Cardinals welcome Rodgers-Cromartie

5/1/2008 7:15 PM

By ANDREW BAGNATO
AP Sports Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -First-round pick Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie plans to take a moment before he takes the field Friday for his first practice with the Arizona Cardinals.

The workout will mark the start of the cornerback's pro football career. It also will mark the end of a long journey that started in Bradenton, Fla., and went through Tennessee State, well off the path taken by many NFL prospects.

``I was just going to sit in the locker room for a few minutes with the helmet on my head and close my eyes and just look back over all the things I've been through and just say, 'I'm finally here,''' Rodgers-Cromartie said Thursday, when the club formally introduced him to the media. ``And then go to work.''

Work starts on Friday, when Rodgers-Cromartie will join his new teammates for mandatory mini-camp.

The club expects Rodgers-Cromartie to beef up a pass defense that ranked 28th in the NFL a year ago. On draft day, coach Ken Whisenhunt called Rodgers-Cromartie ``a good fit for our system.''

Decked out in a gray three-piece suit with a Cardinals-red tie, Rodgers-Cromartie looked as if he were interviewing for a job. He addressed reporters as ``sir'' and thanked the Cardinals for selecting him in the first round.

``He's a bit soft-spoken, but don't let that demeanor fool you,'' general manager Rod Graves said. ``He's very competitive.''

He's also confident. A track star at Tennessee State, Rodgers-Cromartie won the 60 meters, long jump and high jump at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track Championships. He said his best 40-yard time was 4.26 seconds during workouts for NFL scouts.

``I could win the Olympics if I wanted to - long jump, in the high jump and the 100,'' he said.

Don't worry, Cardinals fans. Rodgers-Cromartie said he'd be in Flagstaff, not Beijing, in August.

Rodgers-Cromartie will wear No. 29. He posed with a red jersey that squeezed both of his names - taken from mother Melissa Rodgers and father Stanley Cromartie - onto the shoulder.

``I was real surprised,'' Rodgers-Cromartie said. ``I thought I was going to have to pick one - Rodgers or Cromartie - but they got it on there.''

The Cardinals have compared Rodgers-Cromartie to former Pro Bowl player Aeneas Williams. Like Rodgers-Cromartie, Williams was a small-school product, selected out of Southern by the Cardinals in the 1991 third round.

Rodgers-Cromartie grew up in Bradenton, Fla., in the heart of fertile football recruiting territory. But Tennessee State was the only college that offered him a scholarship.

That's why he was somewhat surprised when the Cardinals chose him 16th overall last Saturday. ``Never did I thought first round, coming from where I come from,'' he said. ``I thought I could slip in somewhere late.''

Rodgers-Cromartie had to overcome the small-school label during pre-draft evaluations. After watching Rodgers-Cromartie in the Senior Bowl, where he played against future Arizona draftee Early Doucet of LSU, the Cardinals decided Rodgers-Cromartie could play at the elite level. He followed up with a strong showing at the NFL combine.

Before his senior season, Rodgers-Cromartie spent five days training with former Washington cornerback Darrell Green, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last winter. Another famous former cornerback, Deion Sanders, also participated.

``I learned a whole lot from them,'' Rodgers-Cromartie said.

The 6-foot-2, 183-pound Rodgers-Cromartie started 39 games for the Tigers, with 11 interceptions and 26 passes broken up in four seasons.

Rodgers-Cromartie returned kickoffs as a senior, averaging 24.4 yards and returning one 92 yards for a touchdown. He also blocked eight kicks in his career, tying a school record with four blocks as a senior.

On the field, Rodgers-Cromartie promised to bring ``athletic ability and just hard work and determination.''

And off the field?

``I'm also a people person,'' he said. ``I'm outgoing, very lovable, fun to be around, a man of great character. I'm just a lovable guy.''