WEBVTT - Big Red Rage - Saving Pat Tillman's Legendary Locker 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:05.520 Strap on the boots and scrape up the knuckles. Hold ahead, 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:06.840 he got jacked. 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:12.160 This is the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:13.520 and Gilbert Barry's. 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:16.560 Gonna score touchdown slim to the ground by Buddha Baker 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:17.720 Like a torpedo. 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:19.560 He came flying into the back deal. 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.200 The Rage is brought to you by santan Ford and 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.360 Gilbert right on the Price right on the corner of 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.800 the Santan two O two Freeway in bal Vista see 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:36.880 Key your ticket to Great Seats and by Arizona Cardinals Podcast. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:43.360 Visit Azycardinals dot Com, Slash Podcast, A Red Seats Rising Up, 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:50.800 Timber Rising Vision, Flurry Rage, take it over. Here's Paul Calvici. 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:51.440 I'm ready. 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.400 I'm one hundred percent ready. I'm telling you I'm ready. 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:55.440 And Ron Woolfley. 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:57.520 It doesn't get any better than that. 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:06.280 A singular player in Cardinal's history, Pat Tillman was one 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.600 of the most unique people to ever walk amongst us. 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.399 In fact, a statue stands outside the Cardinals stadium for 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:17.040 all to see, but very few know what's displayed inside 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:21.399 Cardinals HQ. A very special big Red Rage. We call 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:26.080 it our Cardinals Folktales Legendary Locker Edition, The story behind 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:30.240 the saving from an almost certain destruction of Pat Tillman's 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:34.080 locker back in the day. You know, Cardinals Folktales Wolf 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.880 it's number one in the series, the story and rightfully 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:40.560 so of Pat Tillman's legendary locker that is now behind 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:44.120 glass outside the Cardinals locker room, essentially a museum piece. 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:45.960 And you also know how what we like to say 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:49.560 about Cardinals Folktales, this Emmy Award winning series, that you 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.040 can't spell history without the word story. But what about 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.400 the word folk tale? What does that mean to you? 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:57.080 How would you define it? 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.360 Yeah, Pauli, that is a great question right there. Well, 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.440 first of all, folk tale, it's got to be a story, 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.000 So it's got to be a story about a human being, 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.480 and it's got to be a story about a human 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:12.919 being doing legendary things. That to me is my definition 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:14.040 of a folk. 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:19.360 Tell And that would definitely define Pat Tillman, someone where 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:23.079 football did not define Pat Tillman. We both know that. 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.079 We both go back to the days when he was 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.760 a star at ASU and then a Cardinal's draft pick, 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:32.079 and to this day. Look, we're both asked about Pat Tillman. 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:34.680 I know you are. And what do you say when 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:36.799 people ask you about the late great Pat Tillman? 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.200 You know, for the most part, Polly, I just say, 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.920 let me tell you a story, because this really defines 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:44.320 who he is right here. And I tell him the 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.400 story about when I ran into Pat Tillman who was 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:51.440 walking out of a bowling alley pushing a ten speed 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:55.440 a bike with him, and I thought it was so weird. 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.440 I said, hey, Pat, what's up man? How you doing? 0:02:58.520 --> 0:02:58.720 You know? 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.080 And he said hello? And I said, Pat, what'd you do? 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:05.079 Did you ride your bike here? And he said to me, yeah, 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:06.880 I did. As a matter of fact, I said, what 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:08.560 do you live around here? He said no, I live 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:12.239 about ten miles that way. I said, you rode your 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.839 bike here and he said, yeah, I'm training for a triathlon. 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:17.880 Paul, I remember. 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.280 That trainy, Yes, he was training for that. And I 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.600 was like, Tilly, what are you doing? I mean, you're 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.960 an NFL player. Don't you have enough challenge right there? 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.840 He said, why are you doing that? And he said, 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:33.880 I just wanted to test myself and challenge myself. That 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.640 just blew me away, Paul. And yet it says so 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:39.240 much about. 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.360 Pat he does. In fact, all the cardinal strength coaches 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.400 at the time said, no, don't do it. That's counterproductive 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:47.720 to being a football player. The explosion you need. You 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.160 don't want to run marathons and do triathons. And you 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.320 know what Pat did it. Anyway, Look, if you asked 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.160 me about Pat Tolman, I think of the epitome as 0:03:56.160 --> 0:04:00.200 someone who thought for themselves, right. Yeah, they felt it 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.920 was ultra important to educate yourself in so many different ways. 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:07.040 He had that insatiable curiosity about him. You know, you 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.560 think about Pat Tillman, not just the football player, but 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.040 the Pat Tillman scholars as someone who had a three 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:16.440 point nine gpa at ASU. He was always driven by 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:20.919 seeking knowledge, right, the need to experience life, and what 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:24.080 he got out of his twenty seven years you could 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:26.320 only hope to get out of a full lifetime compared 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:26.960 to Pat Tillman. 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.720 Yeah, and for me Pauly too, it's just I've got 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:31.560 to bring it back, man, I got to bring it 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:34.640 back to the white lines, the football field, the grid 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:40.400 iron and mother grid iron and how tough Pat Tilman 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:45.400 truly was as a football player. I'm sorry. I know 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.440 what he did and the way he gave his life 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.960 for our country in service to so many others. But 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.200 for me, the fact that he walked in between those 0:04:56.240 --> 0:05:01.000 white lines as well and endured so much and absorbed 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:05.400 so much damage while giving damage on the football field, 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:09.039 to me so impressed with him. That's my number one 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:10.239 takeaway from Pat. 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.200 He still holds the Cardinals all time record for tackles 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.679 in a season, more than two hundred and twenty tackles 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.520 in a single season. Think about that. This is a 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.560 seventh round pick in nineteen ninety eight. He came out 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.200 as a tweener. He was the Pac twelve Defensive Player 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:26.680 of the Year at ASU, But where was he supposed 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.520 to play in the NFL? So he lasted to the 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.120 seventh round. Remember his first training camp as a rookie Wolf. 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:34.960 We were in Flagstaff. He came in, he was held 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.279 bent on making a statement. He was telling them you 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.080 need this physicality, you need my mentality, and he defied 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:42.800 the odds. He made the team and then started ten 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:44.839 to sixteen games as a rookie. 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:47.120 And then, of course his leadership and how he would 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:52.040 impact others. Paul guys around him were inspired by Pat 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:53.760 for so many different reasons. 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.320 We know his football career, we know his status as 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.640 an American hero, and we're going to get into all 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.640 that and his entire story how his legacy really is 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:07.960 captured in Pat Tillman's legendary locker when we come back 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:11.800 on this very special edition, our Cardinals Folktales edition of 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.960 the Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.680 and welcome back everyone into the Big Red Rage presented 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.240 by Santan Ford and Gilbert. We are Santan Ford, I'm 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.680 Paul Calvic And as we noted off the top, our 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:34.120 game plan revolves around an encore presentation of Cardinals' folk Tales, 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.400 where we like to say it can't spell history without 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.240 the word story. Well, if you were to go from 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.400 the Cardinals radio studio about fifty yards to my left, 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.200 you would at the Cardinals locker room, and before you enter, 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:50.039 you would see a locker behind glass, and there's a 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:55.520 reason why that locker once belonged to Pat Tillman. So 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:59.440 as we look at the makeup of NFL rosters and 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:03.320 we see long shot players and low round picks who 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.520 might be able to defy the odds, it's hard not 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.000 to think of the greatest Cardinals example of that. Ever, 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.560 at least to me, Cardinal's seventh round pick in nineteen 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.840 ninety eight, Pat Tillman. He was far from a lock 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.480 that year. He is considered a tweener between a linebacker 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.520 and a safety. But he had a plan make the 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.960 coaches take notice. And as someone who covered Pat both 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.800 ASU and the Cardinals, it was impossible not to notice Pat. 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:31.920 If it wasn't the hair flowing out of the helmet, 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.040 it was just his style of play with total abandon. 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:38.920 I mean, he didn't just wear pads, he used him. 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:43.240 So although we might know Pat's story, what's the story 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:48.480 behind the locker that was seconds away from total demolition. 0:07:49.080 --> 0:08:05.360 Well here's that story, Cardinals' full tales legendary locker. Every year, 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.640 NFL teams conduct their fight for fifty three. That's the 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:13.480 size of an NFL roster, fifty three players, and those 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:17.800 names will always vary year to year, heck, week to week, 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.000 but the Arizona Cardinals have a fifty fourth locker and 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.440 that name plate will never change. 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.600 Pat Tilman talk about a. 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:27.720 Guy with a lot of heart. 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.240 Passion is kind of important word for me, whether it's 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.200 you know, playing sports, or whether it's you know, just 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.840 living or whatever you're gonna do, you should, in my opinion, 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.080 you should be passionate about or else Why why do it? 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:40.040 He was pretty legendary just for being the guy he 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:44.240 was that, being true to himself, challenging people around him, 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.640 you know, never being dull or just taking things for 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:51.840 granted or being complacent. He was always searching for knowledge. 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:53.800 I think it was important to save the locker. 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.319 As time goes by, you start to forget about things 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:58.400 that happened in history. 0:08:58.640 --> 0:08:59.679 I didn't want Pat to be. 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:06.160 Forgotten, legendary locker with the forever nameplate Pat Tillman. This 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.520 is Cardinal's Folktales, presented by seventy two sold where we 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:13.960 go in depth into Cardinal's history, all time anecdotes through 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:18.000 the personal recollections and memories of those who lived in 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.440 We hear their words, their voices. My name is Paul Kelvic. 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:24.760 I've covered the Cardinals since late nineteen ninety five, the 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:26.760 end of the Buddy Ryan era. I've been the Cardinals 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:30.200 sideline reporter since two thousand and five, and as I 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.720 can attest, you may think you know some of these 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.400 folk tale stories, but as I found out, as even 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.680 team historians have found out. We don't like this story, 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.800 this folk tale revolving around the most widely known figure 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:49.440 in Cardinal's history, Pat Tillman, and how his legendary locker 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.880 was saved with a last second interception from a buzzsaw 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.520 literally by a longtime staffer. 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.720 I didn't really get the idea to kind of preserve 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.319 the locker until two thousand and six. I always put 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:03.600 it in the back of my head, like I want 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:04.440 to save this locker. 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:06.800 That would be kind of cool. And I just didn't 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:08.440 know when renovations would take place. 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.720 And I'm sit Mary eating lunch at Oreganos and they're 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:12.400 taking place. 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:14.000 So I had to do something. 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.560 When you know the cliche, if you cut somebody open, 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.400 they bleed, Cardinal reds. That's Almo. So it was fitting that, 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.319 you know, he would be the one that has his 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:25.480 finger on the pulse of that and in the moment 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.720 immediately recognizes how significant this is to preserve. 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:42.520 Before we get to that locker, the museum piece on 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.360 display showcase for all to see at Cardinals HQ, we 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:50.040 need to understand Pat Tillman. Notice how we didn't say 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.880 the football player Pat Tillman, because Pat was so much 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:55.400 more than an athlete. 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.560 Pat Tillman, what can I say, just all around good guy, 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:04.199 not cocky, very confident, soft spoken, like the sing Desperado 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:05.640 and like that movie. 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.360 Immediately I kind of liked him on long hair. He 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.560 didn't dress nice. He was just such a unique, genuine 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.800 dude that people, you know, weren endeared to him. 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:16.680 He was a different kind of guy. You know, he 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.079 was a flower child if you will you know. Of course, 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:20.839 at the time, I didn't have any clue that he 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:23.520 would go on to the come to hero that he became, 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:25.760 But you know, he was a different type of dude. 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:28.120 He would ride his bicycle to practice every day. 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:31.640 Those are the voices of former Tilman teammates Larry Senters, 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:35.360 Jake Plummer, and all started by former linebacker Mark Maddox. 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.360 The thing is, if you asked Pat to talk about himself, 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:42.560 something he seldom did, I'm not sure that football player 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.000 would have made the top three things he'd say about himself. 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.240 To know Pat was to know that Pat was about 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:54.120 the next achievement, the next challenge, the next curiosity. Longtime 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.880 Cardinals beat writer and Arizona Republic columnists Ken Summers. 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:02.800 As a player just passionate to the point of borderline. 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.000 Is this guy human? I mean cand of human actually 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.079 play that hard and have such disregard for his body 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.640 and play the game that way? And never I mean 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.199 there was just one speed, you know, one gear there 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.720 was you know, Steve McGinnis used to say that the 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:19.880 guy has a switch, not a dial. You know, you 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.040 just flip it on and it's the same, the same speed. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:26.080 When Pat put on the pads he used him, he 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.280 was all in. Like everything else he did. Pat never 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:33.120 did anything half speed, even when the drills were designed 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.400 to be half speed. That was Pat in his first 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.439 NFL training camp as a seventh round tweener just hit 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:44.200 anything and everything that moved. I watched it in person. 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.280 I covered that nineteen ninety eight training camp in Flagstaff. 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.040 I watched the decision makers take notice that the guy 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.760 in the football uniform belied the dude in the surfer 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:58.240 shorts and the flip flops. Here's former Cardinals wide receiver 0:12:58.600 --> 0:12:59.440 Frank Sanders. 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:03.239 I think probably deserved flip flops and a surfboard somewhere 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:07.560 in some Oakley shorts. And I had a real nice 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:08.360 golden hair. 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:09.559 And that's it. 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.840 Like playing football. Never seemed like he should be there 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.520 until he put on his pads. Put on his pats. 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.240 A different person showed him, I understand you hit pretty hard. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.400 Now, different guy in the. 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.120 Middle of the field that falls into the plate. 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:29.319 Wow, off comes the helmet of the attended receiver as 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.120 he gets crushed back there by Pat Tilman. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:33.720 Pat Tilman the blade. 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.400 He knocked him right in the helmet with a forearm 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:37.559 and just slapped. 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.000 That helmet off. Even as a rookie, we used to 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.960 have to call him off, you know, some some practices 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.960 we were you know, just fit up on the guy 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.640 with the ball. But he would come in and demolish 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:49.520 the guys, which was a really good tactic, and it 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:51.960 worked out great for him because he got the coach's attention. 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:59.120 He brought that same kind of few mentality to the Cardinals. 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:03.000 I mean, rookies don't hit receivers in Ota days. 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:03.880 But he would lay some. 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:05.439 Wood on a guy or like put an elbow in 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.200 him and get in fights. And he really up the 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:12.520 competitiveness during practice where guys didn't like him because he 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.360 would hit you or rough you up, or do what 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.200 he whatever he felt he needed to work on, and 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.600 they ended up respecting him because it made everybody's level 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:22.920 come up. He was a tone setter. 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.239 Let's just say that Pat would routinely exceed the perceived 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:33.200 practice speed limit. But that's how Pat forged an NFL career. 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.920 That's how Pat made the Cardinals as the two hundred 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:40.280 and twenty six player taken in the nineteen ninety eight draft. 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.320 How he caught the coach's attention even though he was 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.920 the reigning Pac ten Defensive Player of the Year. But 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.760 at the NFL level, was he still a linebacker? Was 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.640 he fast enough to be a safety? Pad made sure 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.680 none of that mattered, because all he did was turn 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.400 guys into tackling dummies. That entire camp, even though it 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:03.240 landed in the NFL's version of a coach's time out, 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:05.920 former Cardinals head coach Den Stobin and. 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:08.200 The one I remember was a wide receiver that he 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.120 got in a fight with and entered up having to 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.960 throw them both off the field because every time the 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.280 play started, whether they'd be a fight between those two 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.520 at the end of the play, and so I sent 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:20.000 them out. 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.600 But as vin Stobin himself would admit later, the Cardinals 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:28.800 needed that mentality that Pat Tillman brand of physicality and 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:33.440 fight that tilman too, because remember the Cardinals were still 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.360 in the same division with those Cowboys teams coming off 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.280 Super Bowls and physical East Coast teams from tough towns 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:44.800 playing bullyball like the Giants and Eagles and Washington once again, 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.520 Former Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer, you. 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.280 Look at someone like him who was similar to me. 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.960 We were too small, too slow, not strong enough, now 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.760 smart enough, all these excuses for why we shouldn't be 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.240 there yet. We just you know, we threw that all 0:15:58.320 --> 0:15:59.960 side and said, yeah, we're supposed to be here. 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.360 He congratulated me, and I guess he was one of 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:03.160 my advocates. 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:05.640 He was talking me up, So what the hell? 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.320 Where are you all right? 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.360 Thank you, appreciate your help, Jake. 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:11.280 He said that I gotta give him fifteen percent of 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:13.120 whatever I get because of his good. 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.440 Talk, so it might not be much. 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.160 So we had that chip on our shoulder and that confidence, 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.880 that quiet confidence about ourselves and belief in ourselves. So 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.000 we were kindred spirits right away. 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:31.400 Pat became a football player simply because of will and determination. 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:36.560 He wasn't really big enough, strong enough, fast enough to 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.760 play in the National Football League but he willed himself 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:47.120 to become a good enough football player to overcome those limitations. 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.880 And it's something that Pat had already done plenty of 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.920 define the doubters. A quick personal note, I covered Pat 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:55.320 during his years at ASU and then his early years 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.720 with the Cardinals. Before that, I'd known of Pat through 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.080 our high school alma mater, Leland High School, in South 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.760 San Jose. We were both from the Alminant Valley, which 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:06.360 you might have seen featured in some of the Pat 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.960 Tillman documentaries. His future father in law was my high 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.879 school baseball coach. We were seven or eight years a 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.000 part or so, and I still remember my dad call 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.000 me during Pat's senior year of high school. Hey, you 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.200 guess what he said? Leland is in this section title game. 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:22.080 And I cut off my dad. I say, come on now, Pop, 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:24.560 have you been drinking more of your red wine again? 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.639 Come on? He said, no, no, no, They've got this 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.520 Tilman kid. He's a running back and nobody can tackle him, 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.240 and he's a better middle linebacker. He's all over the field. 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:38.479 So when people talk about Pat's ability to inspire and 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.240 lift others, people rightfully cite the fact that the last 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.840 time ASU went to the Rolls Bowl. It was Pat 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.760 Tillman and Jake Plummer. During Pat's rookie year in the 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:51.200 NFL nineteen ninety eight, the Arizona Cardinals won their first 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:55.199 playoff game in half a century. And my response is always, 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:58.679 you know what, though, Pat's greatest team achievement was leading 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:02.000 his high school to a because, believe me, the degree 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:05.439 of difficulty there. Pat's high school hasn't come close to 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.960 winning before or after Pat. 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.880 Both towers so the World Trade Center have been hit 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:18.960 by aircraft. 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:20.240 Both are in flames. 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.520 It's a black smoke coming from both of the towers. 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:26.200 It's a horrific scene here. 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.760 There are chore crews just screaming into this area from 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:31.560 every conceivable direction. 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:34.800 You know, times like this you stop and think about 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:37.199 just how not only how good we have it, but 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.600 what kind of a system we live under, What freedoms 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:43.679 were allowed? You know, my great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:45.399 and a lot of my family has given up, you know, 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:47.760 has gone and fought in wars. And I really haven't 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.000 done a damn thing as far as laying myself on 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:51.520 the line like that, And so I have a great 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:53.600 deal of respect for those that have and what the 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:54.800 flag stands for. 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:59.280 The voice of Pat Tillman September twelfth, two thousand and one, 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.160 after the horrific events of nine to eleven. In fact, 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.480 on September eleventh, Pat Tilman was at the Cardinals facility 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.720 and he wandered through the media area and sat down 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:14.160 to watch the news coverage as it unfolded. With Cardinals 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:15.840 beat writer Darren Urban. 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.800 He was like, what we do playing in the NFL? 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.000 He goes, We're worthless, We're actors. He goes, that means nothing. 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:28.240 This is so much bigger than that. 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:32.640 There's probably no better time to talk about a guy 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:34.800 who took nine to one one to heart and made 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:38.119 a life changing decision based on his feeling something he 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:39.320 felt he needed to do. 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.439 It was sort of the you know, man bites dog story, 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:44.919 like this doesn't make any sense. He's right on the 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:48.760 verge where in discussions with his agent about potentially extending 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:51.600 his contract and he decided I'm going to walk away 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:54.159 from this. But you know, it was just six months 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:58.040 after nine to eleven, and it was only three weeks 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.120 after he got married to Marie as high school sweetheart, 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:04.960 and it was about one week after they got back 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:09.280 from their honeymoon, he joined the Army up in Colorado 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:12.320 and then went on to become, you know, part of 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:13.840 the Rangers and one of. 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:17.639 The leaders Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell. As Pat had just 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:20.960 set a team record for tackles in a season, his 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.640 jersey was worn by fans all over town. Plus there 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:26.840 was the business of football, as Pat was on the 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.280 verge of cashing in on a mega contract and he 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.760 literally left it all behind. 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:35.480 My reaction was was just I just like, I just 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.440 kind of had this big smiling started laughing to myself, 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:42.320 like this is completely believable. I mean, I did not 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:47.439 expect him to join the army, but as I process it, like, yeah, Okay, 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:52.119 of all the guys in professional sports in the world, 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:53.600 he's the one who would do that. 0:20:56.800 --> 0:21:00.000 Pat would leave that Cardinals locker room to join us, 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:04.840 different team with a different plan, defending his country and 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:09.160 his former teammates. Remember the reactions like it was yesterday, 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:13.399 Frank Sanders, Jake Plummer, and former head coach Vince Toban. 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:16.399 I saw Pat coming out of the building, and I 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:18.760 was coming in where the players only go in the 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:20.800 little area. I was coming into the gates. He was 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:22.240 going out and say, Pat, are you doing? What's up 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:24.119 with your contract? He said, Bro, I'm probably gonna go 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:24.919