A.Q. Shipley played in the NFL for 12 years but the majority of his time was with the Cardinals and with it, the majority of his fondest pro memories.
"I loved every aspect of my time in Arizona," Shipley said.
The center formed his closest friendships with linemen like Justin Pugh, Jared Veldeer, Mike Iupati and Earl Watford, and still takes vacations with quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton. He and his family live in the Valley.
Shipley has a chance to build on those memories after the Cardinals selected him as the team's new color analyst, replacing Ron Wolfley. Wolfley retired in February after 20 seasons in the booth.
"I think there's a whole different area of expertise to explaining the game and that starts and finishes really with the offensive line," Shipley said. "When I played, I was two inches too short, my arms were two inches too short. How did I stay in the league all that time? I took it very seriously, studied my tail off and felt that I was tougher and worked harder than most.
"I'll take the same aspect into this. I think it's really cool to talk about why this simple inside zone works to the left but the defense ran a twist stunt and wrapped the Will linebacker. I'm speaking a foreign language to some, but if I can do that in a way where my Mom can understand it then I know everybody can understand it."
Shipley will also serve as a brand ambassador to the organization as well as appear on the team's TV shows and podcasts. But his main role will be working alongside play-by-play man Dave Pasch and sideline reporter Paul Calvisi, each of whom have been on the broadcast team for more than 20 years.
"When you look at whether it's Wolf or (Bill) Walton or the NBA or college football analysts on ESPN, there is one common thing with the best," Pasch said. "They all have different strengths, different personalities, but the biggest common denominator is passion for the game. A.Q. has that."
When Pasch and Shipley did a mock broadcast together during the interview process, Pasch thought Shipley was "a natural."
"It is a little different on radio because a lot of times you're just calling the action and you're not working off TV elements," Pasch said. "You don't have an opportunity to be a storyteller as much, so there isn't as much back-and-forth, but it's still part of my job to help him get comfortable and get to the point where people feel like the two of us have really good chemistry."
Shipley has been in the media. He has done some podcasting with Pugh breaking down offensive line play, he has been making appearances on The Pat McAfee Show -- the two were teammates on the Colts -- the last couple of years.
Shipley signed with the Cardinals in 2015, joining head coach Bruce Arians for a third time, having played with Arians in both Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. Shipley hoped to start that season, although the Cards eventually signed Lyle Sendlein in training camp. Shipley played a reserve role for a team that reached the NFC Championship.
He emerged as the starter in 2016 and held that spot through 2019 – although he missed the 2018 season after tearing his ACL in training camp. In his 60 games with the Cardinals, he started 51 times.
Shipley signed with the Buccaneers – where Arians was then coaching – in 2020 but only played in a couple of games before suffering a career-ending neck injury. Shipley earned a Super Bowl ring when Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl that season.
He thought his post-playing career would be in coaching, and he served on Arians' Tampa staff in 2021. But with a growing family – he has three children age 7 and younger – the lifestyle of coaching was not a fit.
With his new duties, Shipley can still be a part of the game.
"I love being able to talk football," Shipley said. "It's basically doing exactly what I like to do in terms of a coaching aspect except now it's in front of people from the media angle."
