Hjalte Froholdt Works At Being Center Of Attention

Froholdt, who didn’t begin playing football until he was 12 in his native Denmark and ramped up again when he was a high school exchange student in Ohio as a sophomore, knew last season with the Browns he’d have to work on playing center.

He just didn’t think he’d play there.

“It was, ‘Hey you’re going to learn to play center and you’re going to be a guard’ and he loves to work at it,” said Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who was the Browns quarterbacks coach last year. “That is very much his personality and a big reason why he is here.”

There are veterans out there available, like Ben Jones or Pat Elflein or Sam Mustipher. In the meantime, Froholdt said he benefits from offensive line coach Klayton Adams, who was in Indianapolis previously and has his group watching video of center Ryan Kelly and Pro Bowl guard Quentin Nelson, two of the better players at their position.

Froholdt doesn’t have any illusions of his experience, either.

“I am still trying to develop at the center position,” he said.

The Cardinals also have Lecitus Smith, a draft pick from 2022 who had no center experience coming into the league but has worked on that skill himself.

“I like where (the position) is at right now,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “Fro has done a really good job for us in there these last couple weeks here and we’ll continue to evaluate that as we get going.”

Froholdt, who already was living in the Valley before he signed with the Cardinals, will continue to try and improve himself in the facility and at home with his “ladies.” He wants to own more Strongman equipment, to continue to incorporate the ‘odd lift de jour” into his workouts.

Maybe, when his centering days – OK, his offensive line days – are over, Froholdt might consider being the next Sven-Ole Thorsen or René Minkwitz.

“We will see,” Froholdt said. “I enjoy the sport. No comments on that yet. But I do think I need to compete in something when I am done with football. I don’t think I can just chill by the pool..”