Cardinals close book on Super Bowl loss

Kurt Warner was at a charity event a few weeks ago when he saw it.

One of the auction items was a picture of Pittsburgh Steelers' linebacker James Harrison returning Warner's interception for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII.

"I threw my jersey over it," Warner joked.

Three months have passed since Pittsburgh's 27-23 victory broke the hearts of the Cardinals and their fans, and the snapshots are still vivid in the mind:

Harrison, weaving along the sideline, exhausted, diving into the end zone just before being tackled.

Santonio Holmes, reaching high into the air, snatching Ben Roethlisberger's pass and touching his toes to the turf.

The Cardinals, dejected, slowly walking off the field.

The Steelers, celebrating, as confetti fell from the sky.

You haven't forgotten a thing. You're not sure you ever will.

Yet when the Cardinals gathered at minicamp this weekend - the team together for the first time since the Super Bowl - the memories of that Sunday evening had become just that.

Memories.

Some players find it extraordinarily difficult to get over a Super Bowl loss. Buffalo Bills place-kicker Scott Norwood is still reluctant to talk about his last-second 47-yard miss in Super Bowl XXV. In the days leading up to Super Bowl XLIII, Warner admitted he still was haunted by the St. Louis Rams' 20-17 loss to the New England Patriots in the 2002 Super Bowl.

The Cardinals, however, seem to have left their anguish in Tampa. Some of them have even been able to watch a replay of the entire game without throwing a size 14 shoe through the screen.

Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald found it easy to let go. He left the country, traveling for 37 days through Africa and Iraq, Kuwait and Mexico. He didn't turn on a computer or watch TV, and he rarely used his phone, so there was little to remind him of the game.

The players aren't oblivious to the pain. They understand what was lost and how rare those opportunities are. But they prefer to focus on what the Cardinals accomplished rather than let 60 minutes define their season.

"We may have lost but we made it there," safety Antrel Rolle said.

"That's what I was excited about," Warner added. "Being a part of that, just the run we made and the excitement of being around here and being in that game. Those are the memories I have more than anything."

There are moments, however, when the pain wins out. The wife of nose tackle Bryan Robinson put the game on Tivo before leaving for Tampa.

Robinson sat down to watch it about two weeks later.

He was fine until the Steelers began their 78-yard, game-winning march.

"You do relive that last drive and even though you know it's going to come out the way it did, you maybe think you could do some hocus-pocus and it will come out different," Robinson said.

"But it never does."

Scott Bordow is a sports columnist for the East Valley Tribune, the Daily News-Sun's sister newspaper in Mesa. He may be reached at 480-898-6598 or via e-mail at sbordow@evtrib.com.