
Placekicker: After two subpar seasons that followed a record-setting 2005 campaign, Neil Rackers rebounded with a excellent year in which the strong- legged kicker made good on 25-of-28 field goal attempts prior to the playoffs. He then converted 5-of-7 three-point tries in Arizona's three postseason games, with both misses coming from beyond 50 yards. The 32-year-old has also been adept on kickoffs during his six-year tenure with the Cardinals.
Punter: Although Ben Graham (42.5 avg.) has solidified this position somewhat during the playoffs, the Cardinals ranked 31st out of 32 NFL teams in net punting in the regular season. The Australian veteran has lost some leg strength over the past couple of years, but still gets good hang time and placement on his kicks.
Long-snapper: The Cardinals are in good hands in this often-overlooked area. Nathan Hodel, a former college teammate of Rackers at Illinois, has served as the team's snapper since 2002 and has played in 115 consecutive games, including the playoffs. The steady specialist was rewarded with a new four- year contract this past March.
Punt Returners: The Steelers are fully aware of Steve Breaston's punt- returning skills, since the sophomore wideout delivered a 73-yard touchdown in Arizona's 21-14 win over Pittsburgh last season. The talented 25-year-old hasn't made much of an impact as a return man this year, however, having averaged a pedestrian 7.2 yards taking back punts during the regular season.
Kickoff Returns: Reserve running back J.J. Arrington has two kick return touchdowns over the last three years, including a 93-yard score that helped spur a critical overtime victory over Dallas in mid-October, and ranked among the NFC leaders in that category with a 25.6 yard average. Breaston has also seen time as a kick returner, but averaged only a shade over 20 yards on 33 runbacks.
Special Teams Defense: The Cardinals produced the NFC's special teams representative for the upcoming Pro Bowl in Sean Morey, who led the club with 22 coverage tackles and blocked a punt in overtime that created the winning touchdown in the Week 6 win over the Cowboys. Despite the presence of the ex- Steeler, a member of Pittsburgh's 2005 world championship squad, Arizona's coverage units still ranked near the bottom of the NFL in opponent kick return average (25.0) and punt return average (13.1). Linebacker Monty Beisel (19 tackles) and safety Aaron Francisco (18 tackles) are other accomplished special-teamers on the roster, while second-year pro Pago Togafau had 11 stops in just six games after being signed in November.
