Arizona has high expectations for Tim Hightower

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Arizona finished last in the league in rushing, but the Cardinals have improved in that department in recent weeks. Among their biggest running plays was a fourth-and-one conversion by rookie Tim Hightower in the NFL title game against Philadelphia.

As football role models go, Hightower could not have picked a better one.

‘Growing up as a kid, I loved Walter Payton,’ he said of the late, great Chicago Bears star. ‘He was a guy who every time he touched the ball, he was going to give it everything he had, whether they were up by 50 points or down by 50 points. He was going to run hard on every single play, and he was a competitor who loved the game.

‘That’s something I want to emulate, not as far as talent-wise, because you can’t really compare talent, but just his whole approach to the game and how he just cared about playing every single Sunday.’

The Cardinals have to love hearing that.

-- Sam Farmer