In six seasons in the NFL, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson has never had an opportunity to play in his home area of South Florida. On Sunday, that will change as he will play in front of his hometown family members and friends for the first time at Hard Rock Stadium.
Peterson grew up in Pompano Beach, Florida as he attended Blanche Ely High School where he played as both a defensive back and a running back. In 2007, Peterson was named USA Today high school Defensive Player of the Year.
From there, Peterson attended LSU where he played three seasons in Baton Rouge. In 2011, Paterson was selected No. 5 in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Cardinals.
Peterson never played at Hard Rock Stadium in high school, at LSU or while in the NFL, but Peterson told the South Florida media on a conference call on Wednesday that he is looking forward to it.
“I’m very excited, said Peterson. Growing up, coming back home, being a huge Dolphin fan, being a die-hard, this is my first time actually going back home playing Miami in Miami. So, it is going to be special. I played in Jacksonville before, I played in Tampa before, but that is about four hours away. But having the opportunity to play about 20 or 30 minutes from where I grew up from is definitely an honor.”
Peterson was a Dolphin fan growing up as he attended many games at the building that is now called Hard Rock Stadium. He said he had a ton of memories of being a Dolphin fan growing up in the Pompano Beach area. Peterson didn’t have just one favorite Dolphin player as a kid, he had three of them, all defensive players.
“My favorite Dolphin players growing up, actually I have three of them, Sam Madison, (Pat)rick Surtain and Jason Taylor,” Peterson said. “Obviously being a defensive guy, I loved the way those guys played. As a Dolphin fan, we always had a great defense, but we didn’t have the offenses to compliment them. There were a lot of great memories that we had.”
Since entering the NFL, Peterson has consistently been one of the best cornerbacks in football. He has made the Pro Bowl every season since entering the league. He along with Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders and Jim Brown are the only players in NFL history that have been selected to the Pro Bowl five times before their 26th birthday.
Despite most opposing quarterback avoiding his side of the field, Peterson’s 20 interceptions since 2011 are the third most since 2011. Only Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (30) and Oakland Raiders safety Reggie Nelson (24) have more during that span.
Last week against the Washington Redskins, Peterson’s interception gave the Cardinals the 31-23 victory. Miami head coach Adam Gase gave a high appreciation of Peterson’s game during his press conference on Wednesday.
“If he’s not the best one, there’s probably two guys that (when you’re) going against (them), you have to be careful, Gase said. “And he’s one of them.”
“That’s what you play the game for, to get the respect from your peers,” said Peterson. “I had an opportunity to go up against coach (Gase) last year when he was the OC (offensive coordinator) at Chicago. It is great to hear that from opposing team’s head coach because that means you’re doing something right.”
Sunday’s game against the Dolphins will be a key game regarding NFL standings for both teams. The Cardinals are currently 10th in the NFC with a 5-6-1 record as they are 2 ½ games back of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the last spot. Miami is in seventh place in the AFC at 7-5, a game behind the Denver Broncos for the last wild-card spot.
Peterson said in order for the Cardinals to get back into the playoff race in the NFC, the team just doesn’t have to beat themselves.
“Honestly, I don’t we need to do anything differently, for us it is just the Cardinals, beating the Cardinals,” Patterson said. “It is too many mental errors that are hindering drives. For us, we just have to get back to basic football, situational football. We have a lot of new pieces on this team; we just need to find a way to stop shooting ourselves, beating ourselves.”
Peterson said has bought 55 tickets for this Sunday’s game against the Dolphins. So, he will have several friends and family members that hope the Cardinals will come away with their sixth victory of the season.
“It will be a huge family gathering,” Peterson said.
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