July 3, 2025 • 45 mins
Ep. 723 - Each day, as Cardinals players head to practice, they pass by a powerful reminder of the team’s history — the last locker used by the legendary Pat Tillman. Preserved during 2015 renovations at the team’s Tempe headquarters, the locker was nearly lost to demolition. But thanks to a longtime employee who happened to be in the right place at just the right moment, it was rescued from the brink. Paul Calvisi shares the remarkable story behind the locker's survival.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Strap on the boots and scrape up the knuckles.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hold ahead.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
He got jacked.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
This is the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford
and Gilbert Parry's.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
Gonna score touchdown Slim to the ground by Buddha Baker
Like a torpedo.
Speaker 5 (00:17):
He came flying into the backfield.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
The rage is brought to you by santan Ford and
Gilbert right on the Price right on the corner of
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your Ticket to Great Seats and by Arizona Cardinals Podcast.
Visit Azycardinals dot Com Slash podcast.
Speaker 6 (00:40):
A Red Seats, Rising Up, Jimper your Rising Vision Flurry Rage,
take it over.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Here's Paul Calvic.
Speaker 7 (00:50):
I'm ready. I'm one hundred percent ready. I'm telling you
I'm ready. And Ron Woopley.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It doesn't get any better than that.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
A singular player in Cardinals history, Pat Tillman was one
of the most unique people to ever walk amongst us.
In fact, a statue stands outside the Cardinals stadium for
all to see, but very few know what's displayed inside
Cardinals HQ. A very special big Red Rage. We call
it our Cardinals Folktales Legendary Locker Edition, The story behind
(01:26):
the saving from an almost certain destruction of Pat Tillman's
locker back in the day. You know, Cardinals Folktales Wolf
it's number one in the series, the story and rightfully
so of Pat Tillman's legendary locker that is now behind
glass outside the Cardinals Locker room, essentially a museum piece.
And you also know, how what we like to say
about Cardinals Folktales, this Emmy Award winning series, that you
(01:49):
can't spell history without the word story. But what about
the word folktale? What does that mean to you? How
would you define it?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, Pauli, that is a great question right there. Well,
first of all, folk tell it's got to be a story,
So it's got to be a story about a human being,
and it's got to be a story about a human
being doing legendary things. That to me is my definition
of a folk.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
Tell And that would definitely define Pat Tillman, someone where
football did not define Pat Tillman.
Speaker 7 (02:22):
We both know that.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
We both go back to the days when he was
a star at ASU and then a Cardinal's draft pick,
and to this day. Look, we're both asked about Pat
Tillman I know you are. And what do you say
when people ask you about the late great Pat Tillman?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You know, for the most part, Polly, I just say,
let me tell you a story, because this really defines
who he is right here. And I tell him the
story about when I ran into Pat Tillman who was
walking out of a bowling alley pushing a ten speed
a bike with him, and I thought it was so weird.
I said, hey, Pat, what's up man? How you doing?
(02:58):
You know? And he said hello? And I said, Pat,
what'd you do? Did you ride your bike here? And
he said to me, yeah, I did. As a matter
of fact, I said, what do you live around here?
He said no, I live about ten miles that way.
I said, you rode your bike here and he said, yeah,
I'm training for a triathlon. Paul, I remember that trainy. Yes,
he was training for that. And I was like, Tilly,
(03:20):
what are you doing? I mean, you're an NFL player.
Don't you have enough challenge right there? He said, why
are you doing that? And he said, I just wanted
to test myself and challenge myself. That just blew me away, Paul.
And yet it says so much about Pat.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
He does In fact, all the Cardinal's strength coaches at
the time said, no, don't do it. That's counterproductive to
being a football player. The explosion you need. You don't
want to run marathons and do triathlons. And you know
what Pat did it. Anyway, Look, if you asked me
about Pat Tolman, I think of the epitome as someone
who thought for themselves, right, Yeah, they felt was ultra
(04:00):
important to educate yourself in so many different ways. He
had that insatiable curiosity about him. You know, you think
about Pat Tillman, not just the football player, but the
Pat Tillman scholars as someone who had a three point
nine gpa at ASU.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
He was always driven.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
By seeking knowledge, right, the need to experience life, and
what he got out of his twenty seven years you
can only hope to get out of a full lifetime
compared to Pat Tillman.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, and for me Paully too, it's just I've got
to bring it back, man, I got to bring it
back to the white lines, the football field, the grid
iron and mother grid iron and how tough Pat Tillman
truly was as a football player. I'm sorry. I know
what he did and the way he gave his life
(04:48):
for our country in service to so many others. But
for me, the fact that he walked in between those
white lines as well and endured so much and absorbed
so much damage while giving damage on the football field,
to me so impressed with him. That's my number one
(05:09):
takeaway from Pat.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
He still holds the Cardinals all time record for tackles
in a season, more than two hundred and twenty tackles
in a single season.
Speaker 7 (05:16):
Think about that.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
This is a seventh round pick in nineteen ninety eight.
He came out as a tweener. He was the Pac
twelve Defensive Player of the Year at ASU, But where
was he supposed to play in the NFL? So he
lasted to the seventh round. Remember his first training camp
as a rookie Wolf We were in Flagstaff. He came in,
he was held bent on making a statement. He was
telling him, you need this physicality, you need my mentality,
(05:40):
and he defied the odds. He made the team and
then started ten to sixteen games as a rookie.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
And then, of course his leadership and how he would
impact others. Paul guys around him were inspired by Pat
for so many different reasons.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
We know his football career, we know his status as
an American hero, and we're going to get into all
that and his entire story how his legacy really is
captured in Pat Tillman's legendary locker. When we come back
on this very special edition, our Cardinals Folktales edition of
the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert
(06:19):
and welcome back everyone into the Big Red Rage presented
by santan Ford and Gilbert.
Speaker 7 (06:24):
We are Santan Ford.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
I'm Paul Calvic And as we noted off the top,
our game plan revolves around an encore presentation of Cardinals'
folk Tales, where we like to say it can't spell
history without the word story. Well, if you were to
go from the Cardinals radio studio about fifty yards to
my left, you would hit the Cardinals locker room, and
before you enter, you would see a locker behind glass.
(06:49):
And there's a reason why that locker once belonged to
Pat Tillman. So as we look at the makeup of
NFL rosters and we see long shot players and low
round picks who might be able to defy the odds,
it's hard not to think of the greatest Cardinals example
of that. Ever, at least to me, Cardinal's seventh round
(07:12):
pick in nineteen ninety eight, Pat Tillman. He was far
from a lock that year. He's considered a tweener between
a linebacker and a safety. But he had a plan
make the coaches take notice. And as someone who covered
Pat both ASU and the Cardinals, it was impossible not
to notice Pat. If it wasn't the hair flowing out
of the helmet, it was just his style of play
(07:34):
with total abandon. I mean, he didn't just wear pads,
he used him. So although we might know Pat's story,
what's the story behind the locker that was seconds away
from total demolition? Well here's that story, Cardinals folk tales,
legendary locker. Every year, NFL teams conduct their fight for
(08:08):
fifty three. That's the size of an NFL roster, fifty
three players, and those names will always vary year to year,
peck week to week. But the Arizona Cardinals have a
fifty fourth locker and that name plate will never change.
Speaker 8 (08:24):
Pat Tilman talk about a guy with a lot of heart.
Speaker 9 (08:27):
Passion is kind of an important word for me, whether
it's you know, playing sports, or whether it's you know,
just living or whatever you're gonna do, you should, in
my opinion, you should be passionate matter why do it.
Speaker 10 (08:38):
He was pretty legendary just for being the guy he
was that being true to himself, challenging people around him,
you know, never being dull or just taking things for
granted or being complacent. He was always searching for knowledge.
Speaker 11 (08:51):
I think it was important to save the locker. As
time goes by, you start to forget about things that
happen in history.
Speaker 12 (08:58):
I didn't want.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Pat to be forgotten, legendary locker with the forever nameplate
Pat Tillman.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
This is Cardinal's Folktales.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Presented by seventy two sold where we go in depth
into Cardinal's history all time anecdotes through the personal recollections
and memories of those who lived in We hear their words,
their voices. My name is Paul kelvic Up covered the
Cardinals since late nineteen ninety five, the end of the
Buddy Ryan era. I've been the Cardinals sideline reporter since
(09:28):
two thousand and five, and as I can attest, you
may think you know some of these folk tale stories,
but as I found out, as even team historians have
found out. We don't like this story, this folk tale
revolving around the most widely known figure in Cardinal's history,
Pat Tillman, and how his legendary locker was saved with
(09:50):
a last second interception from a buzzsaw literally by a
longtime staffer.
Speaker 11 (09:56):
I didn't really get the idea to kind of preserve
the locker until two thousand and six. I always put
it in the back of my head, like, I want.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
To save this locker. That would be kind of cool.
Speaker 11 (10:05):
And I just didn't know when the renovations would take place,
and I would sit Marry lunch at Oreganos and they're
taking place. So I had to do something.
Speaker 13 (10:14):
When you know the cliche, if you cut somebody open,
they bleed, Cardinal red. That's Almo. So it was fitting that,
you know, he would be the one that has his
finger on the pulse of that and in the moment
immediately recognizes how significant this is to preserve.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
Before we get to that locker, the museum piece on
display showcase for all to see at Cardinals HQ, we
need to understand Pat Tilman. Notice how we didn't say
the football player Pat Tillman, because Pat was so much
more than an athlete Pat Tillman.
Speaker 14 (10:55):
What can I say? Just all around good guy, not cocky,
very confident, soft spoken, like the sing Desperado, and liked
that movie immediately.
Speaker 10 (11:06):
I kind of liked him. Me on long hair, He
didn't dress nice. He was just such a unique, genuine
dude that people, you know, were endeared to him.
Speaker 15 (11:14):
He was a different kind of guy. You know, he
was a flower child if you will you know. Of course,
at the time, I didn't have any clue that he
would go on to to come to hero that he became.
But you know, he was a different type of dude.
He would ride his bicycle to practice every day.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
Those are the voices of former Tilman teammates Larry Senters,
Jake Plummer, and all started by former linebacker Mark Maddox.
The thing is, if you asked Pat to talk about himself,
something he seldom did, I'm not sure that football player
would have made the top three things he'd say about himself.
To know Pat was to know that Pat was about
(11:49):
the next achievement, the next challenge, the next curiosity. Longtime
Cardinals beat writer in Arizona Republic columnists Ken Summers.
Speaker 16 (11:57):
As a player just to the point of borderline. Is
this guy human? I mean, can a human actually play
that hard and have such disregard for his body and
play the game that way? And never? I mean there
was just one speed, you know, one gear there was
you know. Steve McGinnis used to say that the guy
(12:17):
has a switch, not a dial. You know, you just
flip it on and it's the same speed.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
When Pat put on the pads he used him, he
was all in. Like everything else he did. Pat never
did anything half speed, even when the drills were designed
to be half speed. That was Pat in his first
NFL training camp as a seventh round tweener, just hit
anything and everything that moved.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
I watched it in person.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
I covered that nineteen ninety eight training camp in Flagstaff.
I watched the decision makers take notice that the guy
in the football uniform belied the dude in the surfer
shorts and the flip flops. Here's former Cardinals wide receiver
Frank Sanders.
Speaker 17 (12:59):
I think probably deserved flip flops and a surfboard somewhere
in some Oakley shorts. And I had a real nice
golden hair, and that's it. Like playing football. Never seemed
like he should be there until he put on his pads,
put on his pats. A different person showed him, I
understand you hit pretty hard.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Now a different guy in the.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
Middle of the field that falls into the plate.
Speaker 11 (13:24):
Wow, off comes the helmet of the attended receiver as
he gets crushed back there by Pat Tilman.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
Pat Tilman the blade.
Speaker 10 (13:34):
He knocked him right in the helmet with a forearm
and just slapped.
Speaker 15 (13:37):
That helmet off. Even as a rookie, we used to
have to call him off, you know, some some practices
we were you know, just fit up on the guy
with the ball. But he would come in and demolish
the guys, which was a really good tactic, and it
worked out great for him because he got to coach
his attention.
Speaker 10 (13:55):
He brought that scenement kind of few mentality to the Cardinals.
I mean, rookies don't hit receivers in Ota days.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
But he would lay some.
Speaker 10 (14:03):
Wood on a guy or like put an elbow in
him and get in fights. And he really up the
competitiveness during practice where guys didn't like him because he
would hit you or rough you up, or do what
he whatever he felt he needed to work on, and
they ended up respecting him because it made everybody's level
come up. He was a tone setter.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
Let's just say that Pat would routinely exceed the perceived
practice speed limit. But that's how Pat forged an NFL career.
That's how Pat made the Cardinals as the two hundred
and twenty six player taken in the nineteen ninety eight draft.
How he caught the coach's attention even though he was
the reigning Pac ten Defensive Player of the Year. But
(14:46):
at the NFL level, was he still a linebacker? Was
he fast enough to be a safety? Pad made sure
none of that mattered, because all he did was turn
guys into tackling dummies that entire camp, even though it
landed him in the NFL's version of a coach's time out.
Former Cardinals head coach Den Stoven.
Speaker 18 (15:05):
And the one I remember was a wide receiver that
he got in a fight with and ended up having
to throw them both off the field because they every
time the play started whether they'd be a fight between
those two at the end of the play, and so
I sent them out.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
But as vin Stobin himself would admit later, the Cardinals
needed that mentality that Pat Tillman brand of physicality and
fight that Tilman too, because remember the Cardinals were still
in the same division with those Cowboys teams coming off
Super Bowls and physical East Coast teams from tough towns
(15:40):
playing bullyball like the Giants and Eagles and Washington once again.
Former Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer.
Speaker 10 (15:47):
You look at someone like him who was similar to me.
We were too small, too slow, not strong enough, not
smart enough, all these excuses for why we shouldn't be
there yet we just you know, we threw that all
side and said, yeah, we're supposed.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
To be here.
Speaker 9 (16:00):
He congratulated me, and I guess he was one of
my advocates.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
He was talking me up, So what the hell? Where
are you all right? Thank you, appreciate your help, Jake.
Speaker 9 (16:09):
He said that I gotta give him fifteen percent of
whatever I get because of his good talk, so it
might not be much.
Speaker 10 (16:17):
So we had that chip on our shoulder and that confidence,
that quiet confidence about ourselves and belief in ourselves. So
we were kindred spirits right away.
Speaker 18 (16:26):
Pat became a football player simply because of will and determination.
He wasn't really big enough, strong enough, fast enough to
play in the National Football League, but he willed himself
to become a good enough football player to overcome those limitations.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
And it's something that Pat had already done plenty of
define the doubters. A quick personal note, I covered Pat
during his years at ASU and then his early years
were the Cardinals. Before that, I'd known of Pat through
our high school alma mater, Leland High School in South
San Jose. We were both from the Alminant Valley, which
you might have seen featured in some of the Pat
(17:06):
Tillman documentaries. His future father in law was my high
school baseball coach. We were seven or eight years apart
or so, and I still remember my dad called me
during Pat's senior year of high school. Hey you guess
what he said? Leland is in this section title game.
And I cut off my dad. I say, come on, now, Pop,
have you been drinking more of your red wine again?
Come on say no, no, no. They've got this Tilman kid.
(17:27):
He's a running back and nobody can tackle him, and
he's a better middle linebacker.
Speaker 7 (17:32):
He's all over the field.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
So when people talk about Pat's ability to inspire and
lift others, people rightfully cite the fact that the last
time ASU went to the Rolls Bowl. It was Pat
Tillman and Jake Plummer. During Pat's rookie year in the
NFL nineteen ninety eight, the Arizona Cardinals won their first
playoff game in half a century. And my response is always,
(17:55):
you know what, though, Pat's greatest team achievement was leading
his high school to a because, believe me, did you
agree of difficulty there? Pat's high school hasn't come close
to winning before or after Pat.
Speaker 19 (18:15):
Both towers so the World Trade Center have been hitched
by aircraft.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Both are in flames.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
It's a black smoke coming from both of the towers.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It's a horrific scene here.
Speaker 16 (18:26):
There are fire crews just screaming into this area from
every conceivable direction.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
You know, times like this you stop and think about
just how not only how good we have it, but
what kind of a system we live under, What freedoms
were allowed?
Speaker 9 (18:41):
You know, my great grandfather was at Pearl.
Speaker 8 (18:43):
Harbor, and a lot of my family has given up,
you know, has gone and fought in wars. And I
really haven't done a damn thing as far as laying
myself on the line like that, and so I have
a great deal of respect for those that have and
what The flag stands.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
For the voice of Pat Tillman. September twelfth, two thousand
and one, the day after the horrific events of nine
to eleven. In fact, on September eleventh, Pat Tilman was
at the Cardinals facility and he wandered through the media
area and sat down to watch the news coverage as
it unfolded.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
With Cardinals beat writer Darren Rban.
Speaker 20 (19:16):
He was like, what we do playing in the NFL?
He goes, We're worthless, We're actors. He goes, that means nothing.
This is this is so much bigger than that.
Speaker 11 (19:30):
There's probably no better time to talk about a guy
who took nine to one one to heart and made
a life changing decision based on his feeling something he
felt he needed to do.
Speaker 21 (19:39):
It was sort of the you know, man bites dog story,
like this doesn't make any sense. He's right on the
verge where in discussions with his agent about potentially extending
his contract and he decided I'm going to walk away
from this. But you know, it was just six months
after nine to eleven, and it was only three weeks
after he got married to Marie as high school sweetheart,
(20:02):
and it was about one week after they got back
from their honeymoon. He joined the Army up in Colorado
and then went on to become, you know, part of
the Rangers and one of.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
The leaders Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell. As Pat had just
set a team record for tackles in a season, his
jersey was worn by fans all over town. Plus there
was the business of football, as Pat was on the
verge of cashing in on a mega contract and he
literally left it all behind.
Speaker 16 (20:32):
My reaction was was just I was like, I just
kind of had this big smiling and started laughing to myself,
like this is completely believable. I mean, I did not
expect him to join the army, but as I process it,
I'd like, yeah, Okay, of all the guys in professional
sports in the world, he's the one who would do that.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
Pat would leave that Cardinals locker room to join a
different team with a different plan, defending his country and
his former teammates. Remember the reactions like it was yesterday.
Frank Sanders, Jake Plummer, and former head coach Vince Toban.
Speaker 17 (21:13):
I saw Pat coming out of the building, and I
was coming in where the players are only going in
the lower area. I was coming into the gates he
was going out and say, Pat, you doing what's up
with your contract? He said, Bro, I'm probably gonna go
to the military. I said what he said, I'm gonna
go to the army and be arranged with my brother.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So what you go do?
Speaker 17 (21:30):
What I want to serve my country, That's what I'm
gonna do. I say, brother, God bless you.
Speaker 10 (21:35):
I just kind of like that sounds like, Pat, what
can you do? I remember getting a call from Mike Devlin,
who is my center my rookie year and now is
a coach with the Cardinals. He said, Hey, you got
to call Pat. He's he's about to do something that
you know, I don't know if he should do this.
It's you know, he's giving up all this money and
giving up the game, and I don't know. You should
give him a shout. And I kind of chuckled because
I was like, if Pat makes his mind up, he's
(21:58):
made this decision and his wife hasn't changed his mind,
and what good am I going to be to go
try to change his mind. I'm not going to piss
him off before he goes to fight for our country.
I gave him a hug and told him I love him.
He'd be safe out there, man, because there was no
change in his mind.
Speaker 18 (22:13):
Well, he's all in. He believed in what he believed
in and believed it very strongly and acted on what
he's bleased where a lot of people have blafed, but
they don't act on him, and he did no matter
what he was doing, whether he's on the field or not.
Speaker 10 (22:27):
He believed in himself so much so that he did
something that no one could fathom he would do and
go give up millions of dollars to go fight for
our country. Well, for Pat, it was just life. That
was what life was about, was doing what you believed
and living your life.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
And what's amazing is as media friendly as Pat was
as a player, all the interviews that Pat did when
he was at ASU.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
And the Cardinals.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
You can search the internet all you want, good luck
trying to find any interview that Pat did as a soldier.
Once again in Summers from the Arizona Republic.
Speaker 16 (23:02):
One of the things that really resonated with me was
his refusal to talk about it ever. It's like, I'm
not in it for that, I'm not in it for
the stories, I'm not in it for a future movie
or to set myself up for business later. I have
my reasons for doing it. I'm not going to share them.
They're my reasons.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
So Pat left his Cardinals locker behind for a foot locker.
One more aspect of a person who could have done
virtually anything he set his mind to, and quite often
Pat did just that. Former teammate, a longtime Cardinal staffer,
Anthony Edwards, on Pat's selfless act.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
To serve that's humility. I choose to serve my country.
I choose to go disc route instead of this one.
The more popular vote would be stay where you at,
continue to do what you're doing. But he didn't feel
that was enough. That wasn't satisfying to him, so he
chose the other.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
And that's former Cardinals receiver Anthony Edwards, who said it
so well in Cardinals' Folktales that Pat was all about
service to his team, to his community, to his country.
I think, like a lot of media members, we walk
into that Cardinals locker room, you can still hear Pat's laugh,
you can still picture him with his teammates. And it
(24:25):
was that locker of Pats that was spared the wrecking
ball from the demolition crew in last second dramatic fashion,
and when we come back, we'll hear how that locker
saving play, how it unfolded, how Pat's lasting legacy is
memorialized in other ways as we continue with his encore
(24:47):
presentation of Cardinals Folktale's Legendary Locker on the Big Red Rage,
presented by Santan Ford and Gilbert. We are santan Ford,
and welcome back to our special encore presentation of Cardinals
Folk Tales Legendary Locker Here on the Big Red Rage,
(25:07):
presented by Santan Ford and Gilbert.
Speaker 7 (25:09):
We are Santan Ford. I'm Paul Calvi.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Seen if you go to State Farm Stadium, you'll see
the Pat Tillman statue. There's Pat Tillman's name and number
in the ring of Honor. At Cardinal's headquarters, there's Pat's locker.
And that's what we're talking about here tonight, the legendary
locker and last we left you here during Cardinal's Folktales,
Pat Tillman was making that selfless decision to leave football
(25:36):
and a multi million dollar contract behind to serve his country.
As we know, Pat lost his life in action while
serving with the Army Rangers in Afghanistan.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
And not only hit.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
All of us in Arizona heard a lot of us
vividly remember that April morning, but our nation mourned as well,
and we pick up the story of how Pat's legendary
locker still stands today with a salute from Tom Cruise
at the ESPIS.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
The news came out of Afghanistan that an athlete turned
soldier was gone. And when we heard the news on
that April day, it stopped us all in a long
and profound silence. And we all know why, because Pat
Tillman was a transcendent figure in the life of this nation.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
Word of Pat Tillman's death came out early on the
morning of April twenty second, two thousand and four. Fans
created memorials at the Cardinals facility and in Pat's hometown
of San Jose. I remember waiting a line at Sun
Devil Stadium to pay respects at an impromptum memorial. The
(26:49):
news hit with the ferocity of a Tilman tackle, and
it struck owner Michael Bidwell and fullback Larry Centers the
same way.
Speaker 21 (26:57):
It was a I mean, it was a gut punch
kicked to the stomach, and I remember I was I
was standing in my closet that day, getting ready for
work and to head into the office, and my phone
rangked you know, said shivers down my spine, and we
realized it's going to be shocking news to everybody.
Speaker 15 (27:14):
I was in Dallas on the golf course. I was
playing with a couple of guys who played in the NFL,
and one of them got a call or a text
and said, hey, man, Pat's him just died in Afghanistan.
It was a jaw dropping moment. I remember exactly where
I was, like. I'm sure a lot of the teammates
can tell you exactly what they were when they heard
the news.
Speaker 5 (27:34):
As news traveled through the Cardinals facility, it reached the
locker room longtime trainer John Omahandra.
Speaker 19 (27:41):
It weighed on us, impacted us a lot, and thought
started going through my mind a way that we could
memorialize him or remembering in some fashion in the training room.
I went down to pr asking him to give me
a photo of Pat. I took it and had it framed,
(28:04):
put it up over the tape table. So every day
everybody that came in got overseen by Pat, and the
guys would get up on the table to get taped
and they could maybe this past thought on trying to
live up to his standards of toughness and dedication, being
(28:26):
a warrior, just all the things that Pat was.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
The Tilman player photo that John Almahundro referenced, well, if
you walk into the training room today, that frame picture
sits in this same exact spot, just like it did
days after Pat's death.
Speaker 7 (28:57):
I think there's a wow factor to it.
Speaker 11 (29:00):
For instance, JJ Watt when he signed with the Cardinals,
he took a picture.
Speaker 7 (29:04):
In front of it.
Speaker 11 (29:05):
It means something to him. He's very familiar with the story.
He's involved with the Pat Tillman Foundation.
Speaker 12 (29:10):
I've obviously long been a fan of Pat Tillman. What
he stood for, who he was, and everything about his
legacy is unbelievable to me. So to be here, to
be walking the same halls that he walked and to
see his locker was special for me.
Speaker 11 (29:24):
It made me feel good to see him, the guy
of his level, standing in front of that and it
means something to him.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
That's the voice of Jim o'mahundro, longtime Cardinals broadcast producer
more than two decades on the job. While his father,
the aforementioned John Omahandro spent forty two seasons as a
Cardinals athletic trainer. A couple of other longtime Cards employees,
Darren Urban and Deve Pash, give us the scattered report
(29:53):
on Omo.
Speaker 20 (29:54):
I would paint Jim o'mahundro in this way he works
for the team, but I in a lot of ways,
Cardinals DNA is literally in him.
Speaker 11 (30:04):
So I've been around the Cardinals my entire life. My
dad was an athletic trainer for the team for forty
two seasons. I like to say I was negative nine
when he started with the team, and so I was
literally born into this organization. I couldn't imagine it any
other way.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Cardinal football means so much to him. Outside of the
Bidwells who grew up with Cardinal football, I can't think
of anybody who has a closer connection than the Bidwell
family than the Ola Hundro family because of the time
and the energy that's been spent rooting for the team.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
So when people ask how exactly did the Tilman locker
end up encased in glass when every other locker is
no moss, Well glad yes, because remember earlier the story
that we thought.
Speaker 7 (30:50):
We knew, but didn't. Well.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Here we go twenty fifteen. The Cardinals locker room. It's
a hard hat area, not your typical football helmets, but
construction workers.
Speaker 11 (31:01):
It's a day after the Super Bowl, kind of slow
around the facility. So I come over here to a
Reganos used to get a normal lunch, so I ordered
a slice and a salad and I'm waiting for the food.
So I'm scrolling through Twitter. I see a tweet by
Darren Urban that alerts me to the renovation starting at
our tempee facility. So I freak out. There's a photo
with a destroyed locker on the ground. So I had
(31:23):
ordered my lunch, it hadn't come yet, and I'm like,
I got to get out of here. So I throw
twenty dollars down onto the table and I'm out of there.
I just run to my car, drive down, get to
the facility, run through the parking lot, run through the auditorium,
the weight room, the training room, step into the locker room.
The carpet is all torn up. The glue from the
carpet is there and it rips my shoe off my foot.
(31:44):
So I'm hopping around the corner to see two lockers
on one wall and about four lockers on the other
there's a guy with a saw walking directly for Pat
Tillman's locker. I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, don't
cut that one out. That's Pat Tillman's locker. So that's
what happened and prevented it from being destroyed.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
And that is quite a series of events. I mean,
think of how razor thin that margin was. One more
stop like Peruns or almost stopping to unglue his shoe,
and that Tilman locker would have been turned into lumber.
That got the attention of Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell.
Speaker 21 (32:28):
Found out an hour after it happened that Jim Olmahunter
was walking through and said, wait, don't touch that. And
so we're like, okay, we don't know what to do
with it right now, but we're going to do something.
And then because we were doing a renovation of the building,
we looked for an area where we could put it,
and the designers found what I think is a perfect
entry area right outside the locker room. So it's it's
(32:50):
a perfect area and it's really a landmark within our
building and serves as an important reminder for his sacrifice
but also his spirit.
Speaker 11 (32:59):
Everybody who goes out to the practice field, they walk
by it. Everyone who comes in from the practice field,
they walk by it. And if you look at the
old foot front of the locker room, it's literally on
the other side of the wall, kind of diagonal from
where it was, and I think that's pretty cool. It's
kind of hollow ground in a way.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Remember it'd been over a dozen years since Pat had
left his locker, so over those years a number of
other players use that locker.
Speaker 11 (33:27):
Pat's final year in the locker room was two thousand
and one, so every year after that, I would kind
of look to see who had that locker, and I'd
make it a point to go up to him and say, Hey,
you know who's locker you are sitting in, And they're like,
who said Pat Tillman. Some of them looked at me
like I was nuts, Like what this is Pat's locker now?
(33:47):
Some that come to mind, Gabe Watson, former defensive tackle.
Speaker 22 (33:50):
O Mahandro told me, you share the same locker that
Pat Tillman had. I'm like, are you serious? You know
you hear the stories behind them, and there's only a
few people that can say shared the same locker it's
just honored to just be in any company with him.
Speaker 11 (34:05):
John Fullington was a reserve offensive lineman who was the
final occupant of Pat's locker, and he was genuinely touched.
I told him, and he he was just like, I'm honored.
He didn't know what to say. So, you know, you
see guys that maybe had that locker. Then you see
guys that in future years will walk past that locker
(34:26):
and you kind of get the idea of what they
might feel about it.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
You know, the first time you see Pat's locker on display,
and as someone who sees it on a daily basis now,
it is a heck of a first impression that makes
for a lasting impression. Here's VPM meter relations Mark Dalton,
followed by former Cardinals Larry Centers and Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 13 (34:48):
When you get to that spot, it's almost a universal reaction.
People just stop and conversation ceases and they just take
it in and there's like a a solemn moment of reflection,
which is really cool.
Speaker 15 (35:04):
Keeping his legacy alive. I think that's a big step
in the right direction. You know, the generations go on
and the people the players come, and the players go,
but to see him immortalize in that way and appreciated
by the organization. I think that's a really good move
of the team.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
It's a reminder as a player that's leaving out of
the locker room going to the practice field, here's someone
that was dedicated, committed to excellence in whatever he did.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Just let us do the.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Same thing and take it to the field today and
be our very best. So it comes as a reminder
of us striving for excellence.
Speaker 11 (35:40):
Each time a guy walks by, they're gonna see Pat
and his locker there, and remember, you know, hey, you
could be having a crappy day. You could be complaining
about little things, and then you see that and you
check yourself a little bit. Say, Okay, there's thousands upon
thousands of men and women all over the world, our country,
(36:01):
and you know they can't afford to have a bad day.
We can afford to have a bad day.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
So you've got it pretty good.
Speaker 5 (36:08):
In the NFL, everyone is looking for impact players in
Cardinals team history, and that is going back more than
a century. Not a single player on the field and
off combined is at a bigger impact than Pat Tillman.
Speaker 14 (36:22):
Pat Tillman was all about team and if you can
walk past that and not get something inside of you turning.
We got some issues.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Go back to the whole idea of you know, it's
not what you say in life, it's what you do.
And we can all talk, but ultimately it's what we do.
And I think the lasting legacy of Pat Tillman is
this is someone who did, who believed in something and
was willing to risk his life for it.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
It's voice of the Cardinals day pass preceded by former
Cardinals linebacker Mark Maddox make an impact players today when
they see Pat Tillman's locker, it says, challenge yourself to
do as much with your life as Pat did in
his twenty seven years. To me, that's what Pat's locker
(37:14):
stands for, and that's why it still stands today for
all to see.
Speaker 10 (37:20):
To me, when they keep his locker alive and his
legend alive there, it's telling the players to like, live
your trueness, to be who you are, and like, hey,
you know, don't go against the grain just because you
want to go against the grain. But if you have
a feeling and it's a thought and it's something you
believe in, and if it's against the grain, do it
and trust yourself, because Pat was like that.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
And there you have it, Cardinals Folk Tales, legendary locker,
the one locker that will never change nameplates, the same
locker where we used to witness Pat reclined between practices,
taking a snooze to refresh for what was next. And
that's just one tribute to Pat's greatness that seemingly everyone
(38:22):
has a story. In fact, I'll share a quick one
with you here. I knew a guy at Asu, went
to school with him, and he told me years later
that he was Pat's next door neighbor for a spell.
One night he got home from work, he pulled into
his driveway and he couldn't help but notice there's Pat
on his roof. His buddy of mine gets out of
his car. He's half stupefied and he yells out.
Speaker 7 (38:45):
Ay, Path, what are you doing on your roof?
Speaker 5 (38:49):
And Pat looked at him, just watching the sunset, dude,
just watching the sunset.
Speaker 7 (38:55):
And that was Pat.
Speaker 5 (38:57):
He took nothing for granted, and he inspired to do
the same. But how do you convey that, how do
you pass that along? How do you honor that? Well?
The Cardinals do just that every day. By putting Pat's
locker on display at their training facility. Thanks for joining
(39:17):
us everyone. I'm Paul Calvic. This has been Cardinals s
Folktales Legendary Locker presented by seventy two Soul. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
You know it's.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
Stories like that, and so many people have stories regarding
Pat Tillman.
Speaker 7 (39:38):
That's how his legacy lives on today.
Speaker 5 (39:42):
If you go to the Pat Tillman Foundation website and
they state out Pat's life and principles and service, that's
his true legacy. How Pat's family and friends started the
Pat Tillman Foundation to carry forward that legacy. If you
go two days after his passing, it was the NFL
Draft two thousand four and then Commissioner Paul Taglibu wore
(40:02):
a black ribbon with Tilman's name on it and a
helmet pin with his number forty. And there was Paul
Tagliabou while flanked by five Marines and Madison Square Garden,
and he told the audience quote, Pat Tillman personified the
best values of Americans in the National Football League. And
(40:23):
we know Pat's legacy is personified by Pat's Run, which
is held annually in tamp And when we come back.
We'll bring back and talk with Ron Wolfley, who covered
Pat watched all those games from Sun Devil Stadium, both
ASU and the Cardinals. As we continue with this encore
(40:43):
presentation of Cardinals Folk Tales Legendary Locker presented by santan
for In Gilbert. And welcome back to this very special
edition of the Big Red Rage, Our Cardinals Folk Tales
Legendary Locker Edition, all presented by Santan ford In Gilbert,
(41:05):
Paul kelvc Ron wolf Ley, and the story behind the
saving literally saving Pat Tillman's locker from a certain destruction
within seconds.
Speaker 7 (41:15):
Wolf we heard the story man.
Speaker 5 (41:17):
Of our own executive producer, longtime producer for the Cardinals,
Jim al Mahandro. He saw a picture posted by Darren
Urbin of the renovation of the Cardinals locker room, and
he just ran a four three forty out of the
restaurant where he's having lunch, and if he would hit
one more stoplight, he probably wouldn't be able to make
it in time back into that locker room to save
(41:39):
Pat Tillman's locker. And as we say, there's fifty three
players on an NFL active roster, and then the Cardinals
have designated their fifty fourth locker where the name plate
will never change. It is behind glass, and it's quite
a story as to as it all transpired.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Yeah, Pauli, you know what's incredible you stop and think
about it, man, And just the fact that Jim Almahandro
would be the guy, he would be the guy that
would actually burst in and save Pat Tillman's locker. You
know what a historian he is. He's the best game
day producer on the face of the planet. Yet at
the same time, this guy is a historian man for
(42:20):
Cardinal football. And the fact that it was him who
actually came in and stopped them from literally cutting right
into that locker and everything that has happened to that locker,
since that's exactly what a folktale is, man, this is
a folk tale about a folk tale legendary acts by
(42:42):
human beings.
Speaker 5 (42:43):
You know, players to this day see it for the
first time and it stops them in their tracks. Yes,
JJ Watt most recently when he showed up, he stopped
that very locker. Dennis Gardak. We've talked to gard Deck
the Barbarian about it, have we not? Wolts you know
he current players, you know, most of them are so young,
they've only read books about Pat Tillman. But it's what
(43:04):
that locker says to them, and to listen to them
tell it, Welf. It essentially means, Okay, can you get
as much out of your life out of your career
that Pat Tilman did? A guy who was barely drafted
a seventh rounder and then went on to achieve so much,
not only in football, but obviously in life itself.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
You know, I love that, Paully. That is a great thought,
There's no doubt about it. You know, you think of
Pat Tillman though the statue of course, is what I
think of at State Farm Stadium and the Tilman Tunnel
at ASU, and you know, just the the legendary impact
that this has had on so many football players and
(43:42):
so many Americans. The ultimate sacrifice of Pat Tillman and
what he did for this country and for everyone who
serves this country, and for his teammates as well. It's
truly inspiring.
Speaker 22 (43:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (43:58):
Yeah, that's a great point about the State, the Tilman Tunnel,
how about the bridge and the Arizona Nevada border named
after Pat Tillman. The USO centers worldwide, I know, it
was a couple of years ago. I was like the
fifth assistant coach for my son's little league team. Right,
everyone had to introduce themselves and they said, what do
you do for a living? And okay, and who have
you interviewed? Who have you interviewed? And I named Larry Fitzgerald,
(44:18):
Randy Johnson, old timers like Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Lebron James.
But when I named Pat Tillman, everyone stopped and everyone
wanted to know more about Pat Tillman. That's how his
name resonates even today.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Truly, just an incredible human being. Paully, I know that
you and I over the years, of course, have talked
about our relationship just knowing Pat Tillman from time to time,
and the respect and the regard that we have for
him can't be measured with human hands.
Speaker 5 (44:47):
When my son was born, actually I bought him a jersey.
It's the only jersey I've ever purchased for him, and
it's a Pat Tillman jersey because it's about so much
more than football. Football did not define Pat as he
went under service country and his status now as an
American hero. I hope everyone enjoyed that Cardinals Folktales, Legendary
Lockers Special thanks Jim Amhandro, Ron Wolfley on Paul KELBC.
(45:10):
This has been the Big Red Rage presented by santan
Ford in Gilbert.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
You've been listening to the Big Red Rage presented by
santan Ford and Gilbert right on the Price, right on
the corner of the Santan two to two Freeway in Valvista.
The Rage is brought to you by seat Geek your
Ticket to Great Seats, and by Arizona Cardinals podcasts. Visit
(45:41):
Azycardinals dot com Slash podcast. This has been an exclusive
presentation of the Arizona Cardinals Football Clock
Strap on the boots and scrape up the knuckles.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hold ahead.
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He got jacked.
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This is the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford
and Gilbert Parry's.
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Gonna score touchdown Slim to the ground by Buddha Baker
Like a torpedo.
Speaker 5 (00:17):
He came flying into the backfield.
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The rage is brought to you by santan Ford and
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Speaker 6 (00:40):
A Red Seats, Rising Up, Jimper your Rising Vision Flurry Rage,
take it over.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Here's Paul Calvic.
Speaker 7 (00:50):
I'm ready. I'm one hundred percent ready. I'm telling you
I'm ready. And Ron Woopley.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It doesn't get any better than that.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
A singular player in Cardinals history, Pat Tillman was one
of the most unique people to ever walk amongst us.
In fact, a statue stands outside the Cardinals stadium for
all to see, but very few know what's displayed inside
Cardinals HQ. A very special big Red Rage. We call
it our Cardinals Folktales Legendary Locker Edition, The story behind
(01:26):
the saving from an almost certain destruction of Pat Tillman's
locker back in the day. You know, Cardinals Folktales Wolf
it's number one in the series, the story and rightfully
so of Pat Tillman's legendary locker that is now behind
glass outside the Cardinals Locker room, essentially a museum piece.
And you also know, how what we like to say
about Cardinals Folktales, this Emmy Award winning series, that you
(01:49):
can't spell history without the word story. But what about
the word folktale? What does that mean to you? How
would you define it?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, Pauli, that is a great question right there. Well,
first of all, folk tell it's got to be a story,
So it's got to be a story about a human being,
and it's got to be a story about a human
being doing legendary things. That to me is my definition
of a folk.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
Tell And that would definitely define Pat Tillman, someone where
football did not define Pat Tillman.
Speaker 7 (02:22):
We both know that.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
We both go back to the days when he was
a star at ASU and then a Cardinal's draft pick,
and to this day. Look, we're both asked about Pat
Tillman I know you are. And what do you say
when people ask you about the late great Pat Tillman?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You know, for the most part, Polly, I just say,
let me tell you a story, because this really defines
who he is right here. And I tell him the
story about when I ran into Pat Tillman who was
walking out of a bowling alley pushing a ten speed
a bike with him, and I thought it was so weird.
I said, hey, Pat, what's up man? How you doing?
(02:58):
You know? And he said hello? And I said, Pat,
what'd you do? Did you ride your bike here? And
he said to me, yeah, I did. As a matter
of fact, I said, what do you live around here?
He said no, I live about ten miles that way.
I said, you rode your bike here and he said, yeah,
I'm training for a triathlon. Paul, I remember that trainy. Yes,
he was training for that. And I was like, Tilly,
(03:20):
what are you doing? I mean, you're an NFL player.
Don't you have enough challenge right there? He said, why
are you doing that? And he said, I just wanted
to test myself and challenge myself. That just blew me away, Paul.
And yet it says so much about Pat.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
He does In fact, all the Cardinal's strength coaches at
the time said, no, don't do it. That's counterproductive to
being a football player. The explosion you need. You don't
want to run marathons and do triathlons. And you know
what Pat did it. Anyway, Look, if you asked me
about Pat Tolman, I think of the epitome as someone
who thought for themselves, right, Yeah, they felt was ultra
(04:00):
important to educate yourself in so many different ways. He
had that insatiable curiosity about him. You know, you think
about Pat Tillman, not just the football player, but the
Pat Tillman scholars as someone who had a three point
nine gpa at ASU.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
He was always driven.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
By seeking knowledge, right, the need to experience life, and
what he got out of his twenty seven years you
can only hope to get out of a full lifetime
compared to Pat Tillman.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, and for me Paully too, it's just I've got
to bring it back, man, I got to bring it
back to the white lines, the football field, the grid
iron and mother grid iron and how tough Pat Tillman
truly was as a football player. I'm sorry. I know
what he did and the way he gave his life
(04:48):
for our country in service to so many others. But
for me, the fact that he walked in between those
white lines as well and endured so much and absorbed
so much damage while giving damage on the football field,
to me so impressed with him. That's my number one
(05:09):
takeaway from Pat.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
He still holds the Cardinals all time record for tackles
in a season, more than two hundred and twenty tackles
in a single season.
Speaker 7 (05:16):
Think about that.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
This is a seventh round pick in nineteen ninety eight.
He came out as a tweener. He was the Pac
twelve Defensive Player of the Year at ASU, But where
was he supposed to play in the NFL? So he
lasted to the seventh round. Remember his first training camp
as a rookie Wolf We were in Flagstaff. He came in,
he was held bent on making a statement. He was
telling him, you need this physicality, you need my mentality,
(05:40):
and he defied the odds. He made the team and
then started ten to sixteen games as a rookie.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
And then, of course his leadership and how he would
impact others. Paul guys around him were inspired by Pat
for so many different reasons.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
We know his football career, we know his status as
an American hero, and we're going to get into all
that and his entire story how his legacy really is
captured in Pat Tillman's legendary locker. When we come back
on this very special edition, our Cardinals Folktales edition of
the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert
(06:19):
and welcome back everyone into the Big Red Rage presented
by santan Ford and Gilbert.
Speaker 7 (06:24):
We are Santan Ford.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
I'm Paul Calvic And as we noted off the top,
our game plan revolves around an encore presentation of Cardinals'
folk Tales, where we like to say it can't spell
history without the word story. Well, if you were to
go from the Cardinals radio studio about fifty yards to
my left, you would hit the Cardinals locker room, and
before you enter, you would see a locker behind glass.
(06:49):
And there's a reason why that locker once belonged to
Pat Tillman. So as we look at the makeup of
NFL rosters and we see long shot players and low
round picks who might be able to defy the odds,
it's hard not to think of the greatest Cardinals example
of that. Ever, at least to me, Cardinal's seventh round
(07:12):
pick in nineteen ninety eight, Pat Tillman. He was far
from a lock that year. He's considered a tweener between
a linebacker and a safety. But he had a plan
make the coaches take notice. And as someone who covered
Pat both ASU and the Cardinals, it was impossible not
to notice Pat. If it wasn't the hair flowing out
of the helmet, it was just his style of play
(07:34):
with total abandon. I mean, he didn't just wear pads,
he used him. So although we might know Pat's story,
what's the story behind the locker that was seconds away
from total demolition? Well here's that story, Cardinals folk tales,
legendary locker. Every year, NFL teams conduct their fight for
(08:08):
fifty three. That's the size of an NFL roster, fifty
three players, and those names will always vary year to year,
peck week to week. But the Arizona Cardinals have a
fifty fourth locker and that name plate will never change.
Speaker 8 (08:24):
Pat Tilman talk about a guy with a lot of heart.
Speaker 9 (08:27):
Passion is kind of an important word for me, whether
it's you know, playing sports, or whether it's you know,
just living or whatever you're gonna do, you should, in
my opinion, you should be passionate matter why do it.
Speaker 10 (08:38):
He was pretty legendary just for being the guy he
was that being true to himself, challenging people around him,
you know, never being dull or just taking things for
granted or being complacent. He was always searching for knowledge.
Speaker 11 (08:51):
I think it was important to save the locker. As
time goes by, you start to forget about things that
happen in history.
Speaker 12 (08:58):
I didn't want.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Pat to be forgotten, legendary locker with the forever nameplate
Pat Tillman.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
This is Cardinal's Folktales.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Presented by seventy two sold where we go in depth
into Cardinal's history all time anecdotes through the personal recollections
and memories of those who lived in We hear their words,
their voices. My name is Paul kelvic Up covered the
Cardinals since late nineteen ninety five, the end of the
Buddy Ryan era. I've been the Cardinals sideline reporter since
(09:28):
two thousand and five, and as I can attest, you
may think you know some of these folk tale stories,
but as I found out, as even team historians have
found out. We don't like this story, this folk tale
revolving around the most widely known figure in Cardinal's history,
Pat Tillman, and how his legendary locker was saved with
(09:50):
a last second interception from a buzzsaw literally by a
longtime staffer.
Speaker 11 (09:56):
I didn't really get the idea to kind of preserve
the locker until two thousand and six. I always put
it in the back of my head, like, I want.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
To save this locker. That would be kind of cool.
Speaker 11 (10:05):
And I just didn't know when the renovations would take place,
and I would sit Marry lunch at Oreganos and they're
taking place. So I had to do something.
Speaker 13 (10:14):
When you know the cliche, if you cut somebody open,
they bleed, Cardinal red. That's Almo. So it was fitting that,
you know, he would be the one that has his
finger on the pulse of that and in the moment
immediately recognizes how significant this is to preserve.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
Before we get to that locker, the museum piece on
display showcase for all to see at Cardinals HQ, we
need to understand Pat Tilman. Notice how we didn't say
the football player Pat Tillman, because Pat was so much
more than an athlete Pat Tillman.
Speaker 14 (10:55):
What can I say? Just all around good guy, not cocky,
very confident, soft spoken, like the sing Desperado, and liked
that movie immediately.
Speaker 10 (11:06):
I kind of liked him. Me on long hair, He
didn't dress nice. He was just such a unique, genuine
dude that people, you know, were endeared to him.
Speaker 15 (11:14):
He was a different kind of guy. You know, he
was a flower child if you will you know. Of course,
at the time, I didn't have any clue that he
would go on to to come to hero that he became.
But you know, he was a different type of dude.
He would ride his bicycle to practice every day.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
Those are the voices of former Tilman teammates Larry Senters,
Jake Plummer, and all started by former linebacker Mark Maddox.
The thing is, if you asked Pat to talk about himself,
something he seldom did, I'm not sure that football player
would have made the top three things he'd say about himself.
To know Pat was to know that Pat was about
(11:49):
the next achievement, the next challenge, the next curiosity. Longtime
Cardinals beat writer in Arizona Republic columnists Ken Summers.
Speaker 16 (11:57):
As a player just to the point of borderline. Is
this guy human? I mean, can a human actually play
that hard and have such disregard for his body and
play the game that way? And never? I mean there
was just one speed, you know, one gear there was
you know. Steve McGinnis used to say that the guy
(12:17):
has a switch, not a dial. You know, you just
flip it on and it's the same speed.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
When Pat put on the pads he used him, he
was all in. Like everything else he did. Pat never
did anything half speed, even when the drills were designed
to be half speed. That was Pat in his first
NFL training camp as a seventh round tweener, just hit
anything and everything that moved.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
I watched it in person.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
I covered that nineteen ninety eight training camp in Flagstaff.
I watched the decision makers take notice that the guy
in the football uniform belied the dude in the surfer
shorts and the flip flops. Here's former Cardinals wide receiver
Frank Sanders.
Speaker 17 (12:59):
I think probably deserved flip flops and a surfboard somewhere
in some Oakley shorts. And I had a real nice
golden hair, and that's it. Like playing football. Never seemed
like he should be there until he put on his pads,
put on his pats. A different person showed him, I
understand you hit pretty hard.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Now a different guy in the.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
Middle of the field that falls into the plate.
Speaker 11 (13:24):
Wow, off comes the helmet of the attended receiver as
he gets crushed back there by Pat Tilman.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
Pat Tilman the blade.
Speaker 10 (13:34):
He knocked him right in the helmet with a forearm
and just slapped.
Speaker 15 (13:37):
That helmet off. Even as a rookie, we used to
have to call him off, you know, some some practices
we were you know, just fit up on the guy
with the ball. But he would come in and demolish
the guys, which was a really good tactic, and it
worked out great for him because he got to coach
his attention.
Speaker 10 (13:55):
He brought that scenement kind of few mentality to the Cardinals.
I mean, rookies don't hit receivers in Ota days.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
But he would lay some.
Speaker 10 (14:03):
Wood on a guy or like put an elbow in
him and get in fights. And he really up the
competitiveness during practice where guys didn't like him because he
would hit you or rough you up, or do what
he whatever he felt he needed to work on, and
they ended up respecting him because it made everybody's level
come up. He was a tone setter.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
Let's just say that Pat would routinely exceed the perceived
practice speed limit. But that's how Pat forged an NFL career.
That's how Pat made the Cardinals as the two hundred
and twenty six player taken in the nineteen ninety eight draft.
How he caught the coach's attention even though he was
the reigning Pac ten Defensive Player of the Year. But
(14:46):
at the NFL level, was he still a linebacker? Was
he fast enough to be a safety? Pad made sure
none of that mattered, because all he did was turn
guys into tackling dummies that entire camp, even though it
landed him in the NFL's version of a coach's time out.
Former Cardinals head coach Den Stoven.
Speaker 18 (15:05):
And the one I remember was a wide receiver that
he got in a fight with and ended up having
to throw them both off the field because they every
time the play started whether they'd be a fight between
those two at the end of the play, and so
I sent them out.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
But as vin Stobin himself would admit later, the Cardinals
needed that mentality that Pat Tillman brand of physicality and
fight that Tilman too, because remember the Cardinals were still
in the same division with those Cowboys teams coming off
Super Bowls and physical East Coast teams from tough towns
(15:40):
playing bullyball like the Giants and Eagles and Washington once again.
Former Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer.
Speaker 10 (15:47):
You look at someone like him who was similar to me.
We were too small, too slow, not strong enough, not
smart enough, all these excuses for why we shouldn't be
there yet we just you know, we threw that all
side and said, yeah, we're supposed.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
To be here.
Speaker 9 (16:00):
He congratulated me, and I guess he was one of
my advocates.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
He was talking me up, So what the hell? Where
are you all right? Thank you, appreciate your help, Jake.
Speaker 9 (16:09):
He said that I gotta give him fifteen percent of
whatever I get because of his good talk, so it
might not be much.
Speaker 10 (16:17):
So we had that chip on our shoulder and that confidence,
that quiet confidence about ourselves and belief in ourselves. So
we were kindred spirits right away.
Speaker 18 (16:26):
Pat became a football player simply because of will and determination.
He wasn't really big enough, strong enough, fast enough to
play in the National Football League, but he willed himself
to become a good enough football player to overcome those limitations.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
And it's something that Pat had already done plenty of
define the doubters. A quick personal note, I covered Pat
during his years at ASU and then his early years
were the Cardinals. Before that, I'd known of Pat through
our high school alma mater, Leland High School in South
San Jose. We were both from the Alminant Valley, which
you might have seen featured in some of the Pat
(17:06):
Tillman documentaries. His future father in law was my high
school baseball coach. We were seven or eight years apart
or so, and I still remember my dad called me
during Pat's senior year of high school. Hey you guess
what he said? Leland is in this section title game.
And I cut off my dad. I say, come on, now, Pop,
have you been drinking more of your red wine again?
Come on say no, no, no. They've got this Tilman kid.
(17:27):
He's a running back and nobody can tackle him, and
he's a better middle linebacker.
Speaker 7 (17:32):
He's all over the field.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
So when people talk about Pat's ability to inspire and
lift others, people rightfully cite the fact that the last
time ASU went to the Rolls Bowl. It was Pat
Tillman and Jake Plummer. During Pat's rookie year in the
NFL nineteen ninety eight, the Arizona Cardinals won their first
playoff game in half a century. And my response is always,
(17:55):
you know what, though, Pat's greatest team achievement was leading
his high school to a because, believe me, did you
agree of difficulty there? Pat's high school hasn't come close
to winning before or after Pat.
Speaker 19 (18:15):
Both towers so the World Trade Center have been hitched
by aircraft.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Both are in flames.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
It's a black smoke coming from both of the towers.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
It's a horrific scene here.
Speaker 16 (18:26):
There are fire crews just screaming into this area from
every conceivable direction.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
You know, times like this you stop and think about
just how not only how good we have it, but
what kind of a system we live under, What freedoms
were allowed?
Speaker 9 (18:41):
You know, my great grandfather was at Pearl.
Speaker 8 (18:43):
Harbor, and a lot of my family has given up,
you know, has gone and fought in wars. And I
really haven't done a damn thing as far as laying
myself on the line like that, and so I have
a great deal of respect for those that have and
what The flag stands.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
For the voice of Pat Tillman. September twelfth, two thousand
and one, the day after the horrific events of nine
to eleven. In fact, on September eleventh, Pat Tilman was
at the Cardinals facility and he wandered through the media
area and sat down to watch the news coverage as
it unfolded.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
With Cardinals beat writer Darren Rban.
Speaker 20 (19:16):
He was like, what we do playing in the NFL?
He goes, We're worthless, We're actors. He goes, that means nothing.
This is this is so much bigger than that.
Speaker 11 (19:30):
There's probably no better time to talk about a guy
who took nine to one one to heart and made
a life changing decision based on his feeling something he
felt he needed to do.
Speaker 21 (19:39):
It was sort of the you know, man bites dog story,
like this doesn't make any sense. He's right on the
verge where in discussions with his agent about potentially extending
his contract and he decided I'm going to walk away
from this. But you know, it was just six months
after nine to eleven, and it was only three weeks
after he got married to Marie as high school sweetheart,
(20:02):
and it was about one week after they got back
from their honeymoon. He joined the Army up in Colorado
and then went on to become, you know, part of
the Rangers and one of.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
The leaders Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell. As Pat had just
set a team record for tackles in a season, his
jersey was worn by fans all over town. Plus there
was the business of football, as Pat was on the
verge of cashing in on a mega contract and he
literally left it all behind.
Speaker 16 (20:32):
My reaction was was just I was like, I just
kind of had this big smiling and started laughing to myself,
like this is completely believable. I mean, I did not
expect him to join the army, but as I process it,
I'd like, yeah, Okay, of all the guys in professional
sports in the world, he's the one who would do that.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
Pat would leave that Cardinals locker room to join a
different team with a different plan, defending his country and
his former teammates. Remember the reactions like it was yesterday.
Frank Sanders, Jake Plummer, and former head coach Vince Toban.
Speaker 17 (21:13):
I saw Pat coming out of the building, and I
was coming in where the players are only going in
the lower area. I was coming into the gates he
was going out and say, Pat, you doing what's up
with your contract? He said, Bro, I'm probably gonna go
to the military. I said what he said, I'm gonna
go to the army and be arranged with my brother.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So what you go do?
Speaker 17 (21:30):
What I want to serve my country, That's what I'm
gonna do. I say, brother, God bless you.
Speaker 10 (21:35):
I just kind of like that sounds like, Pat, what
can you do? I remember getting a call from Mike Devlin,
who is my center my rookie year and now is
a coach with the Cardinals. He said, Hey, you got
to call Pat. He's he's about to do something that
you know, I don't know if he should do this.
It's you know, he's giving up all this money and
giving up the game, and I don't know. You should
give him a shout. And I kind of chuckled because
I was like, if Pat makes his mind up, he's
(21:58):
made this decision and his wife hasn't changed his mind,
and what good am I going to be to go
try to change his mind. I'm not going to piss
him off before he goes to fight for our country.
I gave him a hug and told him I love him.
He'd be safe out there, man, because there was no
change in his mind.
Speaker 18 (22:13):
Well, he's all in. He believed in what he believed
in and believed it very strongly and acted on what
he's bleased where a lot of people have blafed, but
they don't act on him, and he did no matter
what he was doing, whether he's on the field or not.
Speaker 10 (22:27):
He believed in himself so much so that he did
something that no one could fathom he would do and
go give up millions of dollars to go fight for
our country. Well, for Pat, it was just life. That
was what life was about, was doing what you believed
and living your life.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
And what's amazing is as media friendly as Pat was
as a player, all the interviews that Pat did when
he was at ASU.
Speaker 7 (22:49):
And the Cardinals.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
You can search the internet all you want, good luck
trying to find any interview that Pat did as a soldier.
Once again in Summers from the Arizona Republic.
Speaker 16 (23:02):
One of the things that really resonated with me was
his refusal to talk about it ever. It's like, I'm
not in it for that, I'm not in it for
the stories, I'm not in it for a future movie
or to set myself up for business later. I have
my reasons for doing it. I'm not going to share them.
They're my reasons.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
So Pat left his Cardinals locker behind for a foot locker.
One more aspect of a person who could have done
virtually anything he set his mind to, and quite often
Pat did just that. Former teammate, a longtime Cardinal staffer,
Anthony Edwards, on Pat's selfless act.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
To serve that's humility. I choose to serve my country.
I choose to go disc route instead of this one.
The more popular vote would be stay where you at,
continue to do what you're doing. But he didn't feel
that was enough. That wasn't satisfying to him, so he
chose the other.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
And that's former Cardinals receiver Anthony Edwards, who said it
so well in Cardinals' Folktales that Pat was all about
service to his team, to his community, to his country.
I think, like a lot of media members, we walk
into that Cardinals locker room, you can still hear Pat's laugh,
you can still picture him with his teammates. And it
(24:25):
was that locker of Pats that was spared the wrecking
ball from the demolition crew in last second dramatic fashion,
and when we come back, we'll hear how that locker
saving play, how it unfolded, how Pat's lasting legacy is
memorialized in other ways as we continue with his encore
(24:47):
presentation of Cardinals Folktale's Legendary Locker on the Big Red Rage,
presented by Santan Ford and Gilbert. We are santan Ford,
and welcome back to our special encore presentation of Cardinals
Folk Tales Legendary Locker Here on the Big Red Rage,
(25:07):
presented by Santan Ford and Gilbert.
Speaker 7 (25:09):
We are Santan Ford. I'm Paul Calvi.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Seen if you go to State Farm Stadium, you'll see
the Pat Tillman statue. There's Pat Tillman's name and number
in the ring of Honor. At Cardinal's headquarters, there's Pat's locker.
And that's what we're talking about here tonight, the legendary
locker and last we left you here during Cardinal's Folktales,
Pat Tillman was making that selfless decision to leave football
(25:36):
and a multi million dollar contract behind to serve his country.
As we know, Pat lost his life in action while
serving with the Army Rangers in Afghanistan.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
And not only hit.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
All of us in Arizona heard a lot of us
vividly remember that April morning, but our nation mourned as well,
and we pick up the story of how Pat's legendary
locker still stands today with a salute from Tom Cruise
at the ESPIS.
Speaker 6 (26:10):
The news came out of Afghanistan that an athlete turned
soldier was gone. And when we heard the news on
that April day, it stopped us all in a long
and profound silence. And we all know why, because Pat
Tillman was a transcendent figure in the life of this nation.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
Word of Pat Tillman's death came out early on the
morning of April twenty second, two thousand and four. Fans
created memorials at the Cardinals facility and in Pat's hometown
of San Jose. I remember waiting a line at Sun
Devil Stadium to pay respects at an impromptum memorial. The
(26:49):
news hit with the ferocity of a Tilman tackle, and
it struck owner Michael Bidwell and fullback Larry Centers the
same way.
Speaker 21 (26:57):
It was a I mean, it was a gut punch
kicked to the stomach, and I remember I was I
was standing in my closet that day, getting ready for
work and to head into the office, and my phone
rangked you know, said shivers down my spine, and we
realized it's going to be shocking news to everybody.
Speaker 15 (27:14):
I was in Dallas on the golf course. I was
playing with a couple of guys who played in the NFL,
and one of them got a call or a text
and said, hey, man, Pat's him just died in Afghanistan.
It was a jaw dropping moment. I remember exactly where
I was, like. I'm sure a lot of the teammates
can tell you exactly what they were when they heard
the news.
Speaker 5 (27:34):
As news traveled through the Cardinals facility, it reached the
locker room longtime trainer John Omahandra.
Speaker 19 (27:41):
It weighed on us, impacted us a lot, and thought
started going through my mind a way that we could
memorialize him or remembering in some fashion in the training room.
I went down to pr asking him to give me
a photo of Pat. I took it and had it framed,
(28:04):
put it up over the tape table. So every day
everybody that came in got overseen by Pat, and the
guys would get up on the table to get taped
and they could maybe this past thought on trying to
live up to his standards of toughness and dedication, being
(28:26):
a warrior, just all the things that Pat was.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
The Tilman player photo that John Almahundro referenced, well, if
you walk into the training room today, that frame picture
sits in this same exact spot, just like it did
days after Pat's death.
Speaker 7 (28:57):
I think there's a wow factor to it.
Speaker 11 (29:00):
For instance, JJ Watt when he signed with the Cardinals,
he took a picture.
Speaker 7 (29:04):
In front of it.
Speaker 11 (29:05):
It means something to him. He's very familiar with the story.
He's involved with the Pat Tillman Foundation.
Speaker 12 (29:10):
I've obviously long been a fan of Pat Tillman. What
he stood for, who he was, and everything about his
legacy is unbelievable to me. So to be here, to
be walking the same halls that he walked and to
see his locker was special for me.
Speaker 11 (29:24):
It made me feel good to see him, the guy
of his level, standing in front of that and it
means something to him.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
That's the voice of Jim o'mahundro, longtime Cardinals broadcast producer
more than two decades on the job. While his father,
the aforementioned John Omahandro spent forty two seasons as a
Cardinals athletic trainer. A couple of other longtime Cards employees,
Darren Urban and Deve Pash, give us the scattered report
(29:53):
on Omo.
Speaker 20 (29:54):
I would paint Jim o'mahundro in this way he works
for the team, but I in a lot of ways,
Cardinals DNA is literally in him.
Speaker 11 (30:04):
So I've been around the Cardinals my entire life. My
dad was an athletic trainer for the team for forty
two seasons. I like to say I was negative nine
when he started with the team, and so I was
literally born into this organization. I couldn't imagine it any
other way.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Cardinal football means so much to him. Outside of the
Bidwells who grew up with Cardinal football, I can't think
of anybody who has a closer connection than the Bidwell
family than the Ola Hundro family because of the time
and the energy that's been spent rooting for the team.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
So when people ask how exactly did the Tilman locker
end up encased in glass when every other locker is
no moss, Well glad yes, because remember earlier the story
that we thought.
Speaker 7 (30:50):
We knew, but didn't. Well.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Here we go twenty fifteen. The Cardinals locker room. It's
a hard hat area, not your typical football helmets, but
construction workers.
Speaker 11 (31:01):
It's a day after the Super Bowl, kind of slow
around the facility. So I come over here to a
Reganos used to get a normal lunch, so I ordered
a slice and a salad and I'm waiting for the food.
So I'm scrolling through Twitter. I see a tweet by
Darren Urban that alerts me to the renovation starting at
our tempee facility. So I freak out. There's a photo
with a destroyed locker on the ground. So I had
(31:23):
ordered my lunch, it hadn't come yet, and I'm like,
I got to get out of here. So I throw
twenty dollars down onto the table and I'm out of there.
I just run to my car, drive down, get to
the facility, run through the parking lot, run through the auditorium,
the weight room, the training room, step into the locker room.
The carpet is all torn up. The glue from the
carpet is there and it rips my shoe off my foot.
(31:44):
So I'm hopping around the corner to see two lockers
on one wall and about four lockers on the other
there's a guy with a saw walking directly for Pat
Tillman's locker. I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, don't
cut that one out. That's Pat Tillman's locker. So that's
what happened and prevented it from being destroyed.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
And that is quite a series of events. I mean,
think of how razor thin that margin was. One more
stop like Peruns or almost stopping to unglue his shoe,
and that Tilman locker would have been turned into lumber.
That got the attention of Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell.
Speaker 21 (32:28):
Found out an hour after it happened that Jim Olmahunter
was walking through and said, wait, don't touch that. And
so we're like, okay, we don't know what to do
with it right now, but we're going to do something.
And then because we were doing a renovation of the building,
we looked for an area where we could put it,
and the designers found what I think is a perfect
entry area right outside the locker room. So it's it's
(32:50):
a perfect area and it's really a landmark within our
building and serves as an important reminder for his sacrifice
but also his spirit.
Speaker 11 (32:59):
Everybody who goes out to the practice field, they walk
by it. Everyone who comes in from the practice field,
they walk by it. And if you look at the
old foot front of the locker room, it's literally on
the other side of the wall, kind of diagonal from
where it was, and I think that's pretty cool. It's
kind of hollow ground in a way.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Remember it'd been over a dozen years since Pat had
left his locker, so over those years a number of
other players use that locker.
Speaker 11 (33:27):
Pat's final year in the locker room was two thousand
and one, so every year after that, I would kind
of look to see who had that locker, and I'd
make it a point to go up to him and say, Hey,
you know who's locker you are sitting in, And they're like,
who said Pat Tillman. Some of them looked at me
like I was nuts, Like what this is Pat's locker now?
(33:47):
Some that come to mind, Gabe Watson, former defensive tackle.
Speaker 22 (33:50):
O Mahandro told me, you share the same locker that
Pat Tillman had. I'm like, are you serious? You know
you hear the stories behind them, and there's only a
few people that can say shared the same locker it's
just honored to just be in any company with him.
Speaker 11 (34:05):
John Fullington was a reserve offensive lineman who was the
final occupant of Pat's locker, and he was genuinely touched.
I told him, and he he was just like, I'm honored.
He didn't know what to say. So, you know, you
see guys that maybe had that locker. Then you see
guys that in future years will walk past that locker
(34:26):
and you kind of get the idea of what they
might feel about it.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
You know, the first time you see Pat's locker on display,
and as someone who sees it on a daily basis now,
it is a heck of a first impression that makes
for a lasting impression. Here's VPM meter relations Mark Dalton,
followed by former Cardinals Larry Centers and Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 13 (34:48):
When you get to that spot, it's almost a universal reaction.
People just stop and conversation ceases and they just take
it in and there's like a a solemn moment of reflection,
which is really cool.
Speaker 15 (35:04):
Keeping his legacy alive. I think that's a big step
in the right direction. You know, the generations go on
and the people the players come, and the players go,
but to see him immortalize in that way and appreciated
by the organization. I think that's a really good move
of the team.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
It's a reminder as a player that's leaving out of
the locker room going to the practice field, here's someone
that was dedicated, committed to excellence in whatever he did.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Just let us do the.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Same thing and take it to the field today and
be our very best. So it comes as a reminder
of us striving for excellence.
Speaker 11 (35:40):
Each time a guy walks by, they're gonna see Pat
and his locker there, and remember, you know, hey, you
could be having a crappy day. You could be complaining
about little things, and then you see that and you
check yourself a little bit. Say, Okay, there's thousands upon
thousands of men and women all over the world, our country,
(36:01):
and you know they can't afford to have a bad day.
We can afford to have a bad day.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
So you've got it pretty good.
Speaker 5 (36:08):
In the NFL, everyone is looking for impact players in
Cardinals team history, and that is going back more than
a century. Not a single player on the field and
off combined is at a bigger impact than Pat Tillman.
Speaker 14 (36:22):
Pat Tillman was all about team and if you can
walk past that and not get something inside of you turning.
We got some issues.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Go back to the whole idea of you know, it's
not what you say in life, it's what you do.
And we can all talk, but ultimately it's what we do.
And I think the lasting legacy of Pat Tillman is
this is someone who did, who believed in something and
was willing to risk his life for it.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
It's voice of the Cardinals day pass preceded by former
Cardinals linebacker Mark Maddox make an impact players today when
they see Pat Tillman's locker, it says, challenge yourself to
do as much with your life as Pat did in
his twenty seven years. To me, that's what Pat's locker
(37:14):
stands for, and that's why it still stands today for
all to see.
Speaker 10 (37:20):
To me, when they keep his locker alive and his
legend alive there, it's telling the players to like, live
your trueness, to be who you are, and like, hey,
you know, don't go against the grain just because you
want to go against the grain. But if you have
a feeling and it's a thought and it's something you
believe in, and if it's against the grain, do it
and trust yourself, because Pat was like that.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
And there you have it, Cardinals Folk Tales, legendary locker,
the one locker that will never change nameplates, the same
locker where we used to witness Pat reclined between practices,
taking a snooze to refresh for what was next. And
that's just one tribute to Pat's greatness that seemingly everyone
(38:22):
has a story. In fact, I'll share a quick one
with you here. I knew a guy at Asu, went
to school with him, and he told me years later
that he was Pat's next door neighbor for a spell.
One night he got home from work, he pulled into
his driveway and he couldn't help but notice there's Pat
on his roof. His buddy of mine gets out of
his car. He's half stupefied and he yells out.
Speaker 7 (38:45):
Ay, Path, what are you doing on your roof?
Speaker 5 (38:49):
And Pat looked at him, just watching the sunset, dude,
just watching the sunset.
Speaker 7 (38:55):
And that was Pat.
Speaker 5 (38:57):
He took nothing for granted, and he inspired to do
the same. But how do you convey that, how do
you pass that along? How do you honor that? Well?
The Cardinals do just that every day. By putting Pat's
locker on display at their training facility. Thanks for joining
(39:17):
us everyone. I'm Paul Calvic. This has been Cardinals s
Folktales Legendary Locker presented by seventy two Soul. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
You know it's.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
Stories like that, and so many people have stories regarding
Pat Tillman.
Speaker 7 (39:38):
That's how his legacy lives on today.
Speaker 5 (39:42):
If you go to the Pat Tillman Foundation website and
they state out Pat's life and principles and service, that's
his true legacy. How Pat's family and friends started the
Pat Tillman Foundation to carry forward that legacy. If you
go two days after his passing, it was the NFL
Draft two thousand four and then Commissioner Paul Taglibu wore
(40:02):
a black ribbon with Tilman's name on it and a
helmet pin with his number forty. And there was Paul
Tagliabou while flanked by five Marines and Madison Square Garden,
and he told the audience quote, Pat Tillman personified the
best values of Americans in the National Football League. And
(40:23):
we know Pat's legacy is personified by Pat's Run, which
is held annually in tamp And when we come back.
We'll bring back and talk with Ron Wolfley, who covered
Pat watched all those games from Sun Devil Stadium, both
ASU and the Cardinals. As we continue with this encore
(40:43):
presentation of Cardinals Folk Tales Legendary Locker presented by santan
for In Gilbert. And welcome back to this very special
edition of the Big Red Rage, Our Cardinals Folk Tales
Legendary Locker Edition, all presented by Santan ford In Gilbert,
(41:05):
Paul kelvc Ron wolf Ley, and the story behind the
saving literally saving Pat Tillman's locker from a certain destruction
within seconds.
Speaker 7 (41:15):
Wolf we heard the story man.
Speaker 5 (41:17):
Of our own executive producer, longtime producer for the Cardinals,
Jim al Mahandro. He saw a picture posted by Darren
Urbin of the renovation of the Cardinals locker room, and
he just ran a four three forty out of the
restaurant where he's having lunch, and if he would hit
one more stoplight, he probably wouldn't be able to make
it in time back into that locker room to save
(41:39):
Pat Tillman's locker. And as we say, there's fifty three
players on an NFL active roster, and then the Cardinals
have designated their fifty fourth locker where the name plate
will never change. It is behind glass, and it's quite
a story as to as it all transpired.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Yeah, Pauli, you know what's incredible you stop and think
about it, man, And just the fact that Jim Almahandro
would be the guy, he would be the guy that
would actually burst in and save Pat Tillman's locker. You
know what a historian he is. He's the best game
day producer on the face of the planet. Yet at
the same time, this guy is a historian man for
(42:20):
Cardinal football. And the fact that it was him who
actually came in and stopped them from literally cutting right
into that locker and everything that has happened to that locker,
since that's exactly what a folktale is, man, this is
a folk tale about a folk tale legendary acts by
(42:42):
human beings.
Speaker 5 (42:43):
You know, players to this day see it for the
first time and it stops them in their tracks. Yes,
JJ Watt most recently when he showed up, he stopped
that very locker. Dennis Gardak. We've talked to gard Deck
the Barbarian about it, have we not? Wolts you know
he current players, you know, most of them are so young,
they've only read books about Pat Tillman. But it's what
(43:04):
that locker says to them, and to listen to them
tell it, Welf. It essentially means, Okay, can you get
as much out of your life out of your career
that Pat Tilman did? A guy who was barely drafted
a seventh rounder and then went on to achieve so much,
not only in football, but obviously in life itself.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
You know, I love that, Paully. That is a great thought,
There's no doubt about it. You know, you think of
Pat Tillman though the statue of course, is what I
think of at State Farm Stadium and the Tilman Tunnel
at ASU, and you know, just the the legendary impact
that this has had on so many football players and
(43:42):
so many Americans. The ultimate sacrifice of Pat Tillman and
what he did for this country and for everyone who
serves this country, and for his teammates as well. It's
truly inspiring.
Speaker 22 (43:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (43:58):
Yeah, that's a great point about the State, the Tilman Tunnel,
how about the bridge and the Arizona Nevada border named
after Pat Tillman. The USO centers worldwide, I know, it
was a couple of years ago. I was like the
fifth assistant coach for my son's little league team. Right,
everyone had to introduce themselves and they said, what do
you do for a living? And okay, and who have
you interviewed? Who have you interviewed? And I named Larry Fitzgerald,
(44:18):
Randy Johnson, old timers like Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Lebron James.
But when I named Pat Tillman, everyone stopped and everyone
wanted to know more about Pat Tillman. That's how his
name resonates even today.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Truly, just an incredible human being. Paully, I know that
you and I over the years, of course, have talked
about our relationship just knowing Pat Tillman from time to time,
and the respect and the regard that we have for
him can't be measured with human hands.
Speaker 5 (44:47):
When my son was born, actually I bought him a jersey.
It's the only jersey I've ever purchased for him, and
it's a Pat Tillman jersey because it's about so much
more than football. Football did not define Pat as he
went under service country and his status now as an
American hero. I hope everyone enjoyed that Cardinals Folktales, Legendary
Lockers Special thanks Jim Amhandro, Ron Wolfley on Paul KELBC.
(45:10):
This has been the Big Red Rage presented by santan
Ford in Gilbert.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
You've been listening to the Big Red Rage presented by
santan Ford and Gilbert right on the Price, right on
the corner of the Santan two to two Freeway in Valvista.
The Rage is brought to you by seat Geek your
Ticket to Great Seats, and by Arizona Cardinals podcasts. Visit
(45:41):
Azycardinals dot com Slash podcast. This has been an exclusive
presentation of the Arizona Cardinals Football Clock
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