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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Jess Root

82 days till the Cardinals’ season opener against the Bills

The countdown continues on this fine Tuesday. As of today, the Arizona Cardinals’ season opener on the road against the Buffalo Bills on September 8 is 82 days away.

In 82 days, the Cardinals will face Josh Allen and a Bills team believed to be a Super Bowl contender.

No. 82 on the Cardinals now is receiver Andre Baccellia, a small, fast receiver who has been with the team since 2021. He was a practice squad guy in 2021 under head coach Kliff Kingsbury, bounced between the practice squad and active roster in 2022 and also in 2023, but last year with head coach Jonathan Gannon.

So far, he has seven NFL receptions and is a longshot to make the roster this year.

But the most recent impactful No. 82 was long snapper Mike Leach.

Leach handled long snapping duties for the Cardinals from 2009-2015, never missing a game. he had a 16-year NFL career before retiring.

He made plays on special teams and, on social media, sharing a name with a famous college football coach (the late Mike Leach), he had fun with users who would reply to him thinking he was the head coach.

He might have been the best No. 82 the Cardinals have had since the team moved from St. Louis.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on SpotifyYouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

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