So Sunday, actor, former professional wrestler and one-time college football player Dwayne Johnson -- The Rock -- tweeted out a video of Bruce Arians with the message "Would've loved to play for this man." It got me thinking about something GM Steve Keim said about one of the benefits of having the "All or Nothing" series out there for public consumption.
"It helps not only the brand, but it helps create resources you didn't have before," Keim said. "Sometimes, when you talk about free agency, there is a recruiting aspect to that. So when there is a perception of a team or an organization and it is good, it makes it that much easier to talk players into signing here and sometimes signing for less money, because they want to be part of something special."
OK, The Rock isn't signing a contract with the Cardinals (and, it should be noted, the video clip Johnson used was actually from the Arians bio "A Football Life" and not from "All or Nothing.") But it underscores what Keim said about the Amazon series. It's clear the biggest "star" of the whole thing is Arians. Without his personality, I'm not sure the series is as successful as it is, and that's not to knock anyone else in the program. But the head coach is naturally going to be at the epicenter of a series like that, and -- as all of us know who work with Arians on a daily basis -- Arians has that kind of charisma.
Yes, he can MF you on the practice field, but players can see it's about the football. Arians forgets about it as soon as the work is over. He can separate the player and the man. That's why guys love to play for him. And while The Rock isn't coming anytime soon, you can bet there are active players out there who have watched "All or Nothing" or Arians' "A Football Life" and are thinking that they too want to play for Arians and the Cardinals. That's a powerful tool.