Whisenhunt haunted by Super Bowl

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt still hasn’t watched a tape of the Cardinals’ loss to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.

“I’m thinking probably before we play them in preseason that I’ll go back and look at it,” he said.

But Whisenhunt can’t escape it. Every time Whisenhunt turns on the television, he finds a reminder of the Cardinals’ bitter 27-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa in February.

“It seems like every time I turn around, they’re showing a clip of it,” Whisenhunt said after minicamp practice on Saturday morning. “And as exciting as it was that we were in the Super Bowl, it’s also painful that we were that close and didn’t win it.”

Whisenhunt had a few more reminders on Saturday morning, when the Cardinals allowed fans into their practice facility for their annual glimpse of minicamp. Many fans sported Super Bowl gear.

Whisenhunt is happy for the increased interest in a team long viewed as an afterthought. But he said the memories of the Super Bowl sting.

“Have I had nightmares about it? Yeah, I’ve had a few of those,” Whisenhunt said. “I don’t really dream about it. Every once in a while I’ll think about it. Like today, there was a lot of Super Bowl merchandise out here. It was natural to think about that when you see that.

“I’m very proud of what our team did and am excited to have been there,” Whisenhunt said. “But it’s tough that you worked that hard and you get that close and you don’t come out with the win.”

The turnout for the fans’ day was much heavier than a year ago, when the Cardinals were coming off an 8-8 record in Whisenhunt’s first season.

“One of our players said, ‘Coach, did we have security out here last year?’ ” Whisenhunt said. “I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Well, why have we got it this year?’ I said, ‘That’s what happens when you go to the Super Bowl.’”