Safety Antrel Rolle and his Arizona Cardinals teammates have two reasons to be geeked up for the December 6 visit from the Minnesota Vikings to the football stadium named for a college that still doesn’t have a football team.
First, the Vikings shellacked the Cardinals on their home turf last December, 35-14. Second, the Cardinals were pasted by Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and his most recent former team, the Jets, in late September.
“I think Brett Favre is a good quarterback, but this year when they come play us he’s going to have his hands full because we definitely have to get him back for what he did to us last year,” Rolle told Xtra Sports 910 in Phoenix. “I’m going at him.”
Though we’ve seen former Bears and Saints coach Mike Ditka explain in an NFL Films production that he was motivated by revenge when facing the 49ers the season after San Fran skunked Chicago in the NFC title game, we generally think that teams should worry less about “getting him back for what he did to us last year” and focus more on fixing whatever it was that allowed him to do what he did.
In our view, revenge becomes relevant only when someone engages in malicious conduct that unnecessarily causes insult or injury. When a team got its ass kicked fair and square by guys who were simply doing their jobs, revenge is a dish best not served.