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" You may excuse Calvin Pace if he's feeling a bit left out this week.
The Jets linebacker, signed as a free agent before this season, spent the first five years of his career playing for the Cardinals without getting so much as a sniff of postseason play.
Now he's sitting idly at home watching his former teammates bask in their glory as they ready to play the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Sunday.
The Cardinals' cumulative record during Pace's five seasons with them was a miserable 28-52.
When he became an unrestricted free agent after the 2007 season, Pace signed with the Jets with the hope of finally tasting a postseason game.
But the Jets frittered away an 8-3 start to miss the playoffs, and the Cardinals got hot at the right time and have made a mad dash to the Super Bowl.
"It's funny when you think about it . . . I played there for five years and never got close to playoffs," Pace told The Post. "Maybe I was bad luck. But everything happens for a reason. My contract was up. A business decision had to be made. It was time to move on.
"I have no regrets," Pace continued. "I'm happy for them. I've become a Cardinals fan again. I'm cheering them on. Those guys really deserve it. There are guys who've been there a long time and haven't experienced winning.
"I have no ill feelings. I'm kind of living this through them. I don't have any regrets or feelings of wishing I was there. Hopefully, my time will come. I'm just rooting them on right now.""
The Jets linebacker, signed as a free agent before this season, spent the first five years of his career playing for the Cardinals without getting so much as a sniff of postseason play.
Now he's sitting idly at home watching his former teammates bask in their glory as they ready to play the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa on Sunday.
The Cardinals' cumulative record during Pace's five seasons with them was a miserable 28-52.
When he became an unrestricted free agent after the 2007 season, Pace signed with the Jets with the hope of finally tasting a postseason game.
But the Jets frittered away an 8-3 start to miss the playoffs, and the Cardinals got hot at the right time and have made a mad dash to the Super Bowl.
"It's funny when you think about it . . . I played there for five years and never got close to playoffs," Pace told The Post. "Maybe I was bad luck. But everything happens for a reason. My contract was up. A business decision had to be made. It was time to move on.
"I have no regrets," Pace continued. "I'm happy for them. I've become a Cardinals fan again. I'm cheering them on. Those guys really deserve it. There are guys who've been there a long time and haven't experienced winning.
"I have no ill feelings. I'm kind of living this through them. I don't have any regrets or feelings of wishing I was there. Hopefully, my time will come. I'm just rooting them on right now.""
