The tears were shed not Monday as Patrick Peterson formerly announced his NFL retirement in the building he spent a decade at for work but the night before, when he was having dinner with family and friends.
Yet as his highlight reel played prior to him taking the stage at the Dignity Health Training Center, the former cornerback was hit with another pang of emotion, and again when he watched the power quartet of Bruce Arians, Carson Palmer, Tyrann Mathieu and Larry Fitzgerald wish him well in videotaped messages.
Peterson hadn’t played in the NFL since 2023, when he appeared in all 17 games for the Steelers. He hadn’t played for the Cardinals since leaving as a free agent after the 2020 season. He was at peace that his playing days were over.
To make it official, however, it was important for him to return to Arizona and do it with the Cardinals.
“Hopefully I did enough to put me where I want be at the end of my career, which is in Canton and football heaven,” Peterson said. “Arizona gave me that opportunity to do that, so it was only right to be able to retire a Cardinal.”
He did so with a host of former Cardinals teammates on hand: Fitzgerald, Andre Roberts, Tony Jefferson, Adrian Wilson, Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, Drew Stanton, Dennis Gardeck and Calais Campbell.
Current Cardinals Trey McBride and Garrett Williams, along with coach Jonathan Gannon and GM Monti Ossenfort, were also on hand to help celebrate the career of one of only five defensive players in the Super Bowl era to make a Pro Bowl in each of his first eight seasons. (The others were Aaron Donald, Derrick Thomas, Lawrence Taylor and Joe Greene.)
“You see his full body of work, he was probably underappreciated, more in the middle of his career, because it was expected of him,” Wilson said. “As he got older, he had set such a high bar for himself, even if he did have a down game, he got heavily criticized even if (for most) it was a really good game.
“I probably never played with a guy as talented — maybe (Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) in terms of physical ability — in terms of the mental makeup, the physical ability and the ability to lock in. That was his calling card.”
Besides the eight Pro Bowls, Peterson also was named first-team All-Pro as a punt returner as a rookie and first-team All-Pro at cornerback twice, leading the way for the “No Fly Zone” secondary of Arians’ tenure.
For a franchise with multiple all-time greats in the secondary, Peterson’s resumé fits just fine.
“Everywhere I went,” he said, “I wanted to be etched in stone.”
