Jump to content

Anquan Boldin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 216.124.225.130 (talk) at 18:52, 6 May 2009 (→‎College career). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Anquan Boldin
refer to caption
Anquan Boldin at the September 7, 2008 game versus the San Francisco 49ers.
Arizona Cardinals
Career information
College:Florida State
NFL draft:2003 / Round: 2 / Pick: 54
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2008
Receptions:502
Receiving Yards:6,496
Receiving TDs:40

Anquan Kenmile Boldin (Template:PronEng) (born October 3, 1980 in Template:City-state) is a professional American football player. He was chosen by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Florida State University. He was drafted in the 2nd round because of his relatively slow combine speed.[1] His speed has proved no impediment to success. Boldin was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2003 by the Associated Press. He is known as one of the league's most physical receivers.

Boldin is the cousin of CFL All-Star defensive back Korey Banks. He also has a brother, Demir "D.J." Boldin, who played College football at Wake Forest University. D.J. participated in the 2009 NFL Draft but was not chosen. Shortly after the Draft, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Detroit Lions. He has one son, Anquan Jr.

Boldin requested a trade following the 2007 season when his fellow wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald signed a four-year, $40 million contract extension with Arizona [2] and the Cardinals declined to renegotiate Boldin's contract. He has two years with $12 million remaining on his current contract.

High school career

Boldin was a standout football and basketball player at Pahokee High School. His quarterbacking prowess led him to be named Florida's Mr. Football in 1998. During his senior season, Pahokee rolled to a 10-0 regular season record, routinely defeating teams by large margins. Pahokee defeated archrival Glades Central 34-14 in the Muck Bowl, Florida's biggest high school football showdown. Surprisingly, the Blue Devils were upset 29-14 by Coach Corky Rogers's powerhouse Bolles team from Jacksonville in the 2A state championship game.

Boldin is considered to be among the best players the state has ever produced. In 2007 he was named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team which selected the Top 33 players in the 100 year history of high school football in the state of Florida's history. Many of his numbers were later eclipsed by Adrian McPherson.

College career

Anquan Boldin attended Florida State University. A versatile player, he played both wide receiver and quarterback. In just 23 games at wide receiver, Anquan Boldin caught 118 passes for 1,790 yards (averaging 15.2 yards per reception) and 21 touchdowns. Boldin's remarkable athleticism and work ethic have allowed him to rebound from several serious knee injuries in college and later in the NFL. HES BADASS

Pro career

Despite the initial concerns of the NFL scouts after Boldin registered a relatively slow 4.71 time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, Boldin has broken several NFL records. In his rookie year, Boldin had 101 catches and was the only rookie selected to the 2004 Pro Bowl. Boldin also set an NFL record for most receiving yards by a rookie in his first game (217), and holds the NFL record for most receptions in the first 26 games of an NFL career (157) as well as the fastest to record 300 career receptions (47 games).

Boldin teams with Larry Fitzgerald, who was drafted a year after Boldin in 2004, to create one of the best wide receiver tandems in the NFL. In 2005, Boldin was injured and missed part of the season but yet still caught more than 100 passes for over 1,400 yards. On top of that, the Cardinals wide receivers became only the third duo from the same team to each catch over 100 receptions (see Herman Moore and Brett Perriman, also Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey). Boldin and Fitzgerald also topped the 1,400-yard mark, only the third duo to achieve that in NFL history. They joined Detroit's Herman Moore and Brett Perriman, who accomplished the feat in 1995, and St. Louis' Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, who did it in 2000. In 2007, Boldin became the quickest player in NFL history to compile 400 receptions and was selected to play in the 2007 Pro Bowl for the NFC, along with teammate Adrian Wilson.

Boldin was named the offensive captain for the Cardinals for the 2007–2008 season. On August 19, 2008, Boldin asked the Cardinals to trade him due to a contract extension dispute, claiming the team has not recognized his hard work.[3]

On September 28, 2008, Boldin was carted off the field after a violent helmet-to-helmet collision in the end zone with 27 seconds remaining in the Cardinals’ 56–35 loss to the New York Jets. While attempting to catch a long pass from Kurt Warner which ended up incomplete, Boldin was hit in the back by free safety Kerry Rhodes and then took a helmet-to-face shot from strong safety Eric Smith, knocking them both unconscious. Smith, also injured on the play, was able to get up after a few moments. After several minutes, Boldin was placed on a stretcher and was carted off the field. "He's alert," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "He's talking and moving all his extremities. He asked to get up and the doctors won't let him." While the catch wasn't counted as a touchdown, Boldin had a good game as Warner's main go-to guy, finishing the game with 10 catches for 119 yards and one touchdown. On October 4, 2008, coach Ken Whisenhunt announced that Boldin would be out for an indefinite time period with fractured paranasal sinuses.[4] The injury created an opportunity for another WR, Steve Breaston. The Cardinal's offense did not miss a beat during Boldin's absence, and Boldin, Fitzgerald and Breaston became the 5th 1,000 yard receiving trio in NFL history. Boldin missed two games but returned after the bye to record one of his best performances in the season in the Cardinals' loss to the Panthers, catching nine passes with two touchdown receptions and sixty-three yards receiving. He continued his five game touchdown streak with six receptions with one touchdown reception and eighty-five yards receiving in the win against the St. Louis Rams.

On December 7, 2008, in a win against the St. Louis Rams, Boldin became the first player in Arizona Cardinal franchise history to gain 1,000 yards receiving in four consecutive seasons.

During the 2009 NFL offseason, Boldin continues pleading to be traded due to lack of compensation and feelings that the organization no longer cares about him as a player. On March 12, 2009 it was reported by many NFL writers that Boldin was now on the trading block. Cardinals GM Rod Graves has denied this. The Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants have expressed interest in Boldin.

Referencing

  1. ^ "SI.com - 2003 NFL - Draft Preview". 2003-02-24. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  2. ^ Cards, Fitzgerald agree to $40M deal, FOX Sports, 2008-03-11, retrieved 2008-03-11 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Korte, Tim. "Boldin wants Cardinals to trade him". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  4. ^ "Cardinals WR Boldin undergoes surgery to repair facial fracture". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
2003 season
Succeeded by

Template:2009 Pro Bowl NFC Starters

{{subst:#if:Boldin, Anquan|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1980}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1980 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}