Speaker 1: Strap on the boots and scrape up the knuckles. Oh
Speaker 1: and ahead, he got jacked. This is the Big Red
Speaker 1: Rain presented by satan Ford in Gilbert. Mary's Gonna score touchdown.
Speaker 1: Slam to the ground by Buddha Baker Like a torpedo.
Speaker 1: He came flying into the backfield. The rage is brought
Speaker 1: to you by satan Ford in Gilbert. Are you Santanford
Speaker 1: State Farm? Talk to an agent today at eight hundred
Speaker 1: State Farm, And by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts Visit Acy Cardinals
Speaker 1: dot Com, Slash Podcasts, The Reds, Rising Guard, Temperaturizing Vision, flurring,
Speaker 1: Rage taking over. Here's Paul Calvci. I'm ready. I'm one
Speaker 1: hundred percent ready. I'm telling you i'mready. And Ron Wolflee
Speaker 1: it doesn't get any better than that. Unleash the far Well,
Speaker 1: not exactly. Ron Wolfley on assignment tonight. Okay, let's be honest.
Speaker 1: Ron Wolfley on vacation, his summer sabbatical, as we'd like
Speaker 1: to joke with Wolfs. So we have Darren Urban sitting
Speaker 1: in fromac Cardinals dot Com, and let's face it, a
Speaker 1: lot of us. So we're gonna be on vacation in
Speaker 1: the real near future. In fact, the rookies effective today
Speaker 1: are gone until training camp. In fact, if you were
Speaker 1: to take role Darren here at the Arizona Cardinals Dignity
Speaker 1: Health Training Center, wouldn't be a lot of people in
Speaker 1: attendance right now. Now, I would think that this is
Speaker 1: probably the most dead time of year, Paul. So to
Speaker 1: make best use of that time, we figured, you know what,
Speaker 1: here's the game plan. Let's revisit Cardinals Folk Tales from
Speaker 1: this fall now is a very offenful twenty twenty one season,
Speaker 1: including a seven and oh star ten and two. Maybe
Speaker 1: some of the folks missed it. That's definitely worth revisiting.
Speaker 1: Tell us exactly what Cardinals Folk Tales is. The idea
Speaker 1: between about Cardinal Folk Tales Paul, is that there's a
Speaker 1: number of stories that you know, some you've heard of,
Speaker 1: some you might not have heard about, but maybe only
Speaker 1: a cursory knowledge of what those are. And these aim
Speaker 1: to get a little deeper into those stories. And there
Speaker 1: was a whole series of them. I believe we had
Speaker 1: eleven episodes of this past year, and you know, just
Speaker 1: going into different things, whether it was you know, the
Speaker 1: coin that didn't flip in overtime, of the twenty fifteen
Speaker 1: playoff game against the Packers, or the night the goalpost
Speaker 1: came down after the Cardinals beat the Cowboys in a
Speaker 1: regular season game in ninety seven, things like that, where
Speaker 1: again you might have you might vaguely remember what had happened,
Speaker 1: but maybe not some of the details. And we kind
Speaker 1: of go behind the scenes with some of that stuff.
Speaker 1: We like to say all time anecdotes, you can't spell
Speaker 1: history without the word story. Tonight, we're gonna start, and
Speaker 1: rightfully so, with number one in the series, and that
Speaker 1: is Pat Tillman's legendary lot. We're going to learn about
Speaker 1: a locker that is behind glass. It's essentially a museum
Speaker 1: piece just outside the Cardinals locker room. And we'll get
Speaker 1: in depth into that real soon. But as someone who
Speaker 1: covered Pat Tillman, and that's both of us, what do
Speaker 1: you tell people those people you meet for the first
Speaker 1: time and oh, wow, you knew and covered Pat Tillman.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's always kind of a fascinating thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman was somebody that you kind of were always
Speaker 1: going to remember anyways, even when you were covering him
Speaker 1: as a football player. He was going to be that
Speaker 1: guy that you know, kind of stamped on your brain.
Speaker 1: But obviously, with everything that happened with him, the crazy
Speaker 1: way he ended up going into the Army in the
Speaker 1: first place, and then obviously his tragic death. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's stuff you just can't get away from him. And
Speaker 1: I just I remember writing a story right before he
Speaker 1: said he was going into the army, and I still
Speaker 1: have the copy of it today. And he was a
Speaker 1: free agent that year, and he had gotten an offer
Speaker 1: from the Rams, and he hadn't signed anywhere. It was May,
Speaker 1: and he wasn't around for some of the voluntary work,
Speaker 1: and I wrote a story saying it was odd that
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman still hadn't decided what he was gonna do
Speaker 1: playing football, and it was just not like him to
Speaker 1: miss football parts, even if he was getting married, which
Speaker 1: was part of the reason he was gone. Because Pat
Speaker 1: the football player did not define Pat Tilman. Yep, he
Speaker 1: was so many different people all wrapped up in one.
Speaker 1: There was Pat the academic, right, Yeah, he's great student
Speaker 1: in Arizona State. In fact, we'll talk a little bit
Speaker 1: at the end about the Pat Tilman scholars. There was
Speaker 1: there was just the Pat, not only Pat the personality
Speaker 1: but there was Pat who challenged himself. Wasn't there an
Speaker 1: offseason where he ran a marathon and or like a
Speaker 1: half iron man triathlon? He did those things. I remember
Speaker 1: Rod Graves telling me a story about seeing Pat at
Speaker 1: a coffee shop locally and Pat was just outside by
Speaker 1: himself drinking coffee, reading a book, and Rod Graves, the
Speaker 1: former GM, looked and decided to see what the book was,
Speaker 1: and it was the Quran, and Pat Tilman just picked
Speaker 1: it up one day and decided he wanted to know
Speaker 1: more about that, so he decided to read it. If
Speaker 1: there was anybody who was all about think for yourself,
Speaker 1: it was Pat Tillman. But he also considered it your
Speaker 1: responsibility to educate yourself, and so he was always curious.
Speaker 1: He just had that national natural curiosity about him. And
Speaker 1: he was an unbelievable player. I mean, someone who ever
Speaker 1: came the odds. We'll get into it in Cardinal's Folk
Speaker 1: Tales just exactly. But remember, I mean, he was a
Speaker 1: guy who came out as a tweener, wasn't given a
Speaker 1: great shot at making the team, and then of course
Speaker 1: we know what happened from there after his football career
Speaker 1: and his status now as an American hero, and we'll
Speaker 1: get into that and how that's all involved in the
Speaker 1: story of Pat Tillman, and how it's all captured in
Speaker 1: his legendary locker, which we'll commence with when we come back.
Speaker 1: It is our Cardinals Folk Tales edition of The Big
Speaker 1: Red Rage, presented by santan Ford and Gilbert. Are santan Ford,
Speaker 1: and welcome back everyone into the Big Red Rage presented
Speaker 1: by santan Ford and Gilbert. We are santan Ford, I'm
Speaker 1: Paul Calvisian. As we noted off the top, we're taking
Speaker 1: a different approach the next few weeks here on the
Speaker 1: Big Red Rage. Our game plan revolves around an encore
Speaker 1: presentation of Cardinals Folktales, where we like to see it
Speaker 1: can't spell history without the word story. Well, if you
Speaker 1: were to go from the Cardinals radio studio about fifty
Speaker 1: yards to my left, you would hit the Cardinals locker
Speaker 1: room and before you enter, you would see a locker
Speaker 1: behind glass, and there's a reason why that locker once
Speaker 1: belonged to Pat Tillman. So, as we near Cardinals camp
Speaker 1: and we think about the long shot players of the
Speaker 1: low round picks who might be able to defy the
Speaker 1: odds and make that final roster. It's hard not to
Speaker 1: think of the greatest Cardinals example of that ever, at
Speaker 1: least to me, Cardinal's seventh round pick in nineteen ninety eight,
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman. He was far from a lock that Year's
Speaker 1: considered a tweener between a linebacker and his safety. But
Speaker 1: he had a plan make the coaches take notice. And
Speaker 1: as someone who covered Pat, both ASU and the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: it was impossible not to notice Pat. If it wasn't
Speaker 1: the hair flowing out of the helmet, it was just
Speaker 1: his style of play would total abandoned. I mean he
Speaker 1: didn't just wear Pats, he used him. So although we
Speaker 1: might know Pat's story, what's the story behind the locker
Speaker 1: that was seconds away from total demolition. Well here's that story,
Speaker 1: Cardinals Full tales legendary locker. Every year NFL teams conduct
Speaker 1: their fight for fifty three. That's the size of an
Speaker 1: NFL roster, fifty three players, and those names will always
Speaker 1: vary year to year, heck, week to week, But the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals have a fifty fourth locker and that name
Speaker 1: plate will never change. Pat Tillman talk about a guy
Speaker 1: with a lot of heart, Passion is kind of an
Speaker 1: important word for me. Whether it's you know, playing sports,
Speaker 1: or whether it's you know, just living or whatever you're
Speaker 1: gonna do. You, in my opinion, you should be passionate
Speaker 1: a matter off. Why why do it? He's pretty legendary
Speaker 1: just for being the guy he was that being true
Speaker 1: to himself, challenging people around him, you know, never being
Speaker 1: dull or just taking things for granted or being complacent.
Speaker 1: He was always searching for knowledge. I think it was
Speaker 1: important to save the locker. As time goes by, you
Speaker 1: start to forget about things that happened in history. I
Speaker 1: didn't want Pat to be forgotten. Legendary locker with the
Speaker 1: forever name plate Pat Tillman. This is Cardinal's Folk Tales,
Speaker 1: presented by seventy two sold where we go in depth
Speaker 1: into Cardinal's history, all time anecdotes through the personal recollect
Speaker 1: and memories of those who lived in We hear their words,
Speaker 1: their voices. My name is Paul kelvic upcovered the Cardinals
Speaker 1: since late nineteen ninety five, the end of the Buddy
Speaker 1: Ryan era. I've been the Cardinals sideline reporter since two
Speaker 1: thousand and five, and as I can attest you may
Speaker 1: think you know some of these folk tales stories, but
Speaker 1: as I found out, as even team historians have found out,
Speaker 1: we don't like this story. This folk tale revolving around
Speaker 1: the most widely known figure in Cardinal's history, Pat Tillman,
Speaker 1: and how his legendary locker was saved with a last
Speaker 1: second interception from a buzz saw literally by a long
Speaker 1: time staffer. I didn't really get the idea to kind
Speaker 1: of preserve the locker until two thousand and six. I
Speaker 1: always put it in the back of my head, like
Speaker 1: I want to save this locker. That would be kind
Speaker 1: of cool. And I just didn't know when the renovations
Speaker 1: could take place in Sit marriton lunch at Oregano's and
Speaker 1: they're taking place, so I had to do something. When
Speaker 1: you know the liche, if you cut somebody open, they bleed,
Speaker 1: Cardinal red. That's that's almost so it was fitting that,
Speaker 1: you know, he would be the one that has his
Speaker 1: finger on the pulse of that and in the moment
Speaker 1: immediately recognize his house significant this is to preserve. Before
Speaker 1: we get to that locker, the museum piece on display
Speaker 1: showcase for all to see at Cardinal's HQ, we need
Speaker 1: to understand Pat Tillman. Notice how we didn't say the
Speaker 1: football player Pat Tillman because Pat was so much more
Speaker 1: than an athlete. Pat Tillman, what can I say? Just
Speaker 1: all around good guy, not cocky, very confident, soft spoken,
Speaker 1: like the thing Desperado and like that movie. Immediately I
Speaker 1: kind of liked me on long hair. He didn't dress nice.
Speaker 1: He was just such a unique, genuine dude that people,
Speaker 1: you know, were endeared to him. Different kind of guy.
Speaker 1: You know, he was a flower child if you will
Speaker 1: you know. Of course, at the time, I didn't have
Speaker 1: any clue that he would go out to the kind
Speaker 1: of hero that he became. But you know, he was
Speaker 1: a different type of dude. He would ride his bicycle
Speaker 1: to practice every day. Those are the voices of former
Speaker 1: Tillman teammates Larry Centers, Jake Plummer, and all started by
Speaker 1: former linebacker Mark Maddox. The thing is, if you asked
Speaker 1: Pat to talk about himself, something he seldom did, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure that football player would have made the top
Speaker 1: three things he'd say about himself. To know Pat was
Speaker 1: to know that Pat was about the next achievement, the
Speaker 1: next challenge, the next curiosity, longtime Cardinals beat writer in
Speaker 1: Arizona Republic columnist Kent Summers as a player just passionate
Speaker 1: to the point of borderline? Is this guy human? I
Speaker 1: mean kind of human actually play that hard and have
Speaker 1: such a disregard for his body and play the game
Speaker 1: that way? And never I mean there was just one speed,
Speaker 1: you know, one gear. You know. Dave McGinnis used to
Speaker 1: say that the guy has a switch, not a dial.
Speaker 1: You know, you just flip it on and it's the same,
Speaker 1: the same speed. When Pat put on the pads, he
Speaker 1: used them, he was all in. Like everything else he did.
Speaker 1: Pat never did anything half speed, even when the drools
Speaker 1: were designed to be half speed. That was Pat in
Speaker 1: his first NFL training camp as the seventh round tweener
Speaker 1: just hit anything and everything that moved. I watched it
Speaker 1: in person. I covered that nineteen ninety eight training camp
Speaker 1: in Flagstaff. I watched the decision makers take notice that
Speaker 1: the guy in the football uniform belied the dude in
Speaker 1: the surfer shorts and the flip flops. Here's former Cardinals
Speaker 1: wide receiver Frank Sanders. I think Pat probably deserved flip
Speaker 1: flops and a surfboard somewhere in some Oakleigh shorts and
Speaker 1: a real nice golden hair, and that's it, like playing football.
Speaker 1: Never seemed like he should be there until he put
Speaker 1: on his pads. To put on his pat a different
Speaker 1: person showed up. I understand you hit pretty hard. No,
Speaker 1: I'm a different guy. I'm in the middle of the
Speaker 1: fingers into the plate. Wow, off comes the helmet called
Speaker 1: the intended receiver. As he gets crushed back there by
Speaker 1: Pat Tilmann. Pat Tilman the blade. He knocked him right
Speaker 1: in the helmet with a forearm and just slapped that
Speaker 1: helmet off. Even as a rookie, we used to have
Speaker 1: to call him off. You know, some some practices we were,
Speaker 1: you know, just fit up on the guy with the ball.
Speaker 1: But he would come in and demolish the guys, which
Speaker 1: was a really good tactic, and it worked out great
Speaker 1: for him because he got to coach's attention. He brought
Speaker 1: that same kind of fu mentality to the Cardinals. I mean,
Speaker 1: rookies don't hit receivers in Ota days. But he would
Speaker 1: lay some wood on a guy or like put an
Speaker 1: elbow in him and getting fights, and he really up
Speaker 1: the competitiveness dary practice. You know, guys didn't like him
Speaker 1: because he would hit you or rough you up, or
Speaker 1: whenever he felt he needed to work on, and they
Speaker 1: ended up respecting him because it made everybody's level come up.
Speaker 1: He was a tone setter. Let's just say that Pat
Speaker 1: would routinely exceed the perceived practice speed limit. But that's
Speaker 1: how Pat forged an NFL career. That's how Pat made
Speaker 1: the Cardinals as the two hundred and twenty six player
Speaker 1: taken in the nineteen ninety eight draft. How he caught
Speaker 1: the coach's attention even though he was the reigning Pac
Speaker 1: ten Defensive Player of the Year. But at the NFL level,
Speaker 1: was he still a linebacker? Was he fast enough to
Speaker 1: be his safety? Pad made sure none of that matter,
Speaker 1: because all he did was turned guys into tackling dummies
Speaker 1: that entire camp, even though it landed him in the
Speaker 1: NFL's version of a coach's time out. Former Cardinals head
Speaker 1: coach Dens Tobin and the one I remember it was
Speaker 1: a wide receiver that he got in a fight with
Speaker 1: a hand Depp having to throw him both off the
Speaker 1: field because every time the play started, well, they'd be
Speaker 1: a between those two at the end of the play,
Speaker 1: and so I sent him out. But as Vince still
Speaker 1: been himself would admit later, the Cardinals needed that mentality,
Speaker 1: that Pat Tillman brand of physicality and fight that Tilman
Speaker 1: two because remember, the Cardinals were still in the same
Speaker 1: division with those Cowboys teams coming off Super Bowls and
Speaker 1: physical East Coast teams from tough towns playing bullyball like
Speaker 1: the Giants and Eagles and Washington once again, former Cardinals
Speaker 1: quarterback Jake Plummer, you look at someone like him who
Speaker 1: was similar to me. We were too small, too slow,
Speaker 1: not strong enough, not smart enough, all these excuses for
Speaker 1: why we shouldn't be there yet, we just you know,
Speaker 1: we threw that all side and said, yeah, we're supposed
Speaker 1: to be here. He congratulated me, and I guess he
Speaker 1: was one of the my advocates. He was talking me up.
Speaker 1: So where the hell where are you? All right? Thank you,
Speaker 1: appreciate your help. Jake. He said that I gotta get
Speaker 1: him fifteen percent of whatever I get because of his
Speaker 1: good talk, so it might not be much. So we
Speaker 1: had that chip on our shoulder and that confidence, that
Speaker 1: quiet confidence about ourselves and belief in ourselves. So we
Speaker 1: were kindred spirits right away. Pat became a football player
Speaker 1: simply because of will and determination. He wasn't really big enough,
Speaker 1: strong enough, fast enough to play in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: but he willed himself to become a good enough football
Speaker 1: player to overcome those limitations. And it's something that Pat
Speaker 1: had already done plenty of define the doubters. A quick
Speaker 1: personal note, I covered Pat during his years at ASU,
Speaker 1: and then his early years were the Cardinals. Before that,
Speaker 1: I'd known of Pat through our high school alma mater,
Speaker 1: Leland High School in South San Jose. We were both
Speaker 1: from the Almond and Valley, which you might have seen
Speaker 1: featured in some of the Pat Tilman documentaries. His future
Speaker 1: father in law was my high school baseball coach. We
Speaker 1: were seven or eight years apart or so, and I
Speaker 1: still remember my dad called me during Pat's senior year
Speaker 1: of high school. Hey you guess what he said? Leland
Speaker 1: is in this section title game. And I cut off
Speaker 1: my dad. I say, come on, now, Pop, have you
Speaker 1: been drinking more of your red wine again? Come on? No, no, no,
Speaker 1: They've got this Tillman kid. He's a running back and
Speaker 1: nobody can tackle him, and he's a better middle linebacker.
Speaker 1: He's all over the field. So when people talk about
Speaker 1: Pat's ability to inspire and lift others. People rightfully cite
Speaker 1: the fact that the last time ASU went to the
Speaker 1: Rolls Bowl, it was Pat Tillman and Jake Plummer. During
Speaker 1: Pat's rookie year in the NFL nineteen ninety eight, the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals won their first playoff game in half a century.
Speaker 1: And my response is always, you know what, though, Pat's
Speaker 1: greatest team achievement was leading his high school to a title, because,
Speaker 1: believe me, the degree of difficulty there. Pat's high school
Speaker 1: hasn't come close to winning before or after Pat Bolt
Speaker 1: Towers so the World Trade Center have been hitched by aircraft.
Speaker 1: Both are in flane, black smoke coming from both of
Speaker 1: the towers. It's a horrific scene here. There are fire
Speaker 1: crews just screaming into this area from every conceivable direction.
Speaker 1: You know, times like this you stop and think about
Speaker 1: just how not only how good we have it, but
Speaker 1: what kind of a system we live under, what freedoms
Speaker 1: were allowed? You know, my great grandfather was at Pearl
Speaker 1: Harbor and a lot of my family has given up,
Speaker 1: you know, has gone in foughten wars, and I really
Speaker 1: haven't done a damn thing as far as laying myself
Speaker 1: on the line like that, and so I have a
Speaker 1: great deal of respect for those that have and what
Speaker 1: the flag stands for. The voice of Pat Tillman September twelfth,
Speaker 1: two thousand and one, the day after the horrific events
Speaker 1: of nine to eleven. In fact, on September eleven, Pat
Speaker 1: Tillman was at the Cardinal's facility and he wandered through
Speaker 1: the media area and sat down to watch the news
Speaker 1: coverage as it unfolded. With Cardinals beat writer Darren Irbot.
Speaker 1: He was like, what we do playing in the NFL.
Speaker 1: He goes, We're worthless, We're actors. He goes, that means nothing.
Speaker 1: This is so much bigger than that. There's probably no
Speaker 1: better time to talk about a guy who took nine
Speaker 1: one one to heart and made a life changing decision
Speaker 1: based on his feeling something he felt he needed to do.
Speaker 1: It was sort of the you know, man bites dog story,
Speaker 1: like this doesn't make any sense. He's right on the verge.
Speaker 1: We're in discussions with his agent about potentially extending his
Speaker 1: contract and he decided I'm going to walk away from this.
Speaker 1: But you know, it was just six months after nine
Speaker 1: to eleven and It was only three weeks after he
Speaker 1: got married to Marie as high school sweetheart, and it
Speaker 1: was about one week after they got back from their
Speaker 1: honeymoon he joined the Army up in Colorado and then
Speaker 1: went on to become, you know, part of the Rangers
Speaker 1: and one of the leaders. Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell, as
Speaker 1: Patt had just set a team record for tackles in
Speaker 1: a season, his jersey was worn by fans all over town.
Speaker 1: Plus there was the business of football, as Pat was
Speaker 1: on the verge of cashing in on a mega contract
Speaker 1: and he literally left it all behind. My reaction was
Speaker 1: just I just like I just kind of had this
Speaker 1: big smiling and started laughing to myself, like this is
Speaker 1: completely believable. I mean, I did not expect him to
Speaker 1: join the army, but as I process it, Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 1: of all the guys in professional sports in the world,
Speaker 1: he's the one who would do that. Pat would leave
Speaker 1: that Cardinals locker room to join a different team with
Speaker 1: a different plan, defending his country. And his former teammates
Speaker 1: remember their reactions like it was yesterday. Frank Sanders, Jake Plummer,
Speaker 1: and former head coach Bence Toby. I saw Pat coming
Speaker 1: out of the bill and I was coming in where
Speaker 1: the players don't to go into the lord area. I
Speaker 1: was coming into the gates he was going out and say, Pat,
Speaker 1: are you doing? What's up with your contract? He said, Bro,
Speaker 1: I'm probably gonna go to the military. I said, what
Speaker 1: he said, I'm gonna go to the army and be
Speaker 1: arranged with my brother. So what you're gonna do? What
Speaker 1: I want to serve my country, That's what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 1: I say, brother, God bless you. I just kind of
Speaker 1: liked that sounds like, Pat, what can you do? I
Speaker 1: remember getting a call from Mike Devlin, who was my
Speaker 1: senter in my rookie year and now I was a
Speaker 1: coach with the Cardinals. He said, Hey, you gotta call Pat.
Speaker 1: He's about to do something that you know, I don't
Speaker 1: know if he should do this. It's you know, he's
Speaker 1: giving up all this money and giving up the game,
Speaker 1: and I don't know. You should give him a shout.
Speaker 1: And I kind of chuckled because I was like, if
Speaker 1: Pat makes his mind up, he's made this decision and
Speaker 1: his wife hasn't changed his mind, then what good am
Speaker 1: I going to be to go try to change his mind?
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna piss him off before he goes to
Speaker 1: fight for our country. I gave him a hug and
Speaker 1: told him I loved him and he'd be safe out
Speaker 1: there man, because there was no change in his mind. Well,
Speaker 1: he was all in. He believed in. He blaved in
Speaker 1: and believed it very strongly, and acted on what he's
Speaker 1: blazed where a lot of people have blazed, but they
Speaker 1: don't act on him. And he did no matter what
Speaker 1: he was doing, whether it's on the field or not.
Speaker 1: He believed in himself so much so that he did
Speaker 1: something that no one could fathom he would do and
Speaker 1: go give up millions of dollars to go fight for
Speaker 1: our country. Well, for Pat, it was just life. That
Speaker 1: was what life was about, was doing what you believed
Speaker 1: and living your life. And what's amazing is as media
Speaker 1: friendly as Pat was as a player, all the interviews
Speaker 1: that Pat did when he was at ASU and the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: You can search the internet all you want, good luck
Speaker 1: trying to find any interview that Pat did as a soldier.
Speaker 1: Once again, Ken Summers from the Arizona Republic. One of
Speaker 1: the things that really resonated with me was his refusal
Speaker 1: to talk about it. Ever, it's like I'm not in
Speaker 1: it for that. I'm not in it for the stories.
Speaker 1: I'm not in it for a future movie or to
Speaker 1: set myself up for business later. I have my reasons
Speaker 1: for doing it. I'm not going to share them. They're
Speaker 1: my reasons. So Pat left his Cardinal's locker behind for
Speaker 1: a foot locker. One more aspect of a person who
Speaker 1: could have done virtually anything he said his mind to,
Speaker 1: and quite often Pat did just that. Former teammate, a
Speaker 1: long time Cardinal staffer, Anthony Edwards, on Pat's selfless act
Speaker 1: to serve that's humility. I choose to serve my country.
Speaker 1: I choose to go disc route instead of this one.
Speaker 1: The more popular vote would be stay where you at,
Speaker 1: continue to do what you're doing. But he didn't feel
Speaker 1: that was enough. That wasn't satisfying to him. Slee chose
Speaker 1: the other. And that's former Cardinals receiver Anthony Edwards, who
Speaker 1: said it so well in Cardinal's Fall Tales that Pat
Speaker 1: was all about service to his team, to his community,
Speaker 1: to his country. I think, like a lot of media members,
Speaker 1: we walk into that Cardinals locker room, you can still
Speaker 1: hear Pat's laugh, you can still picture him with his teammates,
Speaker 1: you know. And it was that locker of Pats that
Speaker 1: was spared the wrecking ball from the demolition crew in
Speaker 1: last second, dramatic fashion. And when we come back, we'll
Speaker 1: hear how that locker saving play, how it unfolded, how
Speaker 1: Pat's lasting legacy is memorialized in other ways as we
Speaker 1: continue with his encore presentation of Cardinals Folk Tales Legendary
Speaker 1: Locker on the Big Red Rage, presented by santan Ford
Speaker 1: and Gilbert, we are santan Ford, and welcome back to
Speaker 1: our special encore presentation of Cardinals Folk Tales Legendary Locker.
Speaker 1: Here on the Big Red Rage, presented by santan Ford
Speaker 1: and Gilbert. We are santan Ford. On Paul Calvi scene.
Speaker 1: If you go to State Farm Stadium, you'll see the
Speaker 1: Pat Alman's statue. There's Pat Tilman's name and number in
Speaker 1: the ring of honor. At Cardinal's headquarters, there's Pat's locker.
Speaker 1: And that's what we're talking about here tonight, the legendary locker.
Speaker 1: And last we left you here during Cardinal's Folk Tales,
Speaker 1: Pat Tilman was making that selfless decision to leave football
Speaker 1: and a multimillion dollar contract behind to serve his country.
Speaker 1: As we know, Pat lost his life in action while
Speaker 1: serving with the Army Rangers in Afghanistan and not only
Speaker 1: hit all of us in Arizona hornor a lot of
Speaker 1: us vividly remember that April morning, but our nation mourned
Speaker 1: as well, and we pick up the story of how
Speaker 1: Pat's legendary locker still stands today with a salute from
Speaker 1: Tom Cruise at the SP's The news came out of
Speaker 1: Afghanistan that an athlete turned soldier was gone. And when
Speaker 1: we heard the news on that April day, it stopped
Speaker 1: us all in a long and profound silence. And we
Speaker 1: all know why, because Pat Tillman was a transcendent figure
Speaker 1: in the life of this nation. Word of Pat Tillman's
Speaker 1: death came out early on the morning of April twenty second,
Speaker 1: two thousand and four. Fans created memorials at the Cardinals
Speaker 1: facility and in Pat's hometown of San Jose. I remember
Speaker 1: waiting a line at Sundeville Stadium to pay respects at
Speaker 1: an impromptu memorial. The news hit with the ferocity of
Speaker 1: a Tillman tackle, and it struck owner of Michael Bidwell
Speaker 1: and fullback Larry Centers the same way. It was a
Speaker 1: I mean it was a gut punch. It was a
Speaker 1: kick to the stomach, and I remember I was. I
Speaker 1: was standing in my closet that day, getting ready for
Speaker 1: work and to head into the office, and my phone rang.
Speaker 1: You know, it sent shivers down my spine and we
Speaker 1: realized it's gonna be shocking news to everybody. Was in
Speaker 1: Dallas on a golf course. I was playing with a
Speaker 1: couple of guys who played in the NFL, and one
Speaker 1: of them got a call or text and said, hey, man,
Speaker 1: Pat's him and just died in Afghanistan. It was a
Speaker 1: jaw dropping moment. I remember exactly where I was, like,
Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of the teammates can tell you
Speaker 1: exactly what they were when they heard the news. As
Speaker 1: news traveled through the Cardinals facility, he'd reached the locker
Speaker 1: room a long time trainer, John o'mahondrom It weighed on us,
Speaker 1: impacted us a lot, and the thoughts started going through
Speaker 1: my mind a way that we could memorialize him or
Speaker 1: remember him in some fashion. In the training room, I
Speaker 1: went down to pr ask him to give me a
Speaker 1: photo of Pat. I took it and had it framed,
Speaker 1: put it up over the tape table. So every day
Speaker 1: everybody that came in got overseen by Pat, and guys
Speaker 1: would get up on the table able to get taped
Speaker 1: and they could maybe this past thought on trying to
Speaker 1: live up to his standards of toughness and dedication, being
Speaker 1: a warrior, just all things that Pat was. The Tillman
Speaker 1: Player photo that John o'mahundro referenced, well, if you walk
Speaker 1: into the training room today, that frame picture sits in
Speaker 1: this same exact spot, just like it did days after
Speaker 1: Pat's death. I think there's a wow factor to it.
Speaker 1: I take, for instance, J. J. Watt when he signed
Speaker 1: with the Cardinals, he took a picture in front of it.
Speaker 1: It means something to him. He's very familiar with the story.
Speaker 1: He's involved at the Pat Tilman Foundation. I've obviously long
Speaker 1: been a fan of Pat Tilman. What he stood for,
Speaker 1: who he was, and everything about his legacy is unbelievable
Speaker 1: to me. So to be here, to be walking the
Speaker 1: same hall as that he walked and to see his
Speaker 1: locker was special for me. It made me feel good
Speaker 1: to see him, the guy of his level, standing in
Speaker 1: front of that and it means something to him. That's
Speaker 1: the voice of Jim o'mohandro, long time Cardinals broadcast producer
Speaker 1: more than two decades on the job, while his father,
Speaker 1: the aforementioned John o'mahondro, spent forty two seasons as a
Speaker 1: Cardinals athletic trainer. A couple of other long time Cards employees,
Speaker 1: Darren Urban and Dave Pash, give us the scattered report.
Speaker 1: I would paint Jim o'mohandro in this way. He works
Speaker 1: for the team, but I feel like in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways, Cardinals DNA is literally in him. So I've
Speaker 1: been around the Cardinals my entire life. My dad was
Speaker 1: an athletic trainer for the team for forty two seasons.
Speaker 1: I like to say I was negative nine when he
Speaker 1: started with the team, and I was literally born into
Speaker 1: this organization. I couldn't imagine it any other way. Cardinal
Speaker 1: football means so much to him. Outside of the Bidwells
Speaker 1: who grew up with Cardinal football, I can't think of
Speaker 1: anybody who has a closer connection than the Bidwell family
Speaker 1: than the old Hundro family because of the time and
Speaker 1: the energy that's been spent rooting for the team. So
Speaker 1: when people ask how exactly did the Tilman locker end
Speaker 1: up encased in glass when every other locker is no moss?
Speaker 1: Well glad, yes, because remember earlier the story that we
Speaker 1: thought we knew but didn't. Well, here we go twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals locker room. It's a hard hat area, not
Speaker 1: your typical football helmets, but construction workers. It's a day
Speaker 1: after the Super Bowl, kind of slow around the facility.
Speaker 1: So I come over here to Oreganos just to get
Speaker 1: a normal lunch. So I order a slice and a salad,
Speaker 1: and I'm waiting for the food. So I'm scrolling through Twitter.
Speaker 1: I see a tweet by Darren Urban that alerts me
Speaker 1: to the renovation starting at our Tempi facility. So I
Speaker 1: freak out. There's a photo with a destroyed locker on
Speaker 1: the ground. So I had ordered my lunch, it hadn't
Speaker 1: come yet, and I'm like, I gotta get out of here.
Speaker 1: So I throw twenty dollars down onto the table and
Speaker 1: I'm out of there. I just run to my car,
Speaker 1: drive down, get to the facility, run through the parking lot,
Speaker 1: run through the auditorium, the weight room, the training room,
Speaker 1: step into the locker room. The carpet is all torn up.
Speaker 1: The glue from the carpet is there, and it rips
Speaker 1: my shoe off my foot. So I'm hopping around the
Speaker 1: corner to see two lockers on one wall and about
Speaker 1: four lockers on the other. There's a guy with a
Speaker 1: saw walking directly for Pat Tillman's locker. I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
Speaker 1: don't cut that one out. That's Pat Tillman's locker. So
Speaker 1: that's what happened and prevented it from being destroyed. And
Speaker 1: that is quite a series of events. I mean, think
Speaker 1: of how Razor thin margin was one more stop like
Speaker 1: around so or almost stopping to unglue his shoe, and
Speaker 1: that Silman locker would have been turned into lumber. That
Speaker 1: caught the attention of Cardinal's owner. Michael found out an
Speaker 1: hour after it happened that Jim on the Hunter was
Speaker 1: walking through and said, wait, don't touch that. And so
Speaker 1: we're like, okay, we don't know what to do with
Speaker 1: it right now, but we're going to do something. And
Speaker 1: then because we were doing a renovation of the building,
Speaker 1: we looked for an area where we could put it,
Speaker 1: and the designers found what I think is a perfect
Speaker 1: entry area right outside the locker room. So it's it's
Speaker 1: a perfect area, and it's really a landmark within our
Speaker 1: building and serves as an important reminder for his sacrifice
Speaker 1: but also his spirit. Everybody who goes out to the
Speaker 1: practice field, they walk by it. Everyone who comes in
Speaker 1: from the practice field, they walk by it. And if
Speaker 1: you look at the old foot front of the locker room,
Speaker 1: it's literally on the other side of the wall, kind
Speaker 1: of diagonal from where it was, and I think that's
Speaker 1: pretty cool. It's kind of hallowed ground in a way.
Speaker 1: Remember it'd been over a dozen years since Pat had
Speaker 1: left his locker, so over those years, a number of
Speaker 1: other players use that locker. Pat's final year in the
Speaker 1: locker room was two thousand and one, so every year
Speaker 1: after that I would kind of look to see who
Speaker 1: had that locker, and I'd make it a point to
Speaker 1: go up to him and say, Hey, you know who's
Speaker 1: locker you are sitting in, And they're like, who said
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman. Some of them looked at me like I
Speaker 1: was nuts, Like what this is Pat's locker? You know?
Speaker 1: Someone that come to mind. Gabe Watson, former defensive tackle
Speaker 1: oh Majandro, told me you shared the same locker that
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman hand. I'm like, are you serious? You know
Speaker 1: you hearing the stories behind him, and it's only a
Speaker 1: few people that can say I shared the same locker.
Speaker 1: It's just honored to just be in any company with them.
Speaker 1: John Fullington was a reserve offensive lineman who was the
Speaker 1: final occupant of Pat's locker, and he was genuinely touched.
Speaker 1: I told him, and he was just like, I'm honored.
Speaker 1: If he didn't know what to say. So, you know,
Speaker 1: you see guys that maybe have that locker, then you
Speaker 1: see guys that in future years will walk past that
Speaker 1: locker and you kind of get the idea of what
Speaker 1: they might feel about it. You know, the first time
Speaker 1: you see Pat's locker on displaying, and as someone who
Speaker 1: sees it on a daily basis now, it is a
Speaker 1: heck of a first impression that makes for a lasting impression.
Speaker 1: Here's BPM meter relations Mark Dalton, followed by former cardinals
Speaker 1: Larry Centers and Anthony Edwards. When you get to that spot,
Speaker 1: it's almost a universal reaction. People just stop and conversation
Speaker 1: ceases and they just take it in and there's like
Speaker 1: a solemn moment of reflection, which is really cool keeping
Speaker 1: his legacy alive. I think that's a big step in
Speaker 1: the right direction. You know, the generations go on and
Speaker 1: the people the players come and the players go. But
Speaker 1: to see him immortalize in that way and appreciated by
Speaker 1: the organization, I think that's a really good by the team.
Speaker 1: It's a reminder as a player that's leaving out of
Speaker 1: the locker room going to the practice field, here's someone
Speaker 1: was dedicated, committed to excellence and whatever he did, let
Speaker 1: us do the same thing and take it to the
Speaker 1: field today and be out very best. So it comes
Speaker 1: as a reminder I was driving for excellence. Each time
Speaker 1: a guy walks by, they're gonna see Pat and as
Speaker 1: locker there and remember, you know, hey, you could be
Speaker 1: having a crappy day. You could be complaining about little things,
Speaker 1: and then you see that and you check yourself a
Speaker 1: little bit. Say, Okay, there's thousands upon thousands of men
Speaker 1: and women all over the world serving our country, and
Speaker 1: you know they can't afford to have a bad day.
Speaker 1: We can afford to have a bad day. So you've
Speaker 1: got it pretty good. In the NFL, everyone is looking
Speaker 1: for impact players in Cardinals team history, and that is
Speaker 1: going back more than a century, not a single player
Speaker 1: on the field and off combined is at a bigger
Speaker 1: impact than Pat Tillman. Pat Tillman was all about team
Speaker 1: and if you can walk past that and not get
Speaker 1: something inside of you turning, we got some issues. Go
Speaker 1: back to the whole idea of you know, it's not
Speaker 1: what you say in life, it's what you do. And
Speaker 1: we can all talk, but ultimately it's what we do.
Speaker 1: And I think the lasting legacy of Pat Tillman is
Speaker 1: this is someone who did, who believed in something and
Speaker 1: was willing to risk his life for it. It's voice
Speaker 1: of the Cardinals day pass preceded by former Cardinals linebacker
Speaker 1: Mark Maddox make an impact players today when they see
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman's locker, it says, challenge yourself to do as
Speaker 1: much with your life as Pat did in its twenty
Speaker 1: seven years. To me, that's what Pat's locker stands for,
Speaker 1: and that's why it still stands today for all to see.
Speaker 1: To me, when they keep his locker alive and his
Speaker 1: legend alive there, it's telling the players to like, live
Speaker 1: your trueness, be who you are, and like, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: don't go against the grain just because you want to
Speaker 1: go against the grain. But if you have a feeling
Speaker 1: and it's a thought, and it's something you believe in,
Speaker 1: and if it's against the grain, do it and trust yourself,
Speaker 1: because Pat was like that. And there you have it,
Speaker 1: Cardinals Folk Tales, legendary locker, the one locker that will
Speaker 1: never change name plates, the same locker where we used
Speaker 1: to witness Pat reclined between practices, taking a snooze to
Speaker 1: refresh for what was next. And that's just one tribute
Speaker 1: to Pat's greatness that seemingly everyone has a story. In fact,
Speaker 1: I'll share a quick one with you here. I knew
Speaker 1: a guy at Asu went to school with him, and
Speaker 1: he told me years later that he was Pat's next
Speaker 1: door neighbor for a spell. One night he got home
Speaker 1: from work, he pulled into his driveway and he couldn't
Speaker 1: help a notice there's Pat on his roof. His buddy
Speaker 1: of mine gets out of his car. He's half stupefied
Speaker 1: and he yells out, hey, back, what are you doing
Speaker 1: on your roof? And Pat looked at him, just watching
Speaker 1: the sunset, dude, just watching the sunset. And that was Pat.
Speaker 1: He took nothing for granted, and he inspired others to
Speaker 1: do the same. But how do you convey that, how
Speaker 1: do you pass that along? How do you honor that? Well,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals do just that every day by putting Pat's
Speaker 1: locker on display at their training facility. Thanks for joining
Speaker 1: us everyone on Paul calBC. This has been Cardinals Folk
Speaker 1: Tales Legendary Locker presented by seventy two soul. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: You know it's stories like that, and so many people
Speaker 1: have stories regarding Pat Tilman. That's how his legacy lives
Speaker 1: on today. If you go to the Pat Tilman Foundation
Speaker 1: website and they state how Pat's life and principles and service,
Speaker 1: that's his true legacy. Pat's family and friends started the
Speaker 1: Pat Tilman Foundation to carry forward that legacy. If you
Speaker 1: go two days after his passing, it was the NFL
Speaker 1: Draft two thousand and four, and then Commissioner Paul Tagliboo
Speaker 1: wore a black ribbon with Tilman's name on it and
Speaker 1: a helmet pin with his number forty. And there was
Speaker 1: Paul Tagliboo while flanked by five Marines and Madison Square Garden,
Speaker 1: and he told the audience quote, Pat Tillman personified the
Speaker 1: best values of Americans and the National Football League. And
Speaker 1: we know Pat's legacy is personified by Pat's Run, which
Speaker 1: is held annually in Tempe. And when we come back,
Speaker 1: we'll bring back and talk with someone who runs that
Speaker 1: race every year, our own Darren Urban, who covered Pat
Speaker 1: Tillman during his playing career. As we continue with his
Speaker 1: encore presentation of Cardinals Folk Tales Legendary Locker here on
Speaker 1: the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert
Speaker 1: and welcome back to our encore presentation of Cardinals Folk Tales,
Speaker 1: which we have turned into this very special edition of
Speaker 1: the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford and Gilbert.
Speaker 1: We are Santanford, Paul CALVC, Darren Urban from ac Cardinals
Speaker 1: dot com and what we're designated as the fifty fourth locker,
Speaker 1: that locker just outside the Cardinals locker room, Darren, where
Speaker 1: the name plate will never change Pat Tillman, and it
Speaker 1: was this close to demolition. We got that sense in
Speaker 1: that edition there are Cardinals Folk Tales legendary locker that
Speaker 1: you know what, if it wasn't for one Jim Omndro,
Speaker 1: our fine producer who was quick of foot and quick
Speaker 1: of mind, if it would have been one more stoplight,
Speaker 1: for example, as he raced back to the facility on
Speaker 1: that faithful day, it would not have been saved. But
Speaker 1: there it is for all to see every single day. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm going to take a little bit of the credit here, okay, all,
Speaker 1: because I was the one who took the photo that
Speaker 1: was in the on the post that Olms saw that
Speaker 1: made him realize, oh, I better get back to the facility.
Speaker 1: That's what it was. A two man game. You're right,
Speaker 1: But you know, I think I think it's so incredibly
Speaker 1: awesome to see that locker every day, to see how
Speaker 1: they've preserved it, to see players pass it, and JJ
Speaker 1: Way upon his first visit to the facility, it stopped
Speaker 1: him in his try As there's been a couple of
Speaker 1: players not always the name of JJ Watt, I mean,
Speaker 1: Dennis Gardick. It maanned something to him when he first
Speaker 1: saw it. There was a linebacker and his name escapes
Speaker 1: me right now. He was an undrafted rookie, did not
Speaker 1: make it through training camp, but he was a huge
Speaker 1: admirer of Pat Tillman, and I remember doing a story
Speaker 1: about him, and he had read a Tilman book after
Speaker 1: Tilman's death and it was very important for him to
Speaker 1: be in a in a locker room where this locker existed.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I do think it has an impact
Speaker 1: even as we get past these years, Paul. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're getting to the point now where most of the
Speaker 1: players that come into the league were too young to
Speaker 1: remember Pat Tillman or him dying. I mean, they're certainly,
Speaker 1: you know, two thousand and four was when they were
Speaker 1: in diapers at best. And you know what, and that's
Speaker 1: when you explained to him who Pat Tilman was and
Speaker 1: the legacy and for everything that Pat Tilman was to
Speaker 1: all of us those who covered him. And I think
Speaker 1: anybody who's been a long time resident of Arizona, you
Speaker 1: have a poignant memory at the very least, if not
Speaker 1: a story. I know, the first and only jersey I've
Speaker 1: ever purchased for my son was a Pat Tillman jersey
Speaker 1: and it will be the only one I purchased for him.
Speaker 1: And it's it is that legacy that if nothing else,
Speaker 1: it's to challenge yourself, think for yourself, speak for yourself,
Speaker 1: Just get the most out of yourself. Can you ever
Speaker 1: begin to get enough out of your life that pack
Speaker 1: out out of his twenty seven years. To me, that's
Speaker 1: what that locker says to every incoming Cardinals player. I mean,
Speaker 1: the best part about the locker, and really to me
Speaker 1: about Pat's legacy is it can mean so many different
Speaker 1: things to so many different people. I mean, whether it's
Speaker 1: you know, getting the most out of your life, as
Speaker 1: you were saying, Paul, even if it's something as relatively
Speaker 1: basic as you know, you might be a long shot
Speaker 1: to be on this team, but it can happen because
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman was somebody who did that, you know, a
Speaker 1: seventh pick that probably overachieved a little bit in terms
Speaker 1: of doing what he did in the NFL. So I
Speaker 1: think it can represent a lot of things to a
Speaker 1: lot of people. Dave McGinnis told a story recently former
Speaker 1: Cardinals defensive coordinator and head coach, that when he first
Speaker 1: met Pat Tillman, Pat pulled him aside and said, look,
Speaker 1: I know why you drafted me. I'm a local kid.
Speaker 1: You're trying to get some fans in the stands. You
Speaker 1: probably think I have no shot other than special teams.
Speaker 1: He said, just give me a shot. I can be
Speaker 1: a darn good defensive player for you and Dave McGinnis
Speaker 1: said he never forgot that he gave a shot in
Speaker 1: training camp. We all know not only did he make
Speaker 1: the team, he started ten of sixteen games his rookie year,
Speaker 1: Pat Tillman, and so you know, but once again football
Speaker 1: did not define Pat Tillman, and he went on to
Speaker 1: serve his country, become an American hero. And now that
Speaker 1: legacy is encased in that locker for all to see
Speaker 1: outside the Cardinals locker room. And it was great to
Speaker 1: revisit that addition to Cardinals Folk Tales and we're just
Speaker 1: getting starter. We're gonna do it each of the next
Speaker 1: two weeks as well. Special thanks to our Jim Almahandro
Speaker 1: not only for tonight on The Big Red Rage, but
Speaker 1: as the fine producer of the Cardinals Folk Tales podcast series,
Speaker 1: Cody Fincher, Thank you. Special thanks to Darren Irman of
Speaker 1: Paul KALBCI. This has been The Big Red Rage presented
Speaker 1: by santan Ford in Gilbert. Number one. Kil You've been
Speaker 1: listening to The Big Red Rage presented by Santanford in Gilbert?
Speaker 1: Are you Santanford State Farm talk to an Agent today
Speaker 1: at eight hundred State Farm and by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts
Speaker 1: visit Acy cardinals dot com slash podcasts. This has been
Speaker 1: an exclusive presentation of the Arizona Cardinals football Club