Safety Bethea plans to win again as member of Cards

BOB MCMANAMAN

If three tumultuous seasons with the San Francisco 49ers taught Antoine Bethea anything, it was that football still mattered and he’d never take the game for granted. It was a hard lesson to learn for a veteran defensive back who averaged 100 tackles and 11 wins a year during his first eight seasons in the NFL.

Everything seemed to come easy for him and the Indianapolis Colts.

Bethea won more games in his rookie season with the Colts (16) than he won in the past three seasons combined with the 49ers (15). He won a Super Bowl that first season, and his Indianapolis teams also advanced to the playoffs six of the next seven years, which included another Super Bowl appearance.

Ask Bethea if the game was still fun for him during the past three years in San Francisco, and the Cardinals’ new strong safety won’t lie.

“Yeah, it was fun, because you see the other side of the pillow,” he said. “You don’t take it for granted. When I first came into the league, man, it was 12 wins every year. It was like, ‘Oh man, this is easy.’ Going to San Francisco, things didn’t really pan out like I thought it would, but at the end of the day I love the game.

“I appreciate coming to work day in and day out, the camaraderie with the guys, Sundays, going out there and playing the game. Even though Sundays didn’t turn out how we wanted them to turn out a lot of the time, you appreciate that. You don’t take this for granted.”

Bethea turns 33 next month and although he signed a three-year deal with the Cardinals in March, he knows that time is precious and his window to win again is closing fast. That’s why he said he signed with Arizona, however. He likes his chances here as much as anywhere.

Bethea, who will be back on the prac- See CARDINALS, Page 3C