• Allison Miles •
• Originally published January 7, 2009 at 10:57 p.m., updated January 7, 2009 at 10:57 p.m.

Jerheme Urban could feel the Arizona Cardinals fans' pain.

They had never witnessed a home playoff game since the franchise moved west from Chicago, and Urban had gone six years without playing a down of postseason action.

"I remember my rookie year in Seattle and it was like minus-7 degrees in Green Bay," Urban said. "I was just standing on the sideline freezing and begging to go in. My second year, I played quite a bit and then I got hurt. Five of my six years my teams have gone to the playoffs, but I had never played in a playoff game."

Urban didn't miss out on the opportunity before an enthusiastic Arizona crowd in last Saturday's NFC wild card game against the Atlanta Falcons, making two catches for seven yards in the Cardinals' 30-24 win.

"By far and away that was the best home game crowd I've ever been involved with," Urban said. "For the first time here it was an Arizona crowd. There are so many times when we play teams like New York or Dallas and they get a good roar. It takes a while for our fans to wear their fans down. These were our fans and it was 100 percent awesome."

Urban could say the same for his second season with the Cardinals. The Victoria native was healthy for the first time since his second season with the Seahawks, and he responded by catching a career-high 34 passes for 448 yards and four touchdowns.

"I definitely went into the offseason knowing a spot was open," Urban said. "A stress fracture (in his right foot) kept me out of mini-camp, but I was able to get into training camp healthy. I had lost a lot of ground, but I knew I'd be competing for the No. 4 spot. I think my experience in the offense and my ability to play on special teams helped. You still have to work every day to compete and win your job."

Urban wasn't surprised with either the Cardinals' success or their inconsistency this season. Arizona won the NFC West with a 9-7 record.

"We saw flashes at times last year," Urban said. "We had guys learning the system and we were pretty banged up last year. You could tell we were starting to come together during training camp and some of our scrimmages. We'd make some plays and the defense would make some plays. We started thinking we'd be pretty good if we could put it together."

Urban, 28, resides in San Antonio where he set records at Trinity University for career touchdowns, season touchdowns and kickoff return yards in a career and season.

The Stroman graduate also plans to return to Victoria as he did last summer to hold a football camp.

Urban came to the Cardinals from the Dallas Cowboys, where he was a member of the practice squad in 2006.

He has enjoyed the opportunity to play with quarterback Kurt Warner, who won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams.

"It's a learning experience every day," Urban said. "He's seen it all. With as much spread offense as we've run this year, it's like having an extra coach on the field. The passing game we had in Seattle was different. But he's grown up in the NFL and he's great about coaching guys up. He's a veteran who knows he's got only this many more games to play. You get a lot more from him when it comes to demanding we do the right thing."

Urban has done whatever he can to get on the field. He plays on the kickoff and kickoff return teams and is currently a gunner on the punt team and has 11 tackles.

Urban could see additional action at wide receiver in the Cardinals' divisional playoff game Saturday night at the Carolina Panthers if Anquan Bolden is unable to play because of a hamstring injury he suffered against Atlanta.

"When I was in Seattle, coach (Mike) Holmgren used to say when you get in the red zone things speed up," Urban said. "The same thing is true when you go from the regular season to the postseason. Things start going a little quicker."

The postseason could end quickly for the Cardinals unless they figure out a way to overcome their struggles on the East Coast, where they've gone 0-5 this season, including a 28-23 loss to the Panthers.

"It's merited," Urban said of the criticism. "We can't get mad at people throwing that stat out there when we haven't won. We've put two good games together. We're going out there on a hot streak. We've got enough talent on this team. It's at our fingertips. It's just frustrating we haven't done some of the little things."

Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or mforman@vicad.com, or comment on this column at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.

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