FLAGSTAFF – For Daryn Colledge, life would have been much easier had he been able to stay with the Packers.

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Cardinals training camp 2011 | Fans at camp | Full schedule

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It’s an established team, the defending Super Bowl champion, and there are returning starters at most positions.

Instead, the Packers let Colledge, their starting left guard, hit free agency, and he landed with the Cardinals.

“I’ve got a lot of work (to do),” he said. “I’ve got a system I’ve got to dump that I’ve been doing the last five years, and I’ve got a brand new one I have to learn in five days. It’s going to be tough.

“We’ve got a new quarterback back there and we’ve got some moving parts in the offensive line.”

Like other veteran free agents, Colledge won’t be able to practice until Thursday, but he is attending practices and meetings.

Colledge said he doesn’t believe the Cardinals are far away from returning to the team that beat his Packers in the playoffs during the 2009 season.

“It’s an exciting opportunity,” he said. “These guys are extremely talented, and I thought it was the opportunity to be a part of a project. It’s a chance to see a team turn it around. That’s exciting to me.”

Colledge is meeting many of his new teammates, although he is familiar with new quarterback Kevin Kolb.

“I know Kevin in passing because my Green Bay Packers took him out (in the playoffs),” he said. “Me and Kevin had a relationship but this one will be much more friendly.”

Personnel moves

The Cardinals moved to soften the blow of trading away cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, signing free-agent Richard Marshall to a one-year deal.

Marshall played five NFL seasons, all with Carolina, and started every game the past two years. The Cardinals also came to terms with veteran guard Floyd Womack.

Marshall likely will compete with Greg Toler for a starting position opposite Patrick Peterson, the first-round pick who came to terms Saturday.

“We had a need at the corner,” Whisenhunt said. “(Marshall’s) been a consistent player in this league for a couple years. He’s young (26) and we get a chance to look at him this year, and that’s exciting.”

The Cardinals announced the signing of tight end Rob Housler, their-round pick, to a four-year deal.

They also signed cornerback Tae Evans, a rookie free agent from West Texas A&M. Another rookie free agent, cornerback Da’Mon Merkerson, was released.

Numbers game

Quarterback Kevin Kolb worked out a deal with kicker Jay Feely and will wear No. 4 this year, while Feely takes No. 3.

Kolb will make a donation to the Feely Family Foundation, which funds scholarships, promotes healthy lifestyles and partners with Mission of Hope in Haiti.

Conditioning run

Coach Ken Whisenhunt was pleased with the performance of most of the players able to participate in the conditioning run Friday morning.

“We had a couple of guys who struggled, which you thought they probably would, but a great percentage did very well,” Whisenhunt said. “It was a good start.

“We’ll do a little extra conditioning at the end of practices this year in camp, just to make sure.”

Veteran free agents were not able to participate in the test.

And the game ball.

“I thought he deserved it,” Senn said. “I think he deserved a better season than what we’re having. But we can only give him what we can. So I wanted him to have the ball. He knows we appreciate him. No matter what anyone says in the media or anything, he’s a great coach.”

The 19-12 victory over the Cardinals was vintage Fox. The Panthers won with defense, a hard-nosed running attack and a grind-it-out approach that turned conservative in the second half and let the Cardinals hang around.

But the Panthers held on when Senn dug out Jay Feely’s onside attempt in the final minute. Fox, whose contract expires on Feb.1, admitted getting choked up while talking to his players after his last game at Bank of America Stadium.

Did the emotions start during his drive to the stadium Sunday morning?

“I’m not quite that soft,” Fox said, drawing laughs at a postgame press conference attended by his wife Robin.

The victory guarantees the Panthers (2-12) will avoid the worst season in franchise history. That distinction still belongs to the 2001 team that finished 1-15 and sent George Seifert into early retirement.

It also means Fox will leave Charlotte with a winning record. Fox, who replaced Seifert before the ’02 season, has a regular-season record of 73-69 with two games remaining.

“It meant a lot to all of us, but for [Fox], he was a little choked up,” Panthers tight end Jeff King said. “It was great seeing smiling faces again in the locker room. But it was just a good team win. We did it in every phase.”

Tailback Jonathan Stewart posted his second consecutive 100-yard game, bulling through the Cardinals (4-10) for 137 yards on 27 carries. Rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen won for the first time in eight NFL starts by completing 13 of 19 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.

His 16-yard strike to King in the second quarter came a play after Sherrod Martin intercepted Cardinals rookie John Skelton. It also ended Clausen’s streak of consecutive passes without a touchdown at 202.

“Anytime for us this season when we score a touchdown it’s a big thing. I was happy to see that happen,” Fox said. “We were down there a few times. Unfortunately we came up short. Like always we make it interesting in the end.”

Trailing 13-3 at halftime, the Cardinals tried to catch Carolina napping when Feely dribbled the second-half kickoff with the intention of recovering it himself. Senn, aligned across from Feely, broke back before diving on the ball, which did not travel the required 10 yards.

“The ball sat on the ground forever. If it had gone a yard and a half or 2 yards more and we get the ball, maybe that changes [momentum],” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “It was something that we’ve worked on. I felt like it was there, and we didn’t execute.”

Despite starting their first four second-half drives at midfield or better, the Panthers managed just two John Kasay field goals on the four possessions. But with the defense limiting Arizona to 218 yards and Kasay going 4-for-4 on field goals, the Panthers kept the lead.

Arizona pulled within a touchdown on Feely’s 30-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. This time Senn took the field with the “hands team” expecting an onside kick.

After faking like he was going to kick it right, Feely tried another dribbler down the middle of the field. Senn was there again.

“The first one caught me off-guard. I started dropping back and he kicked it, so I just dove for that one,” Senn said. “The second one, you do what you’ve got to do. I just went in there and got it.”

It was fitting Senn ended up in the middle of the action.

Fox asked the reserve linebacker to give a speech Saturday at the team hotel, and the special-teams starters were introduced before the game rather than the offense or defense.

“Jordan Senn’s an unbelievable young man,” Fox said. “He did our team talk [Saturday] night. We introduced our special teams. They’ve been warriors, and he’s been probably one of the leaders in that area. He stepped up big, and basically said he was going to [Saturday] night.”

But the day belonged to Fox. On the topic of his future, Fox said he wasn’t looking past Pittsburgh, the Panthers’ opponent Thursday night in a short holiday week.

Left tackle Jordan Gross, who presented Fox with the game ball in the locker room, said he was happy for his coach.

“It’s been a hard season for everybody, and as much him as anybody when you’re the man in charge,” Gross said. “To get the win and run the ball well and the defense played outstanding was probably the way he’d want it to happen.”

“Jay Feely 22, Denver Broncos 3.”

That’s what the CBS crew put up on the television screen at one point during the Cardinals’ game this past Sunday and the image continues to fascinate.

“It’s been a crazy week,” said Feely, the Cardinals kicker, who has been asked for numerous interviews across the nation following his uncanny performance in Arizona’s 43-13 win.

With a touchdown, five field goals and four extra points, Feely accounted for 25 points in all, one shy of the NFL record for a kicker. He became just the fourth kicker in history to score a touchdown, running for a 5-yard score on a fake field-goal attempt.

But it was his run of 22 consecutive points in the game that holds the most pleasure for Feely. It’s the most consecutive points by any individual in the Super Bowl era, which began in 1967.

The last player to do something like that was Green Bay Packers legend Paul Hornung, who scored 24 points in a row during a 45-7 win over the Baltimore Colts in 1961.

“My only regret is that my grandfather wasn’t around to see me do something like that,” Feely said. “He was the men’s college basketball coach at St. Thomas (College) in Minnesota for over 30 years and he did a number of things with Vince Lombardi.

“He would always tell me stories about Coach Lombardi and he would have loved to have seen a game like that, doing something nobody has done since Paul Hornung. It would have meant a lot to him.”

Tom Feely, who passed away three years ago, always had a special place in his heart for his grandson, Jay. It was a mutual bond. The two shared so many of the same passions, from sports to politics, and talked about them incessantly.

At family get-togethers and reunions, the two often found themselves igniting the late-night fireside chats that dealt with politics. It’s in the bloodlines, after all.

Jay Feely is a direct descendent of one of our country’s Founding Fathers, Roger Sherman, an influential member of the Continental Congress who was on the very committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.

“I went into my grandpa’s office once and I saw this old desk sitting in a corner,” Feely recalled. “I opened it up, saw all these papers (documenting the desk’s authentication), and it was the actual desk that Roger Sherman used to sign the Declaration of Independence.”

The desk is in a museum now. One day, Feely’s cleats might be in a museum, too – the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His 25-point game against the Broncos surely warrants a place in NFL history.

“It’s a game he’ll remember all his life,” Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes said.

So far, it’s earned Feely a ton of notoriety and NFC special teams Player of the Week honors. What does a player get for winning that, by the way?

“I don’t know,” Feely said, smiling. “Eight years ago it was a little piece of paper, so we’ll see if it’s gotten any better.”

Sunday’s game couldn’t have been much more perfect for Feely, other than missing a 49-yard field-goal try. Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt found one other small flaw.

“It was a pretty pathetic leap he tried to make into the stands,” Whisenhunt said, jokingly.

Feely’s next leap might be into the political ring. When he retires from football and his four children have grown into adults, Feely, 34, said he may decide to run for office.

“I’ve always been a person who has wanted to have an impact on a community,” he said.

For the time being, he’ll stick with football and be an occasional guest on Fox News. The Cardinals are glad they have him.

“He’s been a great addition for us this year,” Whisenhunt said. “You talk about guys you bring in that perform the way you expect them to perform, and he’s exceeded that. Tough guy, business-like, works hard, guys love him.”

It was Feely who reached out to Derek Anderson after the quarterback’s Monday night meltdown following a loss to the 49ers. The talked and texted after the game and Feely invited Anderson out for a round of golf the next morning.

“I told my wife, ‘Hey, I’ve got to go spend the day with him,’ ” Feely said. “I think that’s what’s special about being a teammate; you become a family, you care about those guys. You get to know so many different guys from so many different walks of life. You’ve got to be there for them in the good times and the bad times.”

Notes

Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox was asked during a conference call with Arizona reporters this week whether he had any special defensive plans schemed to guard against another fake field-goal attempt by Feely, who scored on a 5-yard run against the Broncos.

“Tell him, ‘No offense,’ but I did giggle,” Fox said. “They did a good job executing it and I was happy for him. But I don’t think if they do one that they’re going to do it the same way against us.”

Feely’s 25 points against Denver are more than the 1-12 Panthers have scored in a game all season.

- Cardinals offensive lineman Rex Hadnot was forced into action at center in the Denver game for one snap after starter Lyle Sendlein had to come out with a badly sliced right thumb.

It was one of the few plays Hadnot, a seven-year pro, enjoyed this season since signing a two-year deal with Arizona. He’s also played in a couple of goal-line situations at guard, one of which resulted in a Beanie Wells touchdown against Tampa Bay.

“If I spend my time sulking waiting for an opportunity, when it comes around I won’t be able to take full advantage of it,” said Hadnot, who started multiple games last year for the Browns. “My thing is, I’m staying ready so I don’t have to get ready.”