A Flight To Remember As Zaven Collins Starts Cardinals' Life

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Devin White and Lavonte David It was in that video where Collins -- his language sometimes spicy – also said he wanted to help the Cardinals win a Super Bowl ring so big a "show dog wouldn't be able to jump over it."


A friend in Hominy once used the saying, Collins said, and it stuck as a joke, but also something Collins still uses. A piece of home that already got people's attention.


"I hope no one ever takes anything I say too serious," Collins said. "But it's also the truth. I want to get a Super Bowl ring, and I want to do it for these fans."


The video also showed more of what Collins is, beyond a beastly athlete of an inside linebacker who was taken so the Cardinals can hopefully make he and Isaiah Simmons a three-down linebacker duo with the kind of impact of the Super Bowl champion Bucs tandem of Who and Who or the Seahawks' longtime difference-makers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright, or even back to Patrick Willis and NaVarro Bowman of the 49ers.


"I don't think it's too big for him," Keim told Arizona Sports. "You not only see it in his play, but when you come in contact with him."


That was part of the reason Bidwill was glad it turned out he did make the trip to pick up Collins.


"I was like, OK, now I get to spend a little more time with him, as opposed to the five or 10 minutes he'd be walking around the building here," Bidwill said. "I could talk to him a little bit about the history of the team, about the organization, I asked him about his family."


As the group got back to Arizona, Bidwill flew over Flagstaff, over Sedona, and Bidwill invited Collins to sit in the cockpit's jump seat for the landing for a unique experience.


As they headed over north Scottsdale, Bidwill pointed out State Farm Stadium – Collins' new home – visible on the other side of the Valley.


Collins was a long way from Hominy, the crucible from which he came.


"It's like having a big family in a small town," Collins said. "Everyone knows everyone, they are like your parent. You go across town and doing something you're not supposed to, your mom will know or your family will know even before you get back home.


"And everyone wants to see you succeed. Truly."

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