Sean Harlow's refusal to quit exemplifies surprising cohesion among Cardinals' O-linemen
Sean Harlow was at the end of his rope. The offensive lineman had bounced around the NFL for the past four years without ever stepping on the field on game day and had come to the realization that if it didn’t happen this year after signing with the Arizona Cardinals, he had to face facts.
He had never given up on himself. But everyone else seemed to give up on him. It wasn’t the way he wanted it to end, not after coming so close to following in his father’s footsteps, only to never get an opportunity to play.
Pat Harlow spent eight years in the league as an offensive tackle for the Patriots and Raiders following a successful career at USC. Sean Harlow, a fourth-round draft pick out of Oregon State by the Falcons in 2017, has been languishing on practice squads. He was activated for one game in 2019, but didn’t play.
“Honestly, I was probably done with ball if it didn’t work out here,” Harlow, a 6-foot-4, 284-pound guard said. “It was four years of battling, battling, battling and I never saw the field. It really shot my confidence to be honest.”
Cardinals offensive line coach Sean Kugler reached out to Harlow shortly after the 26-year-old signed a make-good, futures contract with the team in January. It was a heart-to-heart conversation that stopped Harlow in his tracks.
“The biggest thing I remember in talking to Kuges the first time was he said, ‘You’re going to get a real opportunity here,’ ” Harlow recalled. “That could be coach talk, it could be not, but it turned out to be true. They truly gave me an opportunity to go prove myself and that’s all I could ask for and I’m really grateful for it.”
Instead of quitting the game and letting his lifelong dream slip away, Harlow will find himself starting at left guard for the Cardinals (8-2) on Sunday when they meet the Seahawks (3-6) in Seattle. He’ll once again be filling in for the injured Justin Pugh, who will miss his second straight game with a calf strain.
It will mark the eighth time this season — and the seventh time in their past nine games — the Cardinals have had to rely on a different starting combination on the offensive line.
Harlow, though, has played up and down Arizona’s offensive line this year. He’s seen time at both guard spots, started his first game at center three weeks ago against the Packers and even pitched in as the team’s emergency long snapper against San Francisco after Aaron Brewer suffered a broken forearm in the fourth quarter.
Andy Lee’s punt was picture-perfect and the snap? “We got it off,” Harlow said, nonchalantly.
“I think it’s just a testament to how good our line is,” Harlow said. “We work really well together and Kuges does a good job of getting us right. I’ve played a lot of ball in camp with both (left tackle) D.J. (Humphries) and (center) Rodney (Hudson) next to me, so being between those two guys, it’s hard to look bad.”
Harlow is being modest, according to head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“He has been huge,” Kingsbury said. “To be able to have a guy that can play guard and can play center at a high level has just been tremendous. Great energy, works hard, smart – obviously to pick it up as quickly as he has – he’s really saved us in a couple of games this year.”
It hasn’t just been Harlow, 26, either. Backup Max Garcia, 30, has also filled in nicely during two starts at right guard and two starts at center. He is expected to play right guard Sunday against the Seahawks. Like Harlow, he also contemplated retirement this past offseason and was close to walking away. He rediscovered his passion for the game thanks to Kugler and the rest of peers on the offensive line.
“Yeah, I talked to Max about that,” Harlow said. “Max started out a little opposite. He played a lot early and then got hurt. But yeah, he’s finally getting his shot again and you can see it in him. He’s happy, he’s having fun and that’s all you can really ask for.”
All Harlow ever asked for was an opportunity, but it never came.
“I saw so many people who did get their opportunities before me and I was like, ‘Damn, I can do that. I can do that,’ ” he said. “They’d go in, they’d play fine and I was like, ‘I’ve just got to get my opportunity.’ I believe in myself. I put in so much work. This is what I’ve wanted to do forever.
“It was just self-belief and wanting to prove to myself that I could and not letting someone else control that. I didn’t want to go out because I decided to quit, it was because someone won’t let me play anymore.”
Usually, of course, opportunities come in the wake of injuries to a fellow teammate. That’s never the preferred way to get your foot in the door, but it’s a way of life in the NFL and Harlow knows it. Injuries to Pugh, Hudson, Garcia and Brewer created his own opportunity on multiple fronts and he had to seize on the situation.
“This game is so opportunity-based, that’s how people get their opportunity is through injuries,” he said. “You never want to see anyone go down – we spend so much time with each other and it’s such a great group of guys and we all really enjoy each other – but it is what it is. You get your opportunity and it’s just, ‘Don’t mess it up.’ ”
Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim told The Republic that the smooth cohesion on the offensive line despite so many moveable pieces wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for Kugler, a 31-year coaching veteran who has also spent time with the Lions, Bills, Steelers and Broncos.
“I think Sean Kugler is one of the best in the NFL, if not the best, and he’s a tremendous leader,” Keim said. “He’s a guy that not only draft picks, but free agents and anybody that we’ve had in here, want to play for.”
Just as important in many ways has been the addition of the veteran Hudson, who is widely regarding as one of the top overall centers in the league.
“Rodney Hudson was sort of like the icing on the cake,” Keim said. “He’s seen it all, he’s done it all, he’s a great leader, he talks, he communicates. More than anything, he brings a tremendous amount of confidence to our offense and it sort of permeates through the room and as you’ve seen, help the quarterback.”
If it didn’t work out for Harlow this season, he was ready to move on and find himself “a big-boy job” outside of football. Thanks to Kugler, Kingsbury, Hudson and so many others, he isn’t going anywhere and can’t wait to see if this Cardinals’ special season ends the way he hopes it will.
“Kuges and Kliff really just believed in me and let me roll and go play and have fun and it really just rekindled my love for the game,” Harlow said. “The last four years have been rough, especially mentally. But it’s been great experience, I’m happy, I’m loving football again and it’s fun to go play.”
Roster moves
The Cardinals signed long snapper Beau Brinkley and running back Tavien Feaster to the active roster from the practice squad, placed linebacker Tanner Vallejo (knee) on injured reserve and elevated linebacker Joe Walker and linebacker Tahir Whitehead to the active roster from the practice squad as standard elevations.
Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live on Fox Sports 910-AM every Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals' O-line has shown great resolve through constant change
