Do Cardinals Have a Problem With Anquan Boldin?

If you watched Sunday's NFC Championship Game you probably noticed a heated argument between Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin and offensive coordinator Todd Haley during the fourth quarter. That's not that unusual, cameras caught Haley and Kurt Warner going back and forth earlier in the contest, but Boldin's behavior after the game ended was quite unusual. According to Mike Freeman of CBS Sports, Boldin stormed off the field and out of the locker room without celebrating with his teammates.

Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt downplayed any problem after the game and Haley said it was "just the emotions of the game." Boldin's history with the Cardinals says it could be something bigger than that. Boldin, despite being a starter in the Pro Bowl, wasn't used at all on the game-winning drive which, by Haley's own admission, triggered the argument.

Boldin has three years left on a contract paying him, on average, $4 million a season. Larry Fitzgerald, the other Cardinals Pro Bowl receiver, signed an extension paying him $10 million per year before the 2008 season. Shortly after that deal got done Boldin demanded a trade and said he had no relationship with Whisenhunt. Combining that with the selfishness needed to walk out on the biggest moment in your team's history and you've got the latest in the long history of prima donna wideouts behaving badly stories, right?

Maybe, but Boldin isn't really cut from the same mold as Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson. This is the same guy who had his face broken by Eric Smith of the Jets and returned to play three weeks later and who played through a hamstring injury against the Eagles. How you balance the toughness with the sulking is hard to figure, but if Boldin created a problem during the fourth quarter of Sunday's game, he's probably not above creating one during the two weeks leading up to Tampa.

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