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Bickley: DeAndre Hopkins’ release ends selfish legacy in Arizona

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Bickley: DeAndre Hopkins’ release ends selfish legacy in Arizona


DeAndre Hopkins was once considered the steal of the century in Arizona. Football people couldn’t believe how little the Houston Texans required for their star wide receiver or how easily they were fleeced at the bargaining table.

Or maybe they couldn’t wait to get rid of him, a feeling the Cardinals would better understand just a few years later.

For the second time in three years, Hopkins is moving on to another team and bringing little or nothing of value in return. The Cardinals folded their hand and released him on Friday, deciding that trade compensation wasn’t worth the distractions and the drama.

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It’s a sorry end to a selfish legacy in Arizona.

There are Cardinals fans who wish him well. There are NFL players who love Hopkins for his transcendent skills and his ruthless brand of mercenary football. He is a generational talent who plays by his own rules and excels at manifest destiny, snatching whatever he wants out of thin air. He extracted $54.5 million of new money from the Cardinals without hiring an agent. And in the end, he slipped loose from a rebuilding effort because the Cardinals couldn’t trade the contract he negotiated; and because Hopkins showed no shame in continually dropping the names of his favorite NFL quarterbacks, none of whom play for the Cardinals.

Hopkins also publicly cited three things he was looking for in his next organization, citing stability at the top; a strong defense; and a quarterback who pulls everyone together. The Cardinals are lacking in all three categories, and Hopkins knew it.

But why say it when you’ve been on the open market for months with no takers? Other than to expedite your release?

In yet another case of manifest destiny, Hopkins spent most of the offseason acting like the free agent he was about to become. And in the end, general manager Monti Ossenfort learned the hard way:

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You cannot grow a culture around Hopkins and his business decisions.

It’s not that Hopkins was a bust in Arizona. He was terrific in his first season. Like Chris Paul, he seemed even greater than advertised. In Year 2, he co-authored the improbable Hail Murray play to beat the Bills, along with a 10-2 start that grabbed the NFL by the throat a year later.

Once, the team raved about his star power and swagger. You could feel the energy change the moment Hopkins stepped on a football field. Then he tore his MCL. Then came the PED suspension and the knee that “flared up,” prompting Hopkins to quit on his teammates and miss the final two games of the Kliff Kingsbury debacle.

It’s also understandable that Hopkins wants out. During the team’s appearance on “Hard Knocks in Season,” Hopkins revealed anxiety over his Hall of Fame credentials, especially after a six-game suspension. He needs a closing statement and a final act, the kind of stage he wouldn’t be getting in Arizona, a franchise in the midst of dramatic overhaul.

But the biggest issue was the sense of entitlement. Hopkins believed his game day reliability validated his decision to practice lightly during the week. To compete on his terms.

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Maybe that works for the individual. But it does not work for the team. And it can have terrible consequences for a young head coach looking to create a fierce sense of shared commitment.

You can’t implore players to win every day and battle for every blade of grass if you are a screaming hypocrite or not the one making the rules. Then you’re just another fraud with a whistle.

The Cardinals can’t afford that. Not now. Not ever again.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta mornings from 6–10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.

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Arizona

Newest Arizona members of Congress sworn in during opening day in DC

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Newest Arizona members of Congress sworn in during opening day in DC


Gary Farmer is an actor, musician, and activist whose made a career in indigenous media. His performances in television and film have received rave reviews. The1989 film “Powwow Highway”, in which he stars, was just inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry.



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Yassamin Ansari, Abe Hamadeh set to become Arizona’s newest members of Congress

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Yassamin Ansari, Abe Hamadeh set to become Arizona’s newest members of Congress


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Arizona’s two newest U.S. House members are set to get sworn into their posts as the 119th Congress gets underway.

Republican Abe Hamadeh, a lawyer, and Democrat Yassamin Ansari, a former Phoenix vice mayor, are expected to take their oaths of office on Friday, shortly after the House resumes session.

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Hamadeh will replace Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., who is retiring from Congress to serve on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. 

He will represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, an overwhelmingly Republican area that covers parts of Maricopa and Yavapai counties, including Glendale, Peoria, Sun City West and New River.

Propelled by an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump, Hamadeh defeated a crowded field of other Republicans in Arizona’s July 30 primary election and sailed to an easy victory in the Nov. 5 general election.

Hamadeh, a self-described “America First warrior,” largely echoed Trump’s positions on the campaign trail. He will serve on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee.

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Ansari will represent Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, a stretch of Maricopa County that includes parts of Phoenix and Glendale. She is replacing Democrat Ruben Gallego, who has swapped his House seat for a U.S. Senate seat. Her House committee assignments have not been announced.

During the primary election, Ansari hewed closer to the political center than her opponent, former state Sen. Raquel Terán of Phoenix. Ansari ran on a progressive platform but staked out more centrist turf on issues like policing and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel.

She beat out Terán by just 39 votes, and, like Hamadeh, won her November election in a landslide.

Ansari plans to join the House’s Progressive Caucus, the Democrats’ most left-leaning faction on Capitol Hill.

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3 arrested in connection with good Samaritan's killing in Arizona

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3 arrested in connection with good Samaritan's killing in Arizona


Three people were arrested this week in connection with the death of a good Samaritan in Arizona last month, officials said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department identified two of the three people arrested Monday as Jack Upchurch, 40, and Elmer Smith, 19. The third person is 16 years old. NBC News does not typically identify minors accused of crimes.

The trio were arrested in connection with the death of Paul Clifford, 53, whose body was found near a smoldering car northeast of Tucson last month.

Sabrina Vining, a woman who identified herself as Clifford’s daughter in an online fundraiser, said her father disappeared after he left his house at 11:30 p.m. Dec. 23 to help a “stranger with a stranded vehicle.”

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NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson reported that Clifford’s family reported him missing after, they said, a strange man knocked on Clifford’s door and asked for help with his car.

He was later found dead, the sheriff’s department said. It did not provide a cause or manner of death.

Officials said they received information Monday about a possible location for the three suspects.

Detectives searched the area and obtained a search warrant for a property, which the Pima Regional SWAT team carried out.

The suspects barricaded themselves inside a home and eventually called 911 to negotiate a surrender, the sheriff’s department said. They left the residence and were taken into custody.

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The sheriff’s department did not release any information about a motive or how it connected the suspects to Clifford’s killing.

The three suspects were booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center on felony arrest warrants, officials said.

It was not immediately clear whether they have legal representation. Jail records do not list attorneys for any of the three.

Upchurch was being held on a $1 million bond, Smith on $1.025 million bail and the minor on a half-million-dollar bond, according to jail records.



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