WEBVTT - Big Red Rage - Saving Pat Tillman's Legendary Locker 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:04.840 Strap on the boots and scrape up the knuckles. 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:06.880 Hold ahead, he got jacked. 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:11.800 This is the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:12.880 in Gilbert. 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:14.320 Where he's gonna score touchdown. 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.400 Slim to the ground by Buddha Baker Like a torpedo. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.280 He came flying into the back field. 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.840 The rage is brought to you by santan Ford in Gilbert. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.200 Are you santan Ford State Farm? Talk to an agent 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:35.960 today at eight hundred State Farm. And by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.040 Visit Hazycardinals dot Com, Slash podcasts. 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:47.280 All red Seeds, Rising Up, jumpturizing vision, flurring rage, taking 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:47.920 it over. 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:49.400 Here's Paul Calvic. 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.519 I'm ready. I'm one hundred percent ready. I'm telling you 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:53.080 I'm ready. 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:54.320 And Ron Wilfleep. 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:59.000 It doesn't get any better than that leash the fjord. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:04.920 A singular player in Cardinal's history, Pat Tillman was one 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.200 of the most unique people to ever walk amongst us. 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:12.000 In fact, a statue stands outside the Cardinals stadium for 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.559 all to see, but very few know what's displayed inside 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:19.960 Cardinals HQ. A very special big red rage. We call 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:24.600 it our Cardinals Folktales Legendary Locker Edition, The story behind 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.760 the saving from an almost certain destruction of Pat Tillman's 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.639 locker back in the day. You know, Cardinals Folktales Wolf 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.440 it's number one in the series, the story and rightfully 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:39.120 so of Pat Tilman's legendary locker that is now behind 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.679 glass outside the Cardinals locker room, essentially a museum piece. 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.479 And you also know, how what we like to say 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.080 about Cardinals Folktales, this Emmy Award winning series, that you 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.600 can't spell history without the word story. But what about 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.120 the word folktale? What does that mean to you? How 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:55.640 would you define it? 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.920 Yeah, Paully, that is a great question right there, right Well, 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.440 first of all, folk tes l it's got to be 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:03.559 a story. So it's got to be a story about 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.280 a human being, and it's got to be a story 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.200 about a human being doing legendary things. That to me 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.519 is my definition of a folk. 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:17.920 Tell and that would definitely define Pat Tillman, someone where 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.600 football did not define Pat Tillman. We both know that. 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:23.640 We both go back to the days when he was 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.320 a star at ASU and then a Cardinal's draft pick, 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:30.639 and to this day. Look, we're both asked about Pat Tillman. 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.240 I know you are. And what do you say when 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.320 people ask you about the late great Pat Tillman. 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.760 You know, for the most part, Polly, I just say, 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.480 let me tell you a story, because this really defines 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:42.880 who he is right here. And I tell him the 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:45.960 story about when I ran into Pat Tillman who was 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:49.960 walking out of a bowling alley pushing a ten speed 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:54.000 a bike with him, and I thought it was so weird. 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.000 I said, hey, Pat, what's up man? How you doing? 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.000 You know? And he said hello? And I said, Pat, 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:02.639 what'd you do? Do you write your bike here? And he 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:04.799 said to me, yeah, I did. As a matter of fact, 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:06.720 I said, what do you live around here? He said no, 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.200 I live about ten miles that way. I said, you 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.080 rode your bike here and he said, yeah, I'm training 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:17.080 for a triathlon. Paul, I remember that training. Yes, he 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:19.600 was training for that. And I was like, Tilly, what 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.000 are you doing? I mean, you're an NFL player. Don't 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.320 you have enough challenge right there? He said, why are 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:29.320 you doing that? And he said, I just wanted to 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:34.520 test myself and challenge myself. That just blew me away, Paul. 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:37.720 And yet it says so much about. 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.920 Pat it does. In fact, all the cardinal strength coaches 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.960 at the time said, no, don't do it. That's counterproductive 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.280 to being a football player. The explosion you need. You 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.680 don't want to run marathons and do triathlons. And you 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.880 know what Pat did it. Anyway, Look, if you asked 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.680 me about Pat Tolman, I think of the epitome as 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:58.720 someone who thought for themselves, right. Yeah, they felt it 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:02.520 was ultra important educate yourself in so many different ways. 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.560 He had that insatiable curiosity about him. You know, you 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.120 think about Pat Tillman, not just the football player, but 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.640 the Pat Tillman scholars as someone who had a three 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.920 point nine gpa at ASU. He was always driven by 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.440 seeking knowledge, right, the need to experience life and what 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.600 he got out of his twenty seven years you could 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.880 only hope to get out of a full lifetime compared 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:25.520 to Pat Tillman. 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:28.280 Yeah, and for me, Paully too, it's just I've got 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:30.120 to bring it back, man, I got to bring it 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.200 back to the white lines, the football field, the grid 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:38.919 iron and mother grid iron and how tough Pat Tillman 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:43.960 truly was as a football player. I'm sorry. I know 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.960 what he did and the way he gave his life 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:51.480 for our country in service to so many others. But 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.719 for me, the fact that he walked in between those 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:59.560 white lines as well and endured so much and absorbed 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:03.960 so much damage while giving damage on the football field, 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:07.560 to me so impressed with him. That's my number one 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:08.760 takeaway from Pat. 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.760 He still holds the Cardinals all time record for tackles 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.239 in a season, more than two hundred and twenty tackles 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.080 in a single season. Think about that. This is a 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.120 seventh round pick in nineteen ninety eight. He came out 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.760 as a tweener. He was the Pac twelve Defensive Player 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.239 of the Year at ASU, But where was he supposed 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:27.040 to play in the NFL? So he lasted to the 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:30.719 seventh round. Remember his first training camp as a rookie Wolf. 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:33.520 We were in Flagstaff. He came in. He was held 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:35.839 bent on making a statement. He was telling him, you 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.640 need this physicality, you need my mentality, and he defied 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:41.360 the odds. He made the team and then started ten 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.320 to sixteen games as a rookie. 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.640 And then, of course his leadership and how he would 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:50.600 impact others. Paul guys around him were inspired by Pat 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:52.159 for so many different reasons. 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:55.880 We know his football career, we know his status as 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.200 an American hero, and we're going to get into all 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:02.200 that and his entire store how his legacy really is 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:06.480 captured in Pat Tillman's legendary locker. When we come back 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.360 on this very special edition, our Cardinals Folktales edition of 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.480 the Big Red Rage presented by santan for in Gilbert 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.679 and welcome back everyone into the Big Red Rage presented 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.240 by Santan Ford and Gilbert. We are Santan Ford, I'm 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.720 Paul Calvic And as we noted off the top, our 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:34.080 game plan revolves around an encore presentation of Cardinals Folk Tales, 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:37.440 where we like to say it can't spell history without 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.280 the word story. Well, if you were to go from 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.400 the Cardinals radio studio about fifty yards to my left, 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.200 you would ait the Cardinals locker room, and before you enter, 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:50.039 you would see a locker behind glass. And there's a 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:55.520 reason why that locker once belonged to Pat Tilman. So 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:59.480 as we look at the makeup of NFL rosters and 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:03.360 we see long shot players and low round picks who 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.560 might be able to defy the odds, it's hard not 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.040 to think of the greatest Cardinals example of that. Ever, 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.560 at least to me, Cardinal's seventh round pick in nineteen 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.880 ninety eight, Pat Tillman. He was far from a lock 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.440 that year. He is considered a tweener between a linebacker 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.520 and a safety, but he had a plan make the 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:26.040 coaches take notice. And as someone who covered Pat both 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:29.800 ASU and the Cardinals, it was impossible not to notice Pat. 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:31.880 If it wasn't the hair flowing out of the helmet, 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:36.080 it was just his style of play with total abandon. 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:38.920 I mean, he didn't just wear pads, he used him. 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:43.280 So although we might know Pat's story, what's the story 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:48.480 behind the locker that was seconds away from total demolition. 0:07:49.080 --> 0:08:05.360 Well here's that story. Cardinals Spoketales legendary locker. Every year 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:09.640 NFL teams conduct their fight for fifty three. That's the 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.520 size of an NFL roster, fifty three players, and those 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:17.800 names will always vary year to year, peck week to week. 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.040 But the Arizona Cardinals have a fifty fourth locker and 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.440 that name plate will never change. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.760 Pat Tilban talk about a guy with a lot of heart. 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.000 Passion is kind of an important word for me, whether 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.040 it's you know, playing sports, or whether it's you know, 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:34.640 just living or whatever you're gonna do. 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.080 You should, in my opinion, you should be passionate matter 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:38.080 why do it. 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.080 He was pretty legendary just for being the guy he 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:44.240 was that being true to himself, challenging people around him, 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.680 you know, never being dull or just taking things for 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:51.960 granted or being complacent. He was always searching for knowledge. 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.679 I think it was important to save the locker. As 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.440 time goes by, you start to forget about things that 0:08:57.480 --> 0:08:59.719 happened in history. I didn't want Pat to be. 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:06.080 Forgot legendary locker with the forever nameplate Pat Tillman. This 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.520 is Cardinal's Folktales, presented by seventy two sold where we 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:14.000 go in depth into Cardinal's history all time anecdotes through 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:18.040 the personal recollections and memories of those who lived in 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.440 We hear their words, their voices. My name is Paul Kelvic. 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:24.760 I've covered the Cardinals since late nineteen ninety five, the 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:26.800 end of the Buddy Ryan era. I've been the Cardinal's 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.200 sideline reporter since two thousand and five, and as I 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.760 can attest, you may think you know some of these 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.400 folk tale stories, but as I found out, as even 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:41.720 team historians have found out we don't like this story, 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.840 this folk tale revolving around the most widely known figure 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:49.440 in Cardinal's history, Pat Tillman, and how his legendary locker 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.920 was saved with a last second interception from a buzzsaw 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.520 literally by a longtime staffer. 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.720 I didn't really get the idea to kind of preserve 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.320 the locker until two thousand and six. I always put 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:03.600 it in the back of my head, like, I want 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.360 to save this locker. That would be kind of cool. 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.480 And I just didn't know when the renovations would take place. 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:12.400 And I'm sitting married lunch at Oreganos and they're taking place. 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:14.040 So I had to do something. 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:16.600 When you know the cliche, if you cut somebody open, 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.320 they bleed, Cardinal red. That's Almo. So it was fitting that, 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.280 you know, he would be the one that has his 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.520 finger on the pulse of that and in the moment 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.720 immediately recognizes how significant this is to preserve. 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.560 Before we get to that locker, the museum piece on 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.360 display showcase for all to see at Cardinals HQ, we 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:50.040 need to understand Pat Tilman. Notice how we didn't say 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.880 the football player Pat Tillman, because Pat was so much 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:55.960 more than an athlete Pat Tillman. 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:56.720 What can I say? 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:02.360 Just all around good guy, not cocky, very confident, soft spoken, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.280 like the thing Desperado, and liked that movie immediately. 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:08.400 I kind of liked him. Me on long hair, He 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:09.640 didn't dress nice. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.600 He was just such a unique, genuine dude that people, 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:14.800 you know, weren endeared to him. 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:16.680 He was a different kind of guy. You know, he 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:19.079 was a flower child if you will you know. Of course, 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:20.880 at the time, I didn't have any clue that he 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:23.560 would go on to to come to hero that he became. 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:25.800 But you know, he was a different type of dude. 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:28.120 He would ride his bicycle to practice every day. 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:31.640 Those are the voices of former Tilman teammates Larry Centers, 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:35.360 Jake Plummer, and all started by former linebacker Mark Maddox. 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:38.360 The thing is, if you asked Pat to talk about himself, 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:42.600 something he seldom did, I'm not sure that football player 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.000 would have made the top three things he'd say about himself. 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.240 To know Pat was to know that Pat was about 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:54.120 the next achievement, the next challenge, the next curiosity. Longtime 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.960 Cardinals beat writer in Arizona Republic columnists Ken Summers. 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:02.800 As a player just passionate, to the point of borderline. 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.000 Is this guy human? I mean, can a human actually 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.120 play that hard and have such disregard for his body 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:11.199 and play the game that way? 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:12.320 And never? 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:14.640 I mean there was just one speed, you know, one 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.080 gear there was you know, Steve McGinnis used to say 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.760 that the guy has a switch, not a dial. You know, 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:22.360 you just flip it on and it's the same, the 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:23.080 same speed. 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.160 When Pat put on the pads he used him, he 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.320 was all in. Like everything else he did. Pat never 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:33.120 did anything half speed, even when the drills were designed 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.480 to be half speed. That was Pat in his first 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.480 NFL training camp as a seventh round tweener, just hit 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:44.240 anything and everything that moved. I watched it in person. 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.280 I covered that nineteen ninety eight training camp in Flagstaff. 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.040 I watched the decision makers take notice that the guy 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.760 in the football uniform belied the dude in the surfer 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:58.240 shorts and the flip flops. Here's former Cardinals wide receiver 0:12:58.640 --> 0:12:59.440 Frank Sanders. 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:03.240 I think probably deserved flip flops and a surfboard somewhere 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.720 in some Oakley shorts. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:09.600 And I had a real nice golden hair, and that's it. 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.880 Like playing football never seemed like he should be there 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:14.560 until he put on his pads. 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.120 Put on his pads. A different person showed him, I 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:19.240 understand you hit pretty hard. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.800 Now a different guy, I'm in the middle of the 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:24.160 field that falls into the plate. 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:29.360 Wow, off comes the helmet of the attended receiver as 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.160 he gets crushed back there by Pat Tilman. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:33.760 Pat Tillman the blade. 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:36.400 He knocked him right in the helmet with a forearm 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:37.800 and just slapped that helmet off. 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:39.480 Even as a rookie, we used to have to call 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.160 him off, you know, some some practices we were, you know, 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.240 just fit up on the guy with the ball. But 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:48.480 he would come in and demolish the guys, which was 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:50.280 a really good tactic, and it worked out great for 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:52.000 him because he got the coach's attention. 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:59.120 He brought that segment kind of few mentality to the Cardinals. 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:03.120 I mean, rookies don't hit receivers in Ota days. But 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:04.760 he would lay some wood on a guy or like 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.240 put an elbow in him and get in fights, and 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:11.760 he really up the competitiveness during practice. Guys didn't like 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.800 him because he would hit you or rough you up, 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:16.920 or do what he whatever he felt he needed to 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.520 work on. And they ended up respecting him because it 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:21.960 made everybody's level come up. 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:22.960 He was a tone setter. 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.280 Let's just say that Pat would routinely exceed the perceived 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:33.200 practice speed limit. But that's how Pat forged an NFL career. 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.960 That's how Pat made the Cardinals as the two hundred 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.320 and twenty six player taken in the nineteen ninety eight draft. 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.320 How he caught the coach's attention even though he was 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.920 the reigning Pac ten Defensive Player of the Year. But 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.800 at the NFL level, was he still a linebacker? Was 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.680 he fast enough to be a safety? Pad made sure 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.680 none of that mattered, because all he did was turn 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.440 guys into tackling dummies that entire camp, even though it 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:03.240 landed in the NFL's version of a coach's time out. 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.960 Former Cardinals head coach Then Stobin and. 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.200 The one I remember was a wide receiver that he 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.120 got in a fight with and ended up having to 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.840 throw them both off the field because they every time 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.040 the play started whether they'd be a fight between those 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:19.360 two at the end of the play, and so I 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:20.040 sent them out. 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.600 But as Vin Stobin himself would admit later, the Cardinals 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:28.840 needed that mentality that Pat Tillman brand of physicality and 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:33.480 fight that tilman too, because remember, the Cardinals were still 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.360 in the same division with those Cowboys teams coming off 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.320 Super Bowls and physical East Coast teams from tough towns 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:44.800 playing bullyball like the Giants and Eagles and Washington once again, 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.560 Former Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer. 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.320 You look at someone like him, who was similar to me. 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.960 We were too small, too slow, not strong enough, not 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.760 smart enough, all these excuses for why we shouldn't be 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.240 there yet. We just you know, we threw that all 0:15:58.320 --> 0:15:59.960 side and said, yeah, we're supposed to be here. 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.360 He congratulated me, and I guess he was one of 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.720 my advocates. He was talking me up, So what the hell? 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:09.400 Where are you all right? Thank you appreciate your help, Jake. 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:11.320 He said that I gotta give him fifteen percent of 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:13.120 whatever I get because of his good. 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.440 Talk, so it might not be much. 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:20.160 So we had that chip on our shoulder and that confidence, 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.400 that quiet confidence about ourselves and belief in ourselves. 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.040 So we were kindred spirits right away. 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:31.400 Pat became a football player simply because of will and determination. 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:36.600 He wasn't really big enough, strong enough, fast enough to 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.840 play in the National Football League. But he willed himself 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:47.080 to become a good enough football player to overcome those limitations. 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.920 And it's something that Pat had already done plenty of 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.960 define the doubters. A quick personal note, I covered Pat 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.320 during his years at ASU and then his early years 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.720 with the Cardinals. Before that, I'd known of Pat through 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.080 our high school alma mater, Leland High School, in South 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.760 San Jose. We were both from the Alminant Valley, which 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:06.400 you might have seen featured in some of the Pat 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:10.000 Tillman documentaries. His future father in law was my high 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.919 school baseball coach. We were seven or eight years a 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.040 part or so, and I still remember my dad called 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:17.040 me during Pat's senior year of high school. Hey you 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.200 guess what he said? Leland is in this section title game. 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:22.080 And I cut off my dad. I say, come on now, Pop, 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:24.600 have you been drinking more of your red wine again? 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:24.879 Come on? 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.280 Said no, no, no, They've got this Tilman kid. He's a 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.040 running back and nobody can tackle him, and he's a 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:35.280 better middle linebacker. He's all over the field. So when 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:39.280 people talk about Pat's ability to inspire and lift others, 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.880 people rightfully cite the fact that the last time ASU 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.320 went to the Rolls Bowl. It was Pat Tillman and 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.679 Jake Plummer. During Pat's rookie year in the NFL nineteen 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.920 ninety eight, the Arizona Cardinals won their first playoff game 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.320 in half a century. And my response is always, you 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.840 know what, though, Pat's greatest team achievement was leading his 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.119 high school to a because, believe me, the degree of 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:05.840 difficulty there. Pat's high school hasn't come close to winning 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.280 before or after Pat. 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.920 Both towers so the World Trade Center have been hit 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:18.959 by aircraft. 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:20.280 Both are in flames. 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.520 It's a black smoke coming from both of the towers. 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.240 It's a horrific scene here. 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.800 There are choir creers just screaming into this area from 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:31.560 every conceivable direction. 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:34.800 You know, times like this you stop and think about 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:37.239 just how not only how good we have it, but 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.640 what kind of a system we live under, What freedoms 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:41.240 were allowed? 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.000 You know, my great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, and a. 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:45.840 Lot of my family has given up, you know, has 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:47.960 gone and fought in wars. And I really haven't done 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:50.119 a damn thing as far as laying myself in the 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:51.720 line like that, And so I have a great deal 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.840 of respect for those that have and what the flag stands. 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:59.000 For the voice of Pat Tillman September twelfth, two thousand 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:03.440 and one, after the horrific events of nine to eleven. 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.480 In fact, on September eleventh, Pat Tilman was at the 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:10.119 Cardinals facility and he wandered through the media area and 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.240 sat down to watch the news coverage as it unfolded. 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.840 With Cardinals beat writer Darren Rban. 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.800 He was like, what we do playing in the NFL? 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.040 He goes, We're worthless, We're actors. He goes, that means nothing. 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:28.280 This is this is so much bigger than that. 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:32.680 There's probably no better time to talk about a guy 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:34.840 who took nine to one one to heart and made 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:38.119 a life changing decision based on his feeling something he 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:39.320 felt he needed to do. 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.439 It was sort of the you know, man bites dog story, 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:44.920 like this doesn't make any sense. He's right on the 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:48.760 verge where in discussions with his agent about potentially extending 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.600 his contract and he decided I'm going to walk away 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:54.160 from this. But you know, it was just six months 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:58.080 after nine to eleven, and it was only three weeks 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.120 after he got married to Marie as high school sweetheart, 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.000 and it was about one week after they got back 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:09.280 from their honeymoon. He joined the Army up in Colorado 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.320 and then went on to become, you know, part of 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:13.920 the Rangers and one of. 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:17.639 The leaders Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell. As Pat had just 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:20.960 set a team record for tackles in a season, his 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.680 jersey was worn by fans all over town. Plus there 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:26.879 was the business of football, as Pat was on the 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.280 verge of cashing in on a mega contract and he 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.800 literally left it all behind. 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:35.760 My reaction was just I just like I just kind 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.480 of had this big smiling and started laughing to myself, 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:42.320 like this is completely believable. I mean, I did not 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:45.320 expect him to join the army, but as I process. 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:48.000 It, like, yeah, okay, God. 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.119 Of all the guys in professional sports in the world, 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:53.639 he's the one who would do that. 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:00.159 Pat would leave that Cardinals locker room to join a 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.840 different team with a different plan, defending his country and 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:09.200 his former teammates. Remember the reactions like it was yesterday. 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:13.439 Frank Sanders, Jake Plummer, and former head coach Vince Toben. 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:16.439 I saw Pat coming out of the building, and I 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:18.680 was coming in where the players are only go in 0:21:18.720 --> 0:21:20.679 the lower area. I was coming into the gates he 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:22.280 was going out and say, Pat, you doing what's up 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:22.920 with your contract? 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:24.959 He said, Bro, I'm probably gonna go to the military. 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:27.280