By Calais Campbell On His New Contract and His Expectations: “I Think that We Can be a Top-Five Defense in Every Category”
May 14, 2012 – 8:15 am by Brad Gagnon
After winning seven of their final nine games in 2011, the Arizona Cardinals have high expectations heading into the 2012 season. Not only did they add potential relief to the passing game with first-round pick Michael Floyd, but they also locked up young defensive stud Calais Campbell for the short- and long-term future.
Last week, the Cards gave the 25-year-old defensive end a five-year contract worth $55 million, with $31 million guaranteed.
Calais Campbell joined Dan Bickley and Mike Jurecki on Xtra Sports 910 in Phoenix to talk about his brand-new contract, to give his thoughts on top pick Michael Floyd and to discuss his expectations for the 2012 season in Arizona.
On the negotiation process that led to him signing the long-term deal:
“It’s been a long process. And it was a hard-fought process but it was a great process. The Cardinals organization definitely did a great job and I’m just so happy to be a Cardinal for a long time to come.”
On the possibility that he could still sign another long-term deal before his career winds down:
“Yeah, man. That’s the goal. Hopefully I’m blessed enough to play for a long time. But I try to take it one day at a time and try to make sure this next year is gonna be the best year.”
On his pursuit of a secondary career in Hollywood:
“Me, I’m more on the producing side, but I wanna write stuff too so I’ve been writing a lot and just networking in Hollywood and stuff.”
On the team’s first-round pick, Michael Floyd:
“I’m a fan of Michael Floyd. I liked him a lot in college and I think he’s gonna be a great player. He’s one of those who’s just super-athletic, but he plays the game at such a high level. Like, he’s so physical, and for a receiver that’s rare to see — a guy catch the ball and every time he catches it he tries to get to the end zone. And that’s what we need.”
On his expectations for the defense in 2012:
“I think we can be great. Ray Horton has a great scheme, and he’s definitely a great coach, he’s a great motivator. And it’s crazy, but I think that we can be a top-five defense in every category. That’s our goal and that’s what we want to be. Towards the end of last year we started having that confidence that we could beat anybody — anybody we get on the field with we can beat them. And when you have that confidence and you go out there and you play 16 games, you’re gonna win a lot of games. So hopefully we can win a lot of games this year, win our division and go to the playoffs and try to create some havoc.”
Listen to Calais Campbell on Xtra Sports 910 here
Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Calais Campbell, NFC West, NFL
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