Aeneas Williams is one of the most decorated players in Cardinals history, earning four All-Pro nods and six Pro Bowls during his 10-year tenure.
In 2001, he requested a trade to a contender, went to St. Louis, and immediately made the Super Bowl that season with the Rams.
The Rams routed the Cardinals on Sunday, as the franchises are once again on the opposite end of the competitiveness spectrum.
The Hall of Fame cornerback recently spoke with SportsCasting about the state of both organizations, the Cardinals’ quarterback quandary, the Rams’ Super Bowl chances and more.
Q: Nearly 25 years after your trade, the Rams and Cardinals are almost in identical positions. Why do you think the Rams have had such perennial success, while the Cardinals struggle to get their foothold?
Aeneas Williams: “I think about how the margin of error is so small in the National Football League. There are a number of games in which the Cardinals have been within a touchdown but have just not closed the game out. Whereas the Rams, they’ve had the same opportunities, and they’ve won the games at the end. The margin of error between winning and losing is so small, and when you lose, it looks like a chasm, but it’s really not.”
Q: So you think the Cardinals are closer than it looks to getting back on track? If you flip a few of those one-score losses, all of a sudden the record looks much better.
AW: “Not only does the record look better, but people talk about it differently. That’s the perspective (needed). That’s how these decisions happen, when it relates to the changing of personnel and coaches. You have to be able to look at what it is, and the potential that is there, versus having to start all over.”
Q: The Cardinals did not have much success during your tenure from 1991-2000. Do you think they are past the structural issues? Do you see a franchise that has moved enough in the right direction, or do you think they are quite far behind a team like the Rams?
AW: “No, I don’t think they are far away at all. Under the leadership of Michael (Bidwill), I think they have done a very good job. Let’s go back to my years with the Arizona Cardinals. Ten years, and only one year in the playoffs. The difference in that one year was Jake Plummer. What I noticed right away – no matter what kind of game Jake was having, if we got him the ball at the end, we would have an opportunity to win games. The Cardinals have some good things, so the No. 1 thing is not to panic, and not to feel like you have to overhaul everything.
“In terms of what I see at quarterback, Kyler Murray is a fascinating player to me. He has the ability to spin the ball. He has the ability to be elusive. The key now: how much has his maturity developed as it relates to the leadership of men? That’s the critical part, how much is devoted.
“It’s not so much that you’re the first in and last out of the facility, but it’s what you’re doing when you’re there. And the players trusting because of that effort and that demonstration of leadership. That causes others to be better than they are initially projected to be. That’s what leaders are able to do.”
Q: Are there specific things you’ve liked from Michael Bidwill?
AW: “Michael Bidwill has taken the baton and made some very good decisions. Coach Gannon is a good hire. It’s just a matter of patience. Kyler not staying healthy has a lot to do with (the struggles). Jacoby is doing an amazing job, and coming off the bench he’s great. But you’ve got to have that (franchise) quarterback healthy and ready to play. If that happens, Kyler Murray has the ability to get the Cardinals in the playoffs. Michael has made very good decisions.”
Q: Quarterback is such a big topic in Arizona. What do you make of Jacoby and the Kyler situation?
AW: “Jacoby and what he’s done in igniting the offense – they’ve accomplished the yards, but it’s eliminating those one or two plays that cause you to lose the games. As for Kyler, he has all the talent. It’s just a matter of, does he galvanize the offense and the team? Are they confident, as we were with Kurt Warner, and as the Chiefs are with Patrick Mahomes? Does the defense think, ‘All we have to do is get this guy the ball?’
“Kyler has the talent and the potential, but the ability to stay healthy, the ability to galvanize the team, the film study, that dominant knowledge when the game is on the line, I don’t always see that happening. The (galvanizing) of the offensive line, the running backs – I’m from a distance, but looking from the outside, when the quarterback has it, the whole team becomes energized. They know no matter how bad he is or how bad the game has started through the first three quarters, you still have that guy in the pocket that can move the team down and score within minutes. Kyler, as he gets healthy, he can begin to work on that and really connect with his teammates, because it’s so critical. He’s in essence the CEO of the entire team.”
Q: When you look at Matthew Stafford with the Rams, do you see everybody galvanizing around him?
AW: “Yes. He didn’t experience that in Detroit, but it was in him. Sean McVay sees that and makes a move, even though he had a competent quarterback in (Jared) Goff. All of a sudden you take a guy who had never realized that potential, now he gets with a coach, and they are able to do significant and great things. There is a possibility the Arizona Cardinals can do the same.”
Q: Do you think the Rams have enough talent to win the Super Bowl this year?
AW: “Yes, they do. Both sides of the ball, and I’m looking at the league. Who are the great teams? Philly is topsy-turvy. It’s hard to tell what’s going on with them. In the NFC, who is dominant? San Francisco is limping in with all their injuries. The Rams had the dud (against the Panthers), but you have that over the course of a season. This is a prime time team. They have the quarterback, and they have it in all three phases to do it.”
Q: Do you think Jacoby can be good enough to get the Cardinals into the playoffs next year, or do they need to bring in a young guy and reset?
AW: “Jacoby just set a record a couple weeks ago, didn’t he?”
Q: Yep, an NFL record for completions.
AW: “That’s very interesting. The draft and all those things, it really comes down to the evaluation on a daily basis, to find out, why are we not able to close games? It’s up to the evaluators to make that decision. You’ve got that huge contract with Kyler. Those things have to be evaluated by people on the inside, who are able to make objective decisions based on what they have seen, and what they are projecting can be done in the future.”
Q: Jake Plummer had a similar arc to Stafford, going to Denver and having a lot of success at his second stop. Could Kyler follow those paths?
AW: “No doubt about it. He has the potential. The big question is, how much is Kyler developing with his leadership? If you look at Stafford, the Rams got him after 10 years. Kyler is still growing into that next level of leadership. When you draft someone No. 1 overall, it’s hard to have the patience to wait for it, but I have seen (strides) over time.”
Q: If he goes somewhere else this offseason, does that help from a fresh start perspective?
AW: “Possibly, because I can always connect great quarterbacks to great coaches. Always. Who is developing Kyler? Whose eyes is Kyler able to see through?
“I think there are only two of us in the Hall of Fame out of the 1991 draft. The other one was Brett Favre. Jerry Glanville didn’t think much of him in Atlanta. Mike Holmgren finds him, connects him with quarterback coach Andy Reid, and now we have a Hall of Famer.
“It’s no different with these guys. Who coaches them? Who nurtures them? Who can give them confidence through the perspective of eyes that have been in the league a long time? Patrick Mahomes is not an accident. He has talent. Tom Brady is not an accident. He had talent at Michigan. But they had guys that were able to develop them.”
Q: Have you watched much of Will Johnson this season?
AW: “I’ve been watching the Cardinals defense. I’ve been watching Budda Baker dominate. I haven’t seen a whole lot of Will. But what I have noticed is those corners, they do compete.”
Q: If Will can become that shutdown guy like you were, taking on the star receiver every week, what does that do for a defense?
AW: “It raises the level of everybody in the secondary, including the other cornerbacks. You can potentially give that other person help, and you don’t have to be so concerned about that No. 1 receiver. It makes a defensive coordinator sleep better at night. Dave McGinnis would come in when I was there, and he had the defensive game plan, and then a (separate) booklet for me. ‘This is who you have.’”
