Arizona Cardinals running backs coach Autry Denson is one of only six position coaches on the staff that are at least 40-years-old.
For the record, they are defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc (50), Denson (48 on Dec. 8), assistant head coach/special-teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers (46, turns 47 on Jan. 12), tight ends coach Ben Steele (46), outside linebackers coach Rob Rodriguez (43 on Christmas Day) and offensive line coach Klayton Adams (41, turns 42 on Feb. 13).
This is mentioned here because of a comment Denson made when he talked with the media Thursday. Referring to the fun that is had in the running backs room, Denson referred to it as “Romper Room.” Many of the media present had no idea what he was talking about. For good reason.
When I told running back Michael Carter about that, he asked, “What’s Romper Room?”
Carter and most players and some media wouldn’t know because Romper Room was a long-running TV show for kids that was televised from 1953 through 1994 and was both franchised and syndicated nationally.
Told that, Carter agreed they have a lot of fun in the room and said they joke with Denson calling him “old man.” He then said he’d google Romper Room to learn more.
Following is the conversation with Denson in our usual Q&A format.
Q: Coach (Jonathan) Gannon said this morning that James is going in a good direction. But what’s it like for you, when you’re having to kind of juggle what it might look like on Saturday, what it could look like on Saturday, whether guys are healthy. Do you approach it any differently than any other week?
A: That’s the process every week. We evaluate all the way up through the mock game (day before) and so everybody’s up, everybody’s a participating, everybody’s getting reps and everybody’s ready to play. So that’s just the mindset that we have with the coaches that we have here.
Q: What does it say about James that after the disappointment when he left the game last week, that two games left, no playoffs, but he wants to try as hard as he can to be out there?
A: What it says about James is what it says about all of us. We signed up to play. Seventeen is the minimum amount of games you play. So if we’re playing, they keeping score. We line up and we’re playing. So that’s just what it is. I don’t think that’s even a question. Like it’s funny. Whenever somebody asks that, like that’s just what you do, man. You’re wired to do that. You love playing football and so you play the game as long as you can as many times as you can.
Q: A guy like Michael Carter, it probably wasn’t the start of the season that he might have expected. But for him to jump in last week, what does it say about his football character of just being patient, staying the course and ultimately delivering when he could?
A: Mike’s just a professional. That’s what he is, man. He’s expected to be ready to go at any time. That’s what he did. And so, he’ll probably just talk about the one mishap he had, which is what I love about him, but he’s a professional. That’s what the expectation is.
Q: How would you analyze how Trey Benson’s rookie season has gone. He’s had some ups. I’m sure there’s been some other places where he’d like to do have been better. How would you analyze that?
A: I’ll let you all analyze it. I’m too busy trying to develop and coach him. I can’t do two things at once. I’m not smart enough. So I’m gonna stay with the teaching in the development and I’ll let y’all analyze it. That sounds a whole lot more fair for me, man. So I’ll let y’all do that part of it.
Q: You mentioned to us last year and I think it was your wife that said Michael Carter smiles all the time. But, what kind of a guy is he to be able to stay on the practice squad all year long and then finally get a chance, but he just seems grateful for his opportunity.
A: First of all, Mike’s faith is what drives him and then again, he’s just a professional. I mean, he’s been around. He knows how it goes and he’s always ready to go. So, he is a professional professional. That’s the best one I can describe Mike.
Q: You said what you did about Trey, but do you see that progress from when he came in to where he is right now?
A: I hope so. I like to think I’m a pretty decent teacher. If not, that’s a little bad reflection on me. So, you tell me.
Q: Is there one area that Trey’s improved the most. For example, you haven’t played the Rams since Week 2. From then until now, is there an area where he’s improved significantly?
A: Know what, I develop him holistically. So I’m working on every aspect. Trust me, I’m never gonna be satisfied, so there’s nothing they’re gonna do, any of them from the top to the bottom that’s going to actually be good enough. So if you actually were a fly on the wall and you sat in our meetings, you would know what I’m talking about. I’m challenging them every day and every aspect of it.
Q: James Conner and his broken tackles; he’s been among the league leaders all year. How much is God-given and how much of that can be learned as a running back?
A: I think there is nature and nurture at play there. So, nature from God gives him that ability, but nurture; that’s the way, that’s the expectation in the room. That’s the way that he’s graded and those are the things that we talk about and emphasize. So, what you actually emphasize is what they give you and he does a good job. It’s just going above the standard.
Q: How has James looked to you this week?
A: Like he looks every week. James is always ready to go. Like you will never see James not ready to go.
Q: How much do you see the younger guys watching the way James does it as a pro, learning from that and getting better?
A: Man, if they smart, a lot, right? I mean, you’re talking about somebody who’s done it, done it at a high level and is an ultimate professional. He’s a great leader at that, so hopefully they’re watching him a lot. Makes my job a lot easier.
Q: It seems like DeeJay (Dallas) has a lot of energy. Does he bring the most energy to the running backs room?
A: Oh man. It’s like Romper Room in there, so I won’t just give DeeJay the title. We all got a lot of energy including myself, so it’s just fun, man. We have fun doing what we do, doing what we love. So we are blessed. You see a lot of appreciation, gratitude, but it’s just guys are appreciative of the opportunity and just blessed to be in this position. So we have a lot of fun. That’s one of the rules in the room; we have to have fun. We’re gonna work hard. We gotta play hard too.
Q: He’s unique, DeeJay’s unique in a lot of respects including not wearing gloves. You don’t see that too much in today’s game, do you?
A: I didn’t even know that. (laughter). Good for him. I’d be wearing ‘em (more laughter).
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