Speaker 1: Hey everybody, and welcome to episode two of the Dave
Speaker 1: Pash Podcast with your host Dave Pash, ESPM broadcaster and
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals play by play announcer. I want to thank
Speaker 1: you guys so much for checking out episode number one
Speaker 1: with Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Had great response from
Speaker 1: you the listeners, all the downloads, the promotion we got
Speaker 1: from the Arizona Cardinals on their Twitter page at asy
Speaker 1: Cardinals as well as the website asy cardinals dot com.
Speaker 1: Big thank you to all my friends in the broadcasting
Speaker 1: business in the sports world for all the likes and
Speaker 1: the retweets. You can check out everything there is to
Speaker 1: know about the Dave Pash Podcast, information on previous episodes,
Speaker 1: on upcoming episodes on our Twitter page at Pash Pod.
Speaker 1: We also have some new presenting sponsors, bet MGM and
Speaker 1: Hilo River Hotels and Casinos. Bet MGM is the official
Speaker 1: sports betting partner of the eros on A Cardinals and
Speaker 1: once legalized sports betting launches here in Arizona. Bet MGM
Speaker 1: plants to open retail sports books at the three Arizona
Speaker 1: Hila River properties as well as State Farm Stadium, which
Speaker 1: of course is home to the Cardinals. So we kicked
Speaker 1: off the Dave Pash Podcast with Kurt Warner, a former player.
Speaker 1: Today we're going to visit with a current player, All
Speaker 1: Pro safety Buddha Baker. And if you've ever been told hey,
Speaker 1: you're too small, you don't look the part, then you'll
Speaker 1: be able to appreciate Buddha's story undersized, passed over at
Speaker 1: one point, now an ascending star in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: His given name is Boichard. He was nicknamed Buddha by
Speaker 1: his mom and aunt when he was a child, and
Speaker 1: the name stuck. He grew up in the state of Washington,
Speaker 1: outside of Seattle, and in this podcast he talks about
Speaker 1: being recruited to the University of Washington and what then
Speaker 1: head coach Chris Peterson did that impressed him enough to
Speaker 1: stay home despite offers to play elsewhere in the PAC twelve,
Speaker 1: including with his best friend. Buddha also discusses his NFL career,
Speaker 1: why he's tired of the Cardinals being quote unquote average.
Speaker 1: He discusses holding teammates accountable and in what area Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray has improved his game the most. Baker talks about
Speaker 1: preparing to become a father and why there's a game
Speaker 1: in December that has a big red circle around it
Speaker 1: on the calendar. How American sign language has opened new
Speaker 1: doors for relationships, and what question one team asked him
Speaker 1: before draft day then made him really, really uncomfortable. So
Speaker 1: here we go Episode two of the Day Pash Podcast
Speaker 1: with All Pro safety Buddha Baker. Buddha Baker, fifth year
Speaker 1: in the NFL, second round pick by the Cardinals, already
Speaker 1: two time first Team All Pro and three time Pro Bowler.
Speaker 1: You're such a great player, but you have such a
Speaker 1: great story, Buddhist. So I want to go back to
Speaker 1: your childhood. When did you first fall in love with football? Oh? Man,
Speaker 1: I think by the age about twelve. You know, I
Speaker 1: was a big soccer guy growing up, played soccer, just
Speaker 1: watched football on TV, played soccer, you know, basketball, track,
Speaker 1: but I really like soccer. So growing up I was
Speaker 1: a soccer player. Then finally, you know, my family put
Speaker 1: me in youth football over in Bellevue, Newport Nights and
Speaker 1: that's all she wrote from there. So why the transition
Speaker 1: from soccer to football? Was it because physicality you could
Speaker 1: hit somebody? Oh yeah, a little bit of that. You know.
Speaker 1: Soccer was always my love, but football exactly what you said.
Speaker 1: The physicality. You can hit people, you know, of course,
Speaker 1: you got to hit him the correct way. And I
Speaker 1: knew that growing up at a young age. So just
Speaker 1: being able to, you know, hit somebody and it be
Speaker 1: totally legal, it is great with me. So soccer, football
Speaker 1: and other sports. You played basketball at all growing up?
Speaker 1: When I was young, I played basketball, but I ran track,
Speaker 1: you know, ran track when I was young, did the
Speaker 1: list select national you know, track teams, and then high
Speaker 1: school ran a little bit of track. Didn't really practice much,
Speaker 1: but we ran track and it was fun. So were
Speaker 1: you a Sonics fan? Like my first year doing NBA
Speaker 1: for ESPN, my first game was a Sonics Lakers game
Speaker 1: in two thousand and six, and that was I think
Speaker 1: I think they left two years after that because Katie
Speaker 1: got there. And think when Russ got drafted, he got
Speaker 1: drafted by Seattle, but they were moving, so it was
Speaker 1: around the time at the end of their tenure there
Speaker 1: in Seattle. And I'm guessing at that point you were
Speaker 1: probably eleven ten years old. So were you a big
Speaker 1: Sonics fan at that point? Wow? Not really, you know,
Speaker 1: like he said, I was nine ten years old, but
Speaker 1: I was a big player fan. I like guys like,
Speaker 1: of course, the Ray Allen shooting. You know, he's a
Speaker 1: Steph Curry of the modern day. Ai Alan and I
Speaker 1: were just led the way he played one hundred percent
Speaker 1: each and every play offense and defense. And uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I like guys like that. You were saying off the
Speaker 1: year before we started this year, A big Lebron fan. Yeah,
Speaker 1: of course you met Lebron. Yeah, I met Lebron, met
Speaker 1: a d They were good guys, crazy tall, but it
Speaker 1: was cool. We just seeing their relationship as you know,
Speaker 1: friends and brothers. They were laughing, joking around there. They
Speaker 1: were just like kids, you know. First time I think
Speaker 1: I realized how big Lebron was. You remember Ben Wallace, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was on Cleveland. This is when Lebron was early
Speaker 1: on in his career. And when I saw Lebron standing
Speaker 1: next to Ben Wallace, who was so big and like
Speaker 1: you always thought about Ben Walls as a muscle bound
Speaker 1: rebounder and Lebron was bigger than him. Yeah, I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness. So when you see Lebron, I mean
Speaker 1: he's six nine, two fifty five two sixty exactly. I
Speaker 1: mean it's like and running, running fast, exactly what you said.
Speaker 1: It's two fifty five guys six five. Man. I just
Speaker 1: have so much respect for him, just what he does
Speaker 1: on each team, every team he's on. Why Allen iverson?
Speaker 1: You said? Ai? Yes? Ai, just man. I love the
Speaker 1: way that crossover was crazy. I love, you know, him
Speaker 1: crossing people over and making them go the other way.
Speaker 1: And how his quickness. You know, I'm I would like
Speaker 1: to think I'm kind of a quick guy. So just
Speaker 1: seeing that quickness in and out of that you know,
Speaker 1: step when he crosses somebody over, and just the way
Speaker 1: you played the swagg he had, and you know he
Speaker 1: kind of he kind of put on for the guys
Speaker 1: with the longest shorts nowadays because back then the shorts
Speaker 1: were a little higher, but you know, he kind of
Speaker 1: sagged him a little bit. Had the wrist bands, the
Speaker 1: finger bands, the headbands. I like that. What was your
Speaker 1: recruitment like, because not only were a really good high
Speaker 1: school player, but you won fourteen to no I think
Speaker 1: three straight years, right, three straight state titles. What was
Speaker 1: your recruitment like? Were you heavily recruited? Did you always
Speaker 1: know where you were going to go? To? Washington? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean I was heavily recruited whole pack twelve. Besides,
Speaker 1: of course Stanford the great stand for the hod to
Speaker 1: have a three point six or something. I had like
Speaker 1: three point two, so it wasn't good enough for them.
Speaker 1: But you know, I was heavily recruited PAC twelve sec
Speaker 1: and for me it was kind of I knew, kind
Speaker 1: of I was gonna stay home. My best friend at
Speaker 1: the time was Miles jack He plays now for the
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars, and he was committed to UCLA and he
Speaker 1: played there. He was a great above me, so I
Speaker 1: almost went to UCLA just because that relationship with him,
Speaker 1: but I knew right when I would get there he
Speaker 1: was one year and done. So for me, I just
Speaker 1: wanted to put it on myself. And who did I
Speaker 1: think was the best opportunity for me school and football wise,
Speaker 1: and University of Washington bringing in Chris Peterson from Boise
Speaker 1: State at the time and his staff. I just really
Speaker 1: loved those guys. And Jimmy Lake, who's now the head
Speaker 1: coach at U dub He was my DV coaching man.
Speaker 1: He was a great guy new football, and I would
Speaker 1: like to say he helped me a lot when I
Speaker 1: got into the league because we were already kind of
Speaker 1: running you know, NFL defenses in college, so going to
Speaker 1: the league, I kind of didn't really miss a step.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you about Jimmy, what is
Speaker 1: the biggest challenge you think that he faces, because it's
Speaker 1: not just about Washington right now in the Pac twelve,
Speaker 1: it's about relevance. It's about getting into college football playoff,
Speaker 1: which has been an issue for the Pac twelve. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: I mean Pac twelve, they just he just got to
Speaker 1: go in and feed it each and every year. You know,
Speaker 1: we went to the College Football Playoff thankfully, and I
Speaker 1: think we lost a game to USC that year, but
Speaker 1: we were Pac twelve champions, and you know, all that
Speaker 1: stuff matters. But you know, for him, I feel like
Speaker 1: they always have the team each and every year. They
Speaker 1: just got to put it together. And especially with these
Speaker 1: last you know, a couple of years with COVID, you know,
Speaker 1: it's definitely hard. So you know, we'll see how he does.
Speaker 1: You know, I haven't talked to him in a while,
Speaker 1: but I planned to talk to him, you know soon.
Speaker 1: Do you have a story from when you were being recruited?
Speaker 1: Was there any one particular coach that you thought was
Speaker 1: a certain way and that surprised you, or any crazy
Speaker 1: story that you have, I mean crazy story, maybe not,
Speaker 1: but you know, with Chris Peterson, I just remember he
Speaker 1: kept a photo of me in his wallet because he
Speaker 1: knew that me being a hometown guy. He his biggest
Speaker 1: thing that was on his mind was to try and
Speaker 1: get me to stay home because he knew that would
Speaker 1: kind of be a triple effect. So that was a
Speaker 1: crazy story. And then just them come to my house.
Speaker 1: They were great people. Just how genuine there were. You know,
Speaker 1: for me, it was definitely easy to see the genuine
Speaker 1: people versus the people that would you know, kind of
Speaker 1: car salesman type of coaches and guys like that. So
Speaker 1: with you, Dug, everyone was so genuine. They told me
Speaker 1: the truth, of course, you know, told me right on,
Speaker 1: like you're not just gonna start right away, You're gonna
Speaker 1: work your way up to the top. And you know
Speaker 1: that's what I did my freshman year. Were you upset
Speaker 1: then when you didn't get picked in the first round.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction when the hardinals traded up though
Speaker 1: to get you early in the second round. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: definitely thought I was a first round pick. I definitely
Speaker 1: thought I was the best safety coming out. But for me,
Speaker 1: you know, the negative thing about me was my size
Speaker 1: and my height, and I knew I can't really do
Speaker 1: anything about that going into mine, you know, at the
Speaker 1: time my true junior year after that season playing Alabama
Speaker 1: had a great game, you know, lost to them, but
Speaker 1: the biggest things was your height and your size, and
Speaker 1: can't really change that. So for me, I knew I
Speaker 1: wanted to go out and I knew all it takes
Speaker 1: is one team. So for me is as soon as
Speaker 1: I get my foot in the door, I felt like
Speaker 1: I was gonna take that opportunity in For the Cardinals
Speaker 1: to trade up for me, that was definitely special because
Speaker 1: that showed me that they really, you know, wanted to
Speaker 1: get me when a team trades up for you, So
Speaker 1: I was definitely excited and happy. I didn't think I
Speaker 1: was gonna go to the Cardinals just because of you know,
Speaker 1: the players they kind of had, so for me to
Speaker 1: get drafted by them, it was definitely excited and definitely
Speaker 1: my rookie year learned from those guys. Did you meet
Speaker 1: with the Cardinals at all or was it a complete
Speaker 1: shock because you didn't really know anybody in the organization.
Speaker 1: You know, I met with like twenty eight teams at
Speaker 1: the combine, which was definitely hard because you have those
Speaker 1: fifteen minute interviews each and every day. I feel like
Speaker 1: I had like twelve interviews and one night, and I
Speaker 1: was like very tolling of course, with having to run
Speaker 1: to forties and the benches and all that type of stuff.
Speaker 1: But that's all for you know, your mental They do
Speaker 1: that for a reason. They want to see who can
Speaker 1: you know, still comprehend those things and still you know,
Speaker 1: show out on the field once it's time to go
Speaker 1: on the field. And you know, I met with Cardinals
Speaker 1: and they were great. I met you know, at the
Speaker 1: time it was BA and Steve and you know those guys,
Speaker 1: and they were all cool and it was it was great.
Speaker 1: Any strange question from any of those interviews, anything you
Speaker 1: remember that You're like, man, I can't believe that dude
Speaker 1: just asked me that. Yeah, I mean I think it
Speaker 1: was the Bengals. The Bengals, Cincinnati Bengals. I go in
Speaker 1: and first of all, when you go in, usually guys
Speaker 1: like you know, they greet you and stuff. But when
Speaker 1: I went in there that everyone was just quiet and
Speaker 1: staring at me, and I was just like, hey, how
Speaker 1: are you guys doing? Just some guys looking at me?
Speaker 1: And then first question was what is forty percent of
Speaker 1: two hundred? I was like, you know, I kind of
Speaker 1: took at it like I was kind of you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't really know I was going to get a
Speaker 1: question like that. I'm like nervous that. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: forty's running through my mind. I better get it right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'm worried about my plays, like making sure you know
Speaker 1: what's under over, like making sure I know my defenses
Speaker 1: and stuff. And the first question is what's forty percent
Speaker 1: and two hundred? So that's not the weirdest thing the
Speaker 1: Bengals have done. But that's so I'll have a whole
Speaker 1: podcast on that, maybe with AJ Green at some point
Speaker 1: or Carson when we get them on. So, you're the
Speaker 1: second highest paid safety in the NFL now with Justin
Speaker 1: Simmons getting his deal. Yeah. Um, recently you have the
Speaker 1: Madden ranking, the ESPN ranking, the Pro Football Focus ranking,
Speaker 1: which I assume you want to hit on that. How
Speaker 1: did they come up with number sixteen? That's what I
Speaker 1: want to know, you know, for me, it's just like,
Speaker 1: I just feel like someone over there doesn't like me.
Speaker 1: Um they said, I I'm my coverage grade is like
Speaker 1: a sixty percent or and I gave up five touchdowns
Speaker 1: last year. And it's just like, man, where are you
Speaker 1: getting this stuff? But those are guys opinions, Guys who
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know if they played the game
Speaker 1: of football or not. I don't know if they know
Speaker 1: our defenses, they know our playbooks, and they know you know,
Speaker 1: who's getting scored on who and what stuff. But you know,
Speaker 1: I kind of just let that go in one ear
Speaker 1: and out the other. I definitely was kind of disrespected
Speaker 1: when I saw that, But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it's their opinions. It's a free world. They can have
Speaker 1: their opinions. I'll just I'll just keep showing out each
Speaker 1: and every week exactly. You change your number of this
Speaker 1: year to number three, which makes my job harder. I've
Speaker 1: had to relearn the roster. I'm like looking at like,
Speaker 1: who's number three, Oh, that's foot up and you know,
Speaker 1: doing college college football every week, so I'm used to
Speaker 1: seeing like a defensive lineman wearing number six, but now
Speaker 1: it's in the NFL. So it's I know, obviously that's
Speaker 1: far from anything you're concerned with, but why the number three?
Speaker 1: You were thirty two in high school and then thirty
Speaker 1: sixty with the Cardinals. Why did you change the number three?
Speaker 1: I mean, of course I war thirty six with the
Speaker 1: Cardinals and then was able to wear thirty two again.
Speaker 1: But for me, it was just kind of having my
Speaker 1: own number. You know, first time they ever let dbs
Speaker 1: and people wear single digit numbers. So for me, I
Speaker 1: already knew I was gonna try and use that to
Speaker 1: take that number and play on defense. So just a
Speaker 1: number no other defensive back and Cardinals here has had,
Speaker 1: and you know, hopefully I can do great things with
Speaker 1: that number and see those see that number in the
Speaker 1: wrap theres someday. What for fans that are listening to
Speaker 1: this going into the season, what do you think will
Speaker 1: be different about the defense of this year? You know,
Speaker 1: in the beginning of camp, I just try to talk
Speaker 1: to guys and just say, like, we're very average these
Speaker 1: last four years, and I don't want to be average anymore.
Speaker 1: I'm done with being average. So when I see things
Speaker 1: that are average on the field, I'm going to be
Speaker 1: talking to you about it. Everybody just being held accountable
Speaker 1: of things and just let guys know we're brothers at
Speaker 1: the end of the day. But if you mess up something,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get on you about it, just like if
Speaker 1: I mess up something, you should get on me about it.
Speaker 1: Because at the end of the day, everybody wants to
Speaker 1: be at the top and all the guys being held
Speaker 1: accountable of things on the defense and getting into their
Speaker 1: playbooks and understanding you know, defense is because we were
Speaker 1: a game short last year and we were a way
Speaker 1: better defense than what we showed last year. So this year,
Speaker 1: everyone being held accountable, taking it day by day, not
Speaker 1: looking at what's in four weeks or five weeks, but
Speaker 1: one week at a time, one day at a time,
Speaker 1: and things are going to be special. So we'll see.
Speaker 1: We've heard a lot about the focus of Steve come
Speaker 1: was to bring in more leadership, be more physical. Have
Speaker 1: you noticed the difference in the locker room in terms
Speaker 1: of leadership with some of the auditions and without naming names,
Speaker 1: some of the substractions that aren't here anymore. I mean
Speaker 1: there's definitely leadership, you know on the defense, leadership on
Speaker 1: the team, and you know, Steve Kim and this staff
Speaker 1: has done a great job of bringing good guys in
Speaker 1: and guys that want to learn, and guys that you know,
Speaker 1: want to have those leadership qualities and have those leadership
Speaker 1: qualities and has done great things in the NFL. So
Speaker 1: you know, for us, we're just so excited and like
Speaker 1: I said, we're just all being taken accountable, being held accountable,
Speaker 1: and want to get better each and every day. So
Speaker 1: that's all that matters. I know it's early in camp,
Speaker 1: but just I'm curious, based on conversations you've had with
Speaker 1: some of the young guys or what you've seen in
Speaker 1: practice or even going back to mini campus, they're a
Speaker 1: player that maybe we're not thinking about that we need
Speaker 1: to have a rise on here. Oh. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think there's a bunch of players, you know, especially with
Speaker 1: I mean these young draft picks, these young guys. All
Speaker 1: these guys are really good guys. They want to be coach,
Speaker 1: they want to learn, and you know, I give tremendous respect,
Speaker 1: you know for these young guys because a lot of
Speaker 1: young guys when they get drafted, they kind of think
Speaker 1: they're you know, the shi t and they just don't
Speaker 1: want to do you know, they don't want to do things,
Speaker 1: They don't want to do the hard things. But with
Speaker 1: all these young guys, they want to work, they want
Speaker 1: to get better, and I'm excited for of course, they're
Speaker 1: Zavin Isaiah who's in his second year, and I'm just
Speaker 1: excited for this defense Chandler coming back. It's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be special. Do you like camp? Do you like to
Speaker 1: come to training camp? And their players who don't like it,
Speaker 1: they would rather just get to the preseason games or
Speaker 1: even just get to the regular season. I work with
Speaker 1: Ron Wolfley. I mean he loved camp. He loved the hitting,
Speaker 1: he loved he was doing three days that. Yeah, do
Speaker 1: you enjoy it? I'm not saying I love camp, but
Speaker 1: I'll say I embrace it, you know, I embrace the grind.
Speaker 1: You kind of embrace the suck in a sense. And
Speaker 1: this camp, of course, there's guys. You're able to go home,
Speaker 1: you know. So I'm able to go home each and
Speaker 1: every night, get my good meals, my good stretches, and
Speaker 1: come back the next morning and work, you know, my
Speaker 1: ass off. So and I'm excited. I'm very excited. Embrace
Speaker 1: the suck. I think I'm gonna use that when I
Speaker 1: get like an assignment that I don't like, Hey, you're
Speaker 1: doing this game this week. I'm gonna be like, I
Speaker 1: just gotta embrace the sun, Gotta just embrace it. JJ Watt,
Speaker 1: what was your first impression when he walked in? Man,
Speaker 1: big guy, you know, tall, long, strong, saw him in
Speaker 1: the weight room, a little strong, loves you know, kind
Speaker 1: of a meathead in a type of sense when I
Speaker 1: see j. J. Watt, but a guy who's a great guy,
Speaker 1: loves to work, and I'm excited to have him on
Speaker 1: our team. What about AJ Green, because it's somebody that
Speaker 1: when I sat down with Cliff, he brought up AJ unsolicited,
Speaker 1: and just watching Aj in camp, it's noticeable that this
Speaker 1: guy still has it. What have you seen? Of course,
Speaker 1: like you said, I mean, he's in He's in the
Speaker 1: Great A Z Sunny Hot every day. It's beautiful. He
Speaker 1: still has that jew still has that burst speed that
Speaker 1: where he can go deep, but also that speed where
Speaker 1: he can go deep and then sit it down real
Speaker 1: quick in a one two punts. So having him in
Speaker 1: d hop is special just for k one having those weapons,
Speaker 1: and then especially you know Kurt in the slot, he's
Speaker 1: fast and the new additions that we have as well.
Speaker 1: Fast guys can get in and out of their breaks,
Speaker 1: and I'm excited for this offense for sure. But Aj,
Speaker 1: like he said, he still has that juice. He can
Speaker 1: break on a dime, catch the ball, and I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see what he can do with the Cardinals. Anything
Speaker 1: that stands out to you about Kyler Murray that's different? Oh?
Speaker 1: For me, I feel like his arm strength is definitely better.
Speaker 1: He's always had great arm strength, but you know there's
Speaker 1: one time in practice he's rolling all the way to
Speaker 1: the right sideline and he flicks the ball to d
Speaker 1: hop and it's like a fifty five yard throw in
Speaker 1: the middle the field across his body, so and it's
Speaker 1: a dart. So his arm strength. His accuracy has always
Speaker 1: been good, which gets better each and every year, but
Speaker 1: that armstram is special. You've made so many big time
Speaker 1: plays in a short time in the NFL, But it
Speaker 1: seems like from a national perspective, the play that everybody
Speaker 1: talks about is the DK Metcalf play. Yeah, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure you get asked about that a ton ye. I mean,
Speaker 1: is there an interview you do or a person you
Speaker 1: talk to that doesn't bring it up that just talks
Speaker 1: about you. No, not one interview since that's happened has
Speaker 1: been something about me. But of course, I mean it
Speaker 1: was a play. It was good play on him, but
Speaker 1: you know, great play on me. They were in the
Speaker 1: red zone, they had three automatically try to go fast,
Speaker 1: long series, get the interception, take it all the way
Speaker 1: to whatever yard line, get the chance for the offense
Speaker 1: to get points on the board, and ultimately we won
Speaker 1: that game. Now, if we lost that game, you know,
Speaker 1: that would have been a spectacular play by him. But
Speaker 1: we won the game. So or whatever, your play went
Speaker 1: longer in terms of winning the game for the Cardinals
Speaker 1: than his play did in terms of impacting the exact,
Speaker 1: which is what matters most. So, looking at this season
Speaker 1: with the Seahawks and the Rams on the forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: do you feel like there is a team that's more
Speaker 1: of a rival than another. I know that you probably
Speaker 1: have to say we respect every team, but is there
Speaker 1: one team and maybe it's Seattle because you're from there,
Speaker 1: that like you hate and you can't wait to get
Speaker 1: on the field with them. I mean, honestly, it's every
Speaker 1: team in the NFC West. I don't like you know,
Speaker 1: I just want to beat him. Of course, like you said, Seattle,
Speaker 1: I love to go against them because that's a hometown
Speaker 1: team and a team that you know, I know a
Speaker 1: lot of the guys on that team, so I always
Speaker 1: like to compete with those guys. And definitely when we
Speaker 1: win those games, I'm able to come home and just
Speaker 1: you know, we're able to laugh at the those type
Speaker 1: of situations. But I would say the Rams as well,
Speaker 1: just because we haven't beat him, and I really want to,
Speaker 1: you know, get that opportunity again to play them, because
Speaker 1: we got to get over that hump. They've just been
Speaker 1: a team that's had our numbers for you know, ever
Speaker 1: since I've been here, So try to, you know, beat
Speaker 1: the Rams for sure. Larry Wilson, Adrian Wilson, Pat Tillman,
Speaker 1: Tyron Matthew, You're in that conversation and great list of
Speaker 1: safeties that have played for the Cardinals. How does that
Speaker 1: make you feel? Are you familiar with those guys? I mean, obviously, Tie,
Speaker 1: but do you remember Adrian when he played Larry Wilson?
Speaker 1: I mean, all I know is the guy played with
Speaker 1: broken hands. Like I'm too young to remember Larry when
Speaker 1: he may but you know, obviously he was a legend exactly.
Speaker 1: Now I'm a ninety six and baby, so I'm way
Speaker 1: too young for that. But um, Adrian Wilson, hard hitter guy,
Speaker 1: um guy who played corner as well, so versatility. Of course,
Speaker 1: there's Tyrn Matthew, who's my stature. Can you know? It's
Speaker 1: versatle as well, And it's over there doing really good
Speaker 1: with the Chiefs. And for me, it's just, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't really let that get to my head right now,
Speaker 1: going into year five. I'm just trying to be the
Speaker 1: best I can as a person player and you know,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that when I'm out of this game.
Speaker 1: So for me, I'm just focused on being the best
Speaker 1: player I can each and every day for myself, for
Speaker 1: this team, and just trying trying to get get the
Speaker 1: Cardinals back up. You know, you mentioned a ninety six baby,
Speaker 1: and so you're twenty five. You've got a long way
Speaker 1: to go in this game. But do you have you
Speaker 1: thought about what you want to do down the road
Speaker 1: at some point? It's interesting because there I had a
Speaker 1: conversation with Chris Paul in preseason when we were doing
Speaker 1: a Son's game and a lot of these guys now
Speaker 1: that have made the kind of money that Chris Paul's
Speaker 1: made and that you're on track to make. If they're
Speaker 1: not talking about getting into being a coach or a
Speaker 1: manager general manager, they're talking about ownership. Like Chris, his
Speaker 1: mentor isn't Michael Jordan, it's Bob Eiger, who is the
Speaker 1: long time CEO at Disney. When I would do Clipper games,
Speaker 1: Billy Crystals on one side of our table and Bob
Speaker 1: Iger's on the other, Chris Paul, you had to go
Speaker 1: a dab up you know, uh is a dab or
Speaker 1: dap Billy Crystal because it's Billy Crystal. Yeah, but then
Speaker 1: he goes over to Bob Iger, like that's his mentor.
Speaker 1: Have you thought at all about down the road what
Speaker 1: you want to do? Yeah? I mean for me, it's
Speaker 1: kind of just uh like investing into things, just slowly
Speaker 1: getting good cash cast that no one really knows about it,
Speaker 1: and just you know, people don't think that our people
Speaker 1: just think I'm a football player, but I like to
Speaker 1: invest into things and hopefully get more money in my
Speaker 1: investments than I am playing this game. So you know,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that, you know, hopefully ten years down
Speaker 1: the road. Yeah, you got, you got plenty of time.
Speaker 1: I'm just curious because again it's shifted where he used
Speaker 1: to be. Players wanted to be. They either want if
Speaker 1: they stayed in football or basketball, was coaching, scouting. Now
Speaker 1: it's ownership because of the money that's available to players.
Speaker 1: You're about to be a father. How do you think
Speaker 1: that will change your life? Oh? Man, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: special for me, you know, having a little baby girl.
Speaker 1: So of course a lot of my girl dad friends
Speaker 1: tell me that I'm gonna be as softie and all
Speaker 1: that type of stuff, and you're gonna be soft in football.
Speaker 1: But for me, I don't think I'm gonna be soft
Speaker 1: in football. I'm gonna want to go harder. But I'll
Speaker 1: definitely be soft for my little daughter. And that will
Speaker 1: definitely be a special moment to see her, you know,
Speaker 1: see her born, because I will be there for sure
Speaker 1: no matter what. And the due date is December third.
Speaker 1: December third is that game day? Off the top of
Speaker 1: my head, I'm trying to think. Nope. We play Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears on the fifth, I believe, and that will be
Speaker 1: in Chicago. So you know, I've had that conversation with
Speaker 1: you know the ownership and mister Bidwell and Steve and Cliff,
Speaker 1: and I just told him straight up like I gotta
Speaker 1: there for my daughter's born day and I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: there no matter what. So even when we're in Chicago,
Speaker 1: if I have to go back, I'm gonna do it
Speaker 1: because my kids, my daughter will always be there long
Speaker 1: after the game of football. And I definitely feel like
Speaker 1: it's gonna be special for me, my first blood child,
Speaker 1: to be there for her to see me no matter what,
Speaker 1: even if she doesn't remember, I still want to be there.
Speaker 1: I want to remember. So that's all always be good.
Speaker 1: That's awesome, man, much respect on that. Your demeanor in
Speaker 1: talking with you, and I've heard a lot of universe
Speaker 1: the first time you and I've really sat down and chattered,
Speaker 1: like very different from your demeanor on the field. When
Speaker 1: you step on the field, What is going through your mind?
Speaker 1: Do you have to put yourself in a different state
Speaker 1: of consciousness? Almost? I mean I don't put myself it
Speaker 1: just you know, it just comes out, you know that
Speaker 1: what should I say? That different personality comes out when
Speaker 1: I get on that field. I'm just excited. It's party time.
Speaker 1: Like Brian Dawkins would say, And you know, I loved
Speaker 1: watching the ed reads, the Brian Dawkins, the Ray Lewis
Speaker 1: is when they get on the field and m it
Speaker 1: was definitely special. And you know, for me, it just
Speaker 1: comes out like I'm not trying to act no type
Speaker 1: of ways. It just comes out when I get on
Speaker 1: the field, I'm excited and I want to help my
Speaker 1: team win the game. So you know, during the game,
Speaker 1: it's all fun and games. After the game, I get
Speaker 1: back into my chill mood and probably very sore, get
Speaker 1: myself a nice glass of wine or something and chill
Speaker 1: out for the night. All right, So what do you like?
Speaker 1: What's your veno of choice? You know, I'm a peano guy.
Speaker 1: I like peeno no wars um, you know, calves sometimes
Speaker 1: with a steak, but I'm more of a smooth peeno
Speaker 1: no wir guy. Just go right into the wine celler
Speaker 1: at the house, get one out, and I get I
Speaker 1: got a good air raidor too. You know a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of those er raiders are you know,
Speaker 1: you need a good one to have it more clear
Speaker 1: and taste better. Smart man, you gotta figure it out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: got to figure it out. I might be twenty five,
Speaker 1: but you know, I learned some things. It's good. That's
Speaker 1: good the core OFVIN. So if the core OFVIN, you
Speaker 1: don't have to open the bottle. You can stick the
Speaker 1: core of it and poor then you can save them all.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, exactly, you can do that as well. So
Speaker 1: you're you're very talkative. You've been great in this setting,
Speaker 1: and you're very talkative on the field. There's a time
Speaker 1: I understand when you're not talkative, and that's when you're
Speaker 1: doing sign language. Tell me about your background with ASL.
Speaker 1: I have a daughter who she could have done Spanish
Speaker 1: or American Sign language, and she chose ASL, and she
Speaker 1: doesn't use it a lot, but it's really cool when
Speaker 1: she does because you see how comfortable it makes another person, yea,
Speaker 1: that they can have a relationship without speaking exactly. You know,
Speaker 1: my freshman year in high school, I took Spanish and
Speaker 1: I just I didn't really get a good grade on it,
Speaker 1: So you had my junior year of high school, I
Speaker 1: actually went to a community college to do ASL, and
Speaker 1: that's when I first started it. And you know, at
Speaker 1: the time, I think I had a broken thumb, so
Speaker 1: I had sign with my left hand, So that definitely
Speaker 1: made my left hand more like coordinated kind of in
Speaker 1: a sense. And you know, going into college at the
Speaker 1: University of Washington, I took it there for two years
Speaker 1: as well. And it's definitely special because there are deaf
Speaker 1: people in this world, and you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: hearing people can't communicate to them, whether it's it's only
Speaker 1: by text message or you know, maybe on social media,
Speaker 1: but in person it's you know, hard, you can't really
Speaker 1: communicate to them. So for me, anytime I see a
Speaker 1: deaf person, I try to talk to them and just say, hey,
Speaker 1: how are you. You know, introduce myself my name. They say,
Speaker 1: how are you? Where do you learn sign language? I
Speaker 1: tell them University of Washington and it's great, good conversations.
Speaker 1: They smile hard, and you know, that's definitely special for me.
Speaker 1: So you know, I'll continue to understanding, and if I'm
Speaker 1: ever losing it, of course I still you know, you
Speaker 1: still have your things to where you can go back
Speaker 1: on and learn some things. So yeah, there a specific example,
Speaker 1: a particular story that sticks with you that it is
Speaker 1: something that you'll remember for a long time about an
Speaker 1: interaction you have. I mean, one time I was with
Speaker 1: Chandler actually, and we were, you know, taking our trips
Speaker 1: at the time in the off season, and we're at
Speaker 1: the airport and you know, we left our left our
Speaker 1: car in the airport, so we had to go walk
Speaker 1: to our car. And at the airport and I see
Speaker 1: a you know, a deaf person sitting down signing on
Speaker 1: his cell phone. And I walk up. I go up
Speaker 1: to them because you know, deaf people like that when
Speaker 1: a hearing person likes to go up and talk to them.
Speaker 1: So I go up to him, say, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: how are you. My name's Buddha. He's like, hey, how
Speaker 1: are you. My name's you know, Ali, and then tells
Speaker 1: his friend tell him hello, and you know, I say,
Speaker 1: nice to meet you, and he smiles and it's great,
Speaker 1: good conversation. So that was definitely a special moment for me. Well,
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, man, you're an impressive dude. I've
Speaker 1: been such a big fan of you as a player,
Speaker 1: but just hearing and I've known your story, but hearing
Speaker 1: more about you and the type of person you are,
Speaker 1: just your compassion for people, and you know how the
Speaker 1: story about how you want to be there for your daughter,
Speaker 1: to be there for the birth no matter what, even
Speaker 1: if that means you end up missing a game. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just it's great. I think when Cardinal fans and
Speaker 1: NFL fans and people maybe if they aren't even football fans,
Speaker 1: here the story they're they're gonna walk away saying, man
Speaker 1: that that Buddha Baker is a special dude. So I
Speaker 1: really appreciate the time. I appreciate that for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: me too. And I appreciate everything you're saying. And yeah,
Speaker 1: like he said, first with my daughter, I gotta be there.
Speaker 1: I love football, you know, I know I mean a
Speaker 1: lot to this team, and you know they mean a
Speaker 1: lot to me as well. And I love these guys.
Speaker 1: And if that conversation has to happen, I'll have that
Speaker 1: conversation before the game, before we get there. But you know, hopefully,
Speaker 1: you know, we have that bye week before. Hopefully it
Speaker 1: happens a little bit before that so I can be there.
Speaker 1: But like you said, no matter what, I gotta see
Speaker 1: my my daughter be you know, born. I gotta see
Speaker 1: however many kids I have born, so don't understand, yea,
Speaker 1: And if they don't, that's that's there. They don't exactly
Speaker 1: like you said, my friend Bill Walton missed two of
Speaker 1: his kids' births. Yeah, so you know, uh, hey, you
Speaker 1: know you gotta be there. Yeah, exactly for me, I
Speaker 1: just gotta be there one hundred percent. Gotta be there,
Speaker 1: all right. Appreciate your Buddha. Appreciate you too, man. How
Speaker 1: can you not be impressed listening to the heart of Buddha. Baker.
Speaker 1: He loves football, family, He even loves strangers. His story
Speaker 1: about using sign language to engage the hearing impaired was
Speaker 1: absolutely inspirational. I mean, I've enjoyed watching Baker tremendously on
Speaker 1: the field the last few years, but after spending time
Speaker 1: with Buddha, I'm gonna root for him even more to succeed.
Speaker 1: I love his leadership too. He said, Look, we're brother,
Speaker 1: but if you're not doing your job, I'm gonna walk
Speaker 1: up on you. I'm gonna hold you accountable. I'll love
Speaker 1: you in the end, but I'm tired of being average.
Speaker 1: And he was very thoughtful talking about where the team
Speaker 1: needs to improve, but upset at the way the defense
Speaker 1: and how he's been portrayed in some circles. Part of
Speaker 1: Baker being undersized and not being a first round draft
Speaker 1: pick when he thought he should have been continues to
Speaker 1: be motivation to prove everybody wrong. That's usually what makes
Speaker 1: a good player, a great player, that drive to never
Speaker 1: be satisfied and to be the best, and Buddhast certainly
Speaker 1: has that. And I can't wait to watch Baker in
Speaker 1: two twenty one. So that'll do it for episode two
Speaker 1: of the Dave Passh Podcast. I want to thank again
Speaker 1: are presenters BETMGM, the official sports betting partner of the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals and Hila River Hotels and Casinos. Coming up
Speaker 1: next week, the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Cliff Kingsbury,
Speaker 1: and ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes. We have some great
Speaker 1: guests in the future. Expected to join the Dave Pash Podcast.
Speaker 1: Two members of the ESPN Monday Night Football team, Steve
Speaker 1: Levy and Brian Greasy. The owner of the Arizona Cardinals,
Speaker 1: Michael Bidwell, a guy that went from being a player
Speaker 1: for the Arizona Cardinals to the president of an NFL
Speaker 1: team in less than a decade. Jason Wright from the
Speaker 1: Washington Football team is expected to join us as his
Speaker 1: actor James Rode from A Million Little Things and Psyche
Speaker 1: and comedian Frank Caliendo, Ron Wolfley, of course, and Bill
Speaker 1: Wolton and many more. Talk to you next week. Thanks
Speaker 1: again for listening to Dave Passed podcast m