Big Red Rage - A Lost Finger And A Trip To Mexico

to you by satan Ford in Gilbert. Are you Santanford State Farm talk to an agent today at eight hundred State Farm, and by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts visit Hacy Cardinals dot com, Slash Podcasts, The Reds Rising Guard, Temperaturizing vision, blurring, rage taking over. Here's Paul Calvci. I'm ready. I'm one hundred percent ready. I'm telling you i'mready. And Ron Wolflee. It doesn't get any better than that. Unleash the far. Welcome in everyone to the Big Red Raid presented by

santan Ford and Gilbert On. Paul Calvc, Ron Wolfley on assignment. Okay, he's on vacation. That's fine because you know what. We're going to run the up tempo here tonight. We are proud to continue with our encore presentation of Cardinal's Folk Tales, where you can't spell history without the word story all time anecdotes in Cardinal's History, and tonight it's two for one. A little bit later, we're gonna go back to Mexico City two thousand and five revisit the Cardinal's historic trip

to a Stadio Azteca. But off the top, we might need to apologize in advance here, considering it's dinner time, because maybe you've heard the cliche leave a piece of yourself out on that field. Well, former Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson did exactly that back in two thirteen at New Orleans.

As we hit the play button on this Cardinal's folk tales titled nine More, hearing about people climb through a garbage can to get a fingertipped out of a glove and all that even now kind of giving me the willies. I mean, you get your finger caught in the door or something. It hurts, so I can't even imagine it's gruesome. The New Orleans Voodoo Woodoo was a little crazy that week. When I heard about it, I was like, what they're doing? What? Like,

how did that happen? And in that moment, machinery comes in. I mean, where's the rest of the finger. It was just like, oh, y'all looking for his finger. Just check the trash. I think it's in his glove. You may want to get that glove out of the garbage can and see what the rest of the finger looks like. And the glove is still intact, you know, it's normal, and like, let's just cut on up the finger and see. And they cut up the finger and it just falls

right there on the table. We found out later that he got his fingers stuck in this little small hole in the side of the guy's helmet and it just snapped it off. Boom. My head didn't happen. And I'm trying to shake it off, but as I'm shaking it, it's like some fires on the tip of it. The a result of Cardinals last a football game, safety Rashaw Johnson lost a piece of himself. Literally, how do you explain to the coaches this, Yeah, he lost a finger, and you know he's not gonna be ready. I don't

know how long I'm telling you. Rashaw I thought it was like a war story. How he was explaining it to everybody. Look at my finger, you know, I'm just sending them pictures of it. And like it's just what how did that happen? Like, what's going on? No rehab, no replacement, no growing back. Rashaw Johnson didn't give the finger to New Orleans. He gave a finger. Look, I'm missing a finger, so ten percent off? Are we can't?

The price isn't good. Welcome to Cardinal's Folk Tales nine More, presented by Sky, where we go in depth into Cardinal's history all time anecdotes through the recollections and memories of those who lived it or in my case, those who covered it. My name is Paul KELBC, Cardinal's sideline reporter. This is the story of how Rashaw Johnson and his finger went viral, how his middle finger became the same

length as his index finger. I think, looking back on it now, we didn't realize how big of a story it was. Sean Johnson, He's probably saying I had to lose the tip of my finger to get on the Dan Patrick Show. The question was asked like, hey man, you know you lost a portion of your finger. You lost a finger, you know, Like, what are you gonna do? I got nine more. Here's Paul or Sean Johnson out of the game right now? A finger injury and his

return is considered questionable. Guys just wanted to send that update. We had no idea at the time of the injury. That brief sideline report was because we weren't briefed on the severity of the injury until well the gloves came off. Look as an NFL player, you're paid a lot of money, partly because you run the risk of paying a heavy price.

Like September twenty second, twenty thirteen, Cardinals against the Saints, Week three, headed in the New Orleans Superdome, Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Michael Colston, big challenge for our secondary, really excited about the opportunity to go in and play this game, and for Rashad as a starting safety and one of the best tacklers on the roster, his duties included special teams and maybe the toughest task of all, trying to

corral the Saints three time Pro Bowl return man. They have Darren Spros, who probably will be in the Hall of Fame one day. I'll just gone gone. Record hell of a player, was a great player for the Saints, and everybody that knows Darren Spros, you know he's a smaller guy, quicker guy. He is so difficult to tackle. He's I mean, he's like trying to catch a soap bubble on a beach's brutal. You're not always gonna get a big shot, big hit on him. A lot of

times you're gonna be regent. That's former Cardinals dB Gerard Powers. And that is foreshadowing because in a seven seven game, late first half, the Cardinals on punk cover and here comes that five foot six, one hundred ninety pounds stick of dynamite hi kick backing up, Sprawls, waits for it fields. It is fourteen runs right to the twenty to the twenty five yard line. So let's a tackle at the thirty close up the thirty five of the forty yard line, and they can finally get to him at the forty

one yard line. All right, goodness, is he dangerous? Jasper Brinkley with a special team's tackle. A handful of other Cardinals whiffed, And for one Cardinal it was for good reason. Kind of a crazy play, fluke injury covering a punt. You know, a routine play that I've done a million times. We punt the ball down and I'm going to cover it. Darren Sprows is the returner, and I initiate a blocker, and in that moment when I initiate him, I just

shed away and go in to make the tackle. At this point when roche finger gets caught in his helmet, he was at a point and he was trying to reach to make a tackle, and everything happened so fast that when he reached and I guess his finger gets caught in the crossbar of his helmet. I go to the huddle and I get the call, and I played the next down. And for some of our reason, like my hand is just intensely intensifying, the pain is getting worse,

and that's when we're shod. And his bloody glove caught the attention of Cardinals, said trainer Tom Reid. Run up beside him and immediately noticing his glove. There's a lot of blood, and I look down and before I know it, my white glove is it's far hot red. It's blood everywhere. I come off the field, and you know, just thinking like, hey, maybe I lost the nail. Maybe you know something happened there. They run inside and get him on the table with a bunch of gauze and gulls under and over his

hand and carefully peeled back his glove. The excitement that I had was beginning to wear off, and before I know it, I could feel my heartbeat in my hand. It's like my hand is beating at the same rhythm as my heart. And all I can say is to the Doctor's like, hey, man, I need some drugs, Like I need something. He's like, well, we have to fully evaluate you before we can actually give you something, and you know, so give us a chance to get the

glove off. And that's when things got ugly. And it's right about now that the medical staff realize they're not going to be able to put their finger on the problem without the rest of the glove. They get just to the end where there's probably about just the tip of their finger left with dissecting back to glove, take it off and throw it in the garbage. Doctor Watzluski puts a bunch of gauze on his finger because there's blood flying everywhere, right, and in that moment, machinery comes in.

I mean, where's the rest of the finger? The machine would be assistant trainer Jim Sheer, who'd been on the job for nearly four decades. He dabs it a couple of times and looks at it and tells, machine, you may want to get that glove out of the garbage can and see what the rest of the finger is. Looks like glove. It was just like, oh, y'all looking forward his finger, just check the trash. I think it's

in his glove. Yeah, A guy who thought he'd seen it all was dumpster diving in the visiting locker room. And the glove is still intact, you know, it's normal, and like, let's just cut on up the finger and see. And they cut up the finger and it just falls right there on the table. It's just a small piece of bone and a little bit of nail and a little bit of skin. Nothing that they can put back together again. So essentially he was missing from the bottom

part of his nail. The rest of his finger was gone. From there, we hopping an ambulance and you know, begin to go to the hospital and have immediate surgery. Take them over to the hospital, shave it back the little nub of bone that was there, so that there was enough skin left to make a flap and fold it up and sew it at like a flap, kind of like you're closing the end of a bag, and I could begin to watch the rest of the game from

the surgical room there in New Orleans Hospital. They put enough medicine and numbed it enough for Rashad to be able to film the whole procedure. That's right. Instead of studying film, Rashad Johnson was filming his own surgery. Just another Sunday on the job. And maybe it was the painkiller talking, but Rashad was already talking about the next Sunday, what's the next step? Like? Am I gonna be able to play next week? You know? Am I gonna be able to get a manicure again? Like? You know, those

are serious of questions that we got to talk about. Yeah, Rashad Johnson there, and I still don't know what's harder to believe that it actually happened, that injury or his good natured reaction. Hence the title of this Cardinals Folktale nine more, because look, only one other player really in NFL history can relate. His name is Ronnie Lott and

that is next. As we continue with this special edition of The Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert and welcome back everyone into this special edition of The Big Red Rage, presented by Santanford and Gilbert On Paul Calvic. And when we talk about former Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson, if you're talking about a former walk on running back at Alabama who ended up a two time team captain as a safety, an eight year NFL player

who had sixteen picks and one lost fingertip. And that's where we pick it up, right after surgery following his twenty thirteen game in New Orleans Cardinals Folk Tales nine. More So, here's the postop report in emergency surgery at the hospital. The hand specialist shaved down the bone to prevent infection and stitch up the wound. There were no plans to reattach the fingertip, and in a nod to modern medicine, Rashad was already back at this stadium before

the end of the game. Now here's Darren Urban from ac Cardinals dot Com and Cardinals cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross, who both at the time, like most everyone, we're still unaware. To be honest, I didn't know about that until after the game was over. You know, we knew he had left the game, so that was part of it, but we didn't really understand the gravity of the situation, which probably would have made me a little queasy anyways, because I mean, that's gross. Man. You think about your finger

getting sniped right now, that's painful. I mean that hurts. I mean, you get your finger caught in a door or something, it hurts. So I can't even imagine. That's gruesome. Hearing about people climbing through a garbage can to get a fingertip out of a glove and all that even now kind of giving me the Willie clipped off and did Ronnie Lott thing. It's like the Ronnie Lotton effect.

Ronnie Lott forty nine ers Hall of Fame defensive back known for hard hits, picks and is pinky or what's left of it because in nineteen eighty five eighty six, Lot declined bone graph surgery to fully repair his left pinky finger. Instead, a Lot famously told team doctors to take the top of his injured finger off so he wouldn't miss any time. Let's just say, Rashard Johnson is

in a very exclusive claw. You know, getting a call from running Lot, you know, got an opportunity to get on the call with him and just getting some insight, and a lot of people wouldn't understand us wanting to go back after such a maybe traumatic injury or having something so vastly you know, happened to your life and him losing you know, his finger. People wanted like, why

are you trying to go back and play? But there's something that we love to do, and then we love to compete, and you know, you battle through adversity to do what you love. Some of the things that he told me, man, So I just really valued that experience, you know, through it all. I think this was Rashad's way of saying, like I got stripes now, you know, nobody can say like I've been through it all, like like I've gave part of my finger to the game,

almost like a sacrifice. I think he helped our mental toughness out back in the back and big time. I think he helped a whole defense period showing that kind of cap doing toughness. I mean definitely ended up being something that you know, people could say it was supposed to set you back, but for me, I always kind of find a way to say, you know, it can either be fuel or it can be wait and you

decide for me. You know, it's I always fuel to the fire to keep going, and Rashad definitely kept going, missing only two games, and then in his third game back, he had two picks. Cardinals dial up up lets back to pass, Ryan fires deep nearside, easy interception at the twelve yard line. For Rashaw Johnson. Back to pass goes, Ryan fires it up into the air nearside, gonna be an easy interception at the twenty five yard line. It's Johnson. Now.

Keep in mind then in college, Rashaw Johnson was a walk on at Alabama, a walk on running back from a tiny one A high school in state, a zero star recruit who ended up first team All SEC as a safety for Nick Saban and one of the only two time team captains in Bama history. You know, I knew how quickly the tables could turn and how much it meant to, you know, continue to push forward, to

have that fighter mentality. So that's something that I've always had, and I think it rubbed off from that group to continue to push forward and continue to fight for each other. And as much as teammates look out for each other, right push to each other they bag on each other as well. And let's just say that Rashad had to play defense in his own mocker room. I remember Gerrarde was always just saying, like, man, that tip is gonna cost you an interception. And I was like, man, like,

don't play like. We don't need to say those type of things. And Gerarde tipped the ball and it came over the top and I had it right in my fingers and it went right off that finger till better for Sean Johnson had ten fingers instead of nine and a half, he might have picked that one off. I never forgive me. Come in the locker room. He was like that day finger, I told you looking in that day finger, you know how Girde is. He's like, I had that pvure you supposed to make that play. So

that was the one man. If anybody gave me heck about it, it was definitely JP. And these nine more stories they still resonate, Like in twenty twenty when Cardinals All Pro safety Buddha Baker's snaged his first career pick with a cast on his hand. Here's the Cardinals radio team, Dave Pash and Ron Wolflett. He's not the first Cardinal ever to play with nine fingers. Yes, Rashad Johnson did that. Of course, Rashads fell off Buddha's His back intact is

this is the most graphic injury report ever. I'm a truth teller, Wolf. I mean, it's it's not like it's a story that people aren't aware of. Rashad is still doing just fine. I think, looking back on it now, we didn't realize how big of a story it was. Sean Johnson, He's probably saying, I had to lose the tip of my finger to get on the Dan Patrick Show. Hey, but that's how you do it up. In those next few days, Rashad went on not only would Dan Patrick,

but Sports Center, the Jim Roll Show. Rashad was the subject of a full feature on Sunday NFL Countdown. But Rashad himself was the one who tweeted out three gruesome images of his forlorn finger. So leave it to Cardinal's marketing whiz Orlando Abola to come up with an idea that he ran up the flag Bowl with Darren Urban

of az Cardinals dot Com. I remember getting a text from Orlando saying, you know, kind of playing off of it, and he sent the little screenshot of this, you know, foam finger that was missing a tip obviously, just like Rashod and I thought it was hilarious. I thought it was Orlando kind of being Orlando. But then we started talking about it a little bit and like, you know, do you think we can put that out there without essentially offending anybody, including Rashot and Jim and Mohundro was

running the social media at the time. You know, we went back and forth for about five minutes, and we decided to hey, let's send a text or a shot and see what he thinks. So Darren fires off a text. In less than a minute. Rashotte gets back and says, oh, this is great. I love it. Leah, yeah, do it? Do it? Do it? So we put that out and you know, all of a sudden, the retweets start racking up, and you know, we went viral, not just on social media.

What I really remember most of all is later that day, being in the hotel room, the two of us, and we had ESPN Sports Center on, and then all of a sudden having that tweet show up on Sports Center and we're thinking, okay, this has really hit the big time that you have this tweet out there of making fun of what probably wasn't something you shouldn't be making fun of, to be honest, you know, it was a lot of a lot of talk afterwards, um, you know,

from the burn part of the interruption to Sports Center, you know, talking to it on sunt before you know, the Sunday night game. We knew it was a big story because I was like, the guy made T shirts that saying that he got nine more fingers. The question was asked like, hey man, you know you lost a portion of your finger. You lost a finger. You know, like,

what are you gonna do? I got nine more? And everybody warred under their shoulder path for the rest of the year and all of that nine more as a mindset, you know, like do I focus on the one I do? I focus on what I have? So I think it's just a shift in life. It's what I do, you know, on a daily basis, It's what's gotten me through the transition post my career. It's like, do you focus on not playing football out no more? Or on the beauty of your wife and the beautiful girls that you have.

So on one hand, Rashad's missing finger was the most click story on ESPN dot com. On the other hand, Rashad's young daughter saw it differently as simply her daddy's identity. Something that looked like an imperfection to me became a soother to her because at nighttime, when she wanted to lay down, she would want to hold my hand, but she would want to grab this finger. She didn't want any other finger but that finger, and she would hold it and like lay there and hold it until she

went to sleep. And it was just just the greatest thing to me, because, like I said, like it looked like an imperfection, look like something you know, it was taken from me, but it's an actual comforter to her, and so it was just it was so much beauty in that for me. See, it's not all downside. In fact, Rashad also finds beauty in the nine and a half finger discount the perks. I think the biggest one was

the ten percent off on the manicures. I kind of, you know, I used that every time I go into the salon and I'm in there and the ladies like, what are you talking about? You know, they kind of asking, I'm like, look, I'm missing a finger. So ten percent off are we can't the price isn't good. So that's kind of one of the things I use all the time when I go to do something like that. Post my injury, I actually had more productions, you know, as

an interceptor fact. In his eight year NFL career, Rashaw Johnson had sixteen interceptions including playoffs, three before the injury and thirteen after. And Gerard Powers has a theory maybe that him losing a part of that finger gave him some type of advantage and catching the ball, because I don't remember him being that good of a catcher when all ten of his fingers were intact. Speaking of memories,

how often is Rashad Johnson reminded of the injury? He definitely comes up a lot since you know, post career, there's very few guys that have played the game and actually lost a portion, you know, of their finger myself and running lot er two that I can think of. I'm telling you, Rashad, I thought it was like a war story, how he was explaining it to everybody like he had just you know, we'll probably keep adding stuff

to it as the years ago. Like at some point, I'm pretty sure it'll be a game saving tackle lost his finger, you know, and all that type of deal. So every year we add and add to it. Yeah, the tall tales might grow, but the middle finger not so much. Keep in mind, the first three fingers on Rashad's left hand are all basically the same length. And I remember just literally laughing at him because I kept saying, I was like, hey, man, I say your finger is

gonna grow back. Do have a nail that is continually trying to grow back? So maybe if I didn't, you know, go through the whole process, then you know, it would have kind of grew back in some dysform kind of way maybe, and it gave me my full function. But but I'm glad to have, you know, a little bit that I can't get. I just reach into my other hand if I got to get something out of the

corner of that pocket. When I get older and my kids grow and this story getting brought up at a family function with me and Rashad, I'm gonna definitely be the one that's animated and telling everything that happens. And that's Cardinal's Folk Tales nine more presented by Seeking Thanks for joining us everyone. For producer Jim almahndre, I'm Paul Calvci. Bottom line, if anyone is equipped to handle the emotions

and aftermath of losing a part of themselves. Literally, when Patrick Peterson said after the game that Rashat's finger was quote leaking like a faucet, well, Rashat has always been that one percent in more ways than one. It's definitely a mentality as a one percenter. You know on NFL that you have to have that mentality to take adversity and use it as fuel. And again Rashad Johnson missing his fingertip only missed two games and then in his first game back he had two picks. That is a

Cardinals folktale. But we're not done yet on this special edition of the Big Red Rage with Mexico City and the Cardinal schedule this season, We're going to go back to the two thousand and five trip to a Stadio Azteca when we continue on the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert and welcome back in everyone to this very special edition of The Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert. On Paul calvcr Cardinals Folk Tales edition where he can't spell the word history

without the words story. And I'd say in my more than two decades of covering the Cardinals home and away, the Mexico City road Trip circuit two thousand and five was top five all time. First off, you're in Mexico's capital city. Elevation seventy seven hundred feet, that's more than two thousand feet higher than Denver, in a legendary stadium, NonStop energy, over a hundred thousand fans in there, right,

Every play matters to these fans. You know, the Cardinals have a vast radio network in Mexico that has grown over the years, and so much of that growth you can trace back to that October night two thousand and five as we hit play on this Cardinal's foulktale titled One Time in Mexico. What were your thoughts I'm playing in Mexico. First of all, it was great. It's the greatest fans to get outside the world and this world

you know how we do it. I thought it was one of the biggest moments of my career, believe it or not. I mean, one hundred, two hundred games, but the way Stadios Deccan Mexican peep reacted to that flag. I got goose bumps under here. I mean it was absolutely in fuego. We're about to come into the biggest arena in Latin America, and I think a style of steak guy really broughted that day. I come to the coach and Dennis Green, is this actually happening? An NFL

professional game is being played here? One that counts. It actually happened. It definitely counted, and it will always stand as NFL history. An amazing scene, flashbulbs popping for the first ever National Football League regular season game abroad. That's right, Never before had an NFL regular season game been played

outside the United States. This is Cardinals Folk Tales 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. It was in freaking incredible. It was called the birth of international football for the NFL one time in Mexico, that time when the Cardinals turned a home game into the first ever NFL regular

season contest played on international soil. My name is Paul calBC and I was part of the Cardinals radio broadcast team that day along with analyst Ron Wolfley and longtime voice of the Cardinals Dave Patch. October second, two thousand and five, the Cardinals again make history as they take on the San Francisco forty nine ers from a Stadio as Tecca in Mexico City. Estadio as Teco build as Mexico's mythical Temple. One of the world's most revered stadiums.

It is hosted World Cup Finals and has wowed everyone from Pelee to the Pope. The atmosphere pretty unbelievable. Die hard football fans here. Even if some of these folks have never seen an NFL game on television, they are into it. Before we get to that day in that stadium. Realized that it all started years earlier with the advent of the Cardinals new stadium team owner Michael Bidwell. The largest population of NFL fans outside the United States is

actually Mexico City. And so I looked at it, and I went to Commissioner Taglibu, and I said, look, we've got one season left at Sundeville Stadium. We're happy to give up a game, especially if it's an early game, and play a home game regular season. It had never been done in regular season, and so we looked at this idea of taking it international. It's time now for the Mexican and American national anthems he got as a kid.

You would see it a lot, right if you would set on TV, and sometimes you would say, one day, I want to walk that field. I was there. I was walking in with my Cardinals. That's the voice of Rolando Canto, the first Mexican born non kicker to play in the NFL. He was an offensive lineman for that two thousand and five Cardinals team. And as big as Rolando is in person, just physically, he's a giant the measurables of an NFL old lineman six five, three sixty plus,

his persona is bigger in Mexico. Dave Pash, Rolando's a great story, and I think you know Rolando in a lot of ways. For a lot of people, there probably was a symbol of hope, like, hey, Rolando's playing pro football. You know I can play pro football, I can break ground. Rolando represents a lot for many people. I mean the fact that this guy, the first actual national to come from Mexico and not be a kicker. We saw a lot of Rolando Cantu jersey's being sold, a lot of

people buying it. We had some real stars at the time, and they're getting off the bus, walking right through the Mexican press and then all of a sudden, Rolando Canto and they just swarm on him. They didn't know who some of these other guys were that were just walking past him. I'm surprised they didn't have him like on a throne carrying him around. I mean, he was like a legend, and for good reason for making the Arizona

Cardinals team. But I just remember everybody talked about Rolando, like, oh, do you know Rolando. You know Rolando Cantu. Yes, I know, I know Rolando Cantu. They weren't concerned with a young Larry Fitzgerald or you know, they just wanted to know if we knew Rolando. For those of us who are on that trip, there was Rolando Canto and everyone else

was a sidekick, even fits. But that goes back to nineteen ninety six, when as a kid, Rolando attended the American bull a series of preseason NFL games helped outside the US, including when the Chiefs and Cowboys met in his native Monterey Mexico. But this wasn't any preseason game, and the fans, they knew it. That day. The fans were different. They were hungry to be a part of something unique. And the unique part about it was this was a regular season game. This game was going to count.

It wasn't an American Bowl, it wasn't an exhibition game. This game was going to be remembered in the history books. And if you got to take it to go to a Styosteca, you're a part of history. Speaking of the previous NFL record for attendance for a regular season game was when the Rams played the Niners at the La Coliseum in nineteen fifty seven in front of one hundred two thousand, three hundred and sixty eight fans. But again, this was a Stadio Asteca, an eighth wonder of the World,

A Stadio Azteca. Just mammoth. I mean, that's the first thing that I think when you walk in here, you know, you just cannot believe the rows go on and on. So come out of the locker room for the first time and I look up and my jaw hits the ground. I could not believe how big this building was. Basically, picture the biggest stadium you've ever been in, and then add an upper deck to it. When I looked up,

I got dizzy it was so high. That's Jim omohundred, longtime producer of the Arizona Cardinals radio network, and true that personally. I've been in ann Arbor. I've been on the field for Michigan Notre Dame hundred thousand fans. But a stadio as Teca, it's bigger. Its capacity is one hundred twenty thousand plus, and as owner Michael Bidwill notes, that might be the more accurate attendance figure. They're suites.

They didn't count the number of people that were up there, so when you buy a suite, they didn't sell tickets. It was just you can invite forty people up there if you want it. So they had no idea how many people were in those suites and the number. They believe that's a low estimate of who is actually in the stadium that day because they think there might have been another fifteen or twenty thousand people in the suite,

so we're just not counting. What was interesting is that reports had tickets sold going into the weekend at around sixty five thousand, but there was a huge late surgeon interest and a massive walk up. So by the time we had game time, attendance was officially listed as a new NFL record. We have one hundred three thousand, four hundred and sixty seven on hand, an NFL regular season record. Wow,

how about that for a number. I wish everybody can feel what one hundred thousand people feel like on the field. Like you're on the field in one hundred thousand people are watching you. It's just different. Man. That's former Cardinals safety Robert Griffith. All the players knew the fans we're going to be a factor. El Grande, former Pro Bowl

pass rusher bertran Berry. It really was a different energy where the fans were going nuts the entire time, whether something good happened for us or something bad happened for us. I just remember the crowd yelling no matter what, they just wanted to see us go out there and play. I just remember being allowed the entire game in a good way, that people were so excited that there was an NFL game going on. In a general sense, they were just rooting for something big to happen. Every play.

It felt like a big party. It felt like a big party, the people that were just hungry to be a part of that first regular season game outside of the US, and that's where the game planning went beyond the field and into the stands. Who could capture the fans and that became a game of who could capture the flag? Going through my mind, I was just more

who are the Mexican people going to cheer for? And the Cardinals needed that twelve man because remember they got down two touchdowns a two niner fumble returns early before

they would stormed back and scored thirty one unanswered. But this was a win for the Cardinals that went way beyond the scoreboard or the standings, and we'll explain how and the why next as we roll on with our special Cardinals folk Tales edition of The Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert and welcome back everyone into this very special edition of The Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford and Gilbert. We are santan Ford on Paul CALVC as we revisit our Cardinals Folktale series.

We're talking all time anecdotes in Cardinals history and this was unlike any road trip in NFL history. First off, it was the first regular season game NFL game outside the United States ever, and second it was in front of an NFL record crowd of more than one hundred three thousand fans. We're talking about the Cardinals and Niners in Mexico City two thousand and five, and to hear the players tell it, that crowd factor was a deciding factor.

And that's where we picked things up here with former Cardinals safety Robert Griffith on Cardinals folk Tales one time in Mexico again. Who would turn over one hundred thousand fans into their twelfth man? That was the question, and the Cardinals had an answer. Start the game by playing flag football, if you will. I had a dream that I had a flag and there was a flag. Then

I kept seeing this Mexican flag in my dream. I just spoke to me, you know, I just felt like it was just something that just felt real to do, just felt appropriate. That's Robert's idea and it was brought to me and I searched out my contact at the stadiums to see if we can even get a flag. That's Anthony Edwards, former director of Player Programs, to do everything man for the Cardinals and a former Cardinals receiver. At this point, the teams were already into their pregame

war months. The game hadn't started, but the clock was ticking. Robert's like, hey, we need to get a flag. We need a flag. I need to get the Mexico flag because I thought he when he first a flag, I'm like, U say no, no, no, no, Mexican flag, you know, And I said, hold on, let me see what I could do. So here I am russling to try to get my contact, say we can locate a flag somewhere close for him to run out with. So and it just happened we'd be able to get the flag. It

was there. Yeah, let's just say the Cardinals clock management traveled that day internationally. Don't you love it when a plan comes together. When we were in that tunnel right before we went out to the game, and he unrolls this flag and it was on like a broomstick handle and literally gave it to me maybe ten seconds before I ran out. Once I knew Robert was going to grab that flag, we just kind of nodded heads, shook hands and said go go Bro, because there's gonna be big.

What a great scene. Robert Griffith with the Mexican national flag waving it and racing out of the field. That was awesome. Robert bursting out of that tunnel with that flag. I think it just ignited the whole place up. It was a brandan move. To be honest with you, I think the fans saw this as the first impression of the Arizona Cardinals. All of a sudden, Robert Griffin, it comes right out of that hat waiving the Mexican flag. That really was a great torture of the crowd. Was crazy.

It was loud. It was so loud at place was unbelievably loud. I go out with the flag and I just felt ten feet tall, man, Like, I felt like every step I was taking was just magnetized. Once he ran out, that was kind of like, you know what, Mexico, the Cardinals are here, and for me, it was like, Okay, this is gonna work out tremendously because of the pride the fans in Mexico take once they see their their

countries colors, right, and especially the flag. Quite honestly, after the flag, you know, I can honestly say they wanted us to win, maybe, but that's not the way The game started with the Niners defense scoring two quick touchdowns at turning too hands for ship running right baba the ball. So there's in the twenty and it's picked up by the forty nine ers Derrek Johnson running near sideboarding fifty bik taste by mccount Josh won't get him thirty twenty

ten five touchdown San Francisco. If you do recall they jumped out on US fourteen to nothing before we ever took the field. It was they had two turnovers and scored. We were what's going on here? I mean, how did we get the fourteen to nothing? And that's where the Cards started their comeback, led by second year receiver Larry Fitzgerald doing signature Larry things. Right before the half third and one of the seventeen the count back to throw

Agin a lot into the end zone far side. Fitzgerald goes up to do for Larry Fitzgerald for the second of the year day fashion, injecting a little local flavor into the call. Fourteen twelve nineers of the half, but second half toto rojo all read as the tide turned on the scoreboard and in the stands, I felt like as we started to take control of the game. We won the crowd over eventually, and eventually the Cardinals won

the game. In fact, it wasn't that close, as the Niners never scored again, the Cardinals defense pitching a shutout, feeding off one hundred thousand plus fans. As we reported from the sideline, you know a lot of people in a lot of talk that the Cardinals gave up home field advantage to come down here to Mexico City. But the fans on this end of the stadium as loud as we have heard them. The fans also love cardskicker Neil Rackers first, because Mexico is a soccer crazy nation

and they love anyone. It puts the foot into football Americano. Forty three yard attempt for Neil Rackers, who's four for four tonight. The snap the spot, Rackers kick is up. It's got the leg and it is good. Neil's all fired up right now. The camera went down onto him and it looked like you said, oh yeah, I'm the game. Rackers had a career high six field goals. Now that's the season where remember Rackers hit forty two fuel goals

in an All Pro campaign. The is Rackers might have traded all that brish shot at a seventy yard fuel goal, which he wanted and definitely thought was doable in Mexico City, where the ball flies, because remember it's two thousand feet higher than Denver, over seventy seven hundred feet in elevation. These guys are gassed on the Cardinal sideline. It's so bad that the mascot Big Red, who by the way, is going with the nickname on his back tonight Rojo. Okay, he came up to me at halftime and said he

was wiped out physically from the elevation. Okay, it's hitting everybody out here. Final score thirty one fourteen as the Cardinals savored the win and soaked in the scene. The Cardinals win in the first ever NFL regular season game in Mexico City, beating with San Francisco forty nine ers. But before the Cardinals would leave the field, the players would wave goodbye some by waving the flag, this time

in the hands of Bertrand Berry and Rolando Canto. Somebody on a sideline had it and being one in the captain at the time, in knowing that we were going to win the game, you get afforded some liberties, and so they gave me the freedom to go and take the flag. And I know a Griff at the beginning of the game had ran out with it, and so I kind of wanted to have my crack at it. I would have loved to run out, but Griff beat

me to it. B Train gives me the flag and I take it over and then I have to do a bunch of media interviews right after the game on the sideline, which was very really cool, and so I have the flag on my shoulder right and obviously, you know, in between interviews, I would waive the flag like Robert, like B Train, and they got the same reaction, right, So it was it was a special moment. I think

I will always remember that. On the far side, Bertrand Berry has handed off the Mexican flag and Robando Kent too, a native of Monterey, Mexico. I think that day everybody felt a part of the Ariazon, the Cardinals because of the flag. By the way, to this day, no one knows where the flag went. It was in the Cardinals locker room and vanished, never seen again. So although the Cardinals didn't bring back the flag, they definitely brought back a buzz. It was palpable around town and in the

locker room. What were your thoughts on playing in Mexico? It was great. It's the greatest parents to get outside the world and this world. You know how we do this? Dude said, he played outside the world. Outside of the world is big. D See, it was a big buzz, right, But that was then an quon Bolden with Robert Tad and his weekly TV segment coming off Mexico City. This is now Robert Griffin to this day on how he brought home much more than just a victory. This has

nothing to do with football. This is the way the Mexican fans made me feel. And I never had an experience like that in my life. And I like when I say they were screaming at me and I felt like I can levitate off the ground. I'm telling the truth. And it wasn't just Cardinals players who had their passport stamp. You could say that for the entire NFL to know that the sport took a big step forward outside of the US and we were part of that. I take great pride in that I love this game. I love

what the game did for me. I love the competition aspect of it. I love the brutality of it. I love everything about football. And to be able to grow the sport in that way, to take it somewhere, even though they had had preseason games there before, but to have one that actually counted and got the attention that it got, I was very proud of it. And Josh mccount takes the football and runs off with it and he gives it to Michael Fidwell over on the far side,

and that's a very classy move by Josh McCown. We try to be trailblazers and we want to be at the front of you know, what can we be doing that will not only set us apart, but we think is really good for the game and good for fans, and fans would be interested in And sure enough, the first NFL regular season game played outside the United Stage, which set a record for the largest crowd ever to attend an NFL regular season game, was an international venture

that has now turned into an annual affair. Were cemented in history an American football history in Mexico because of that game, and that's one time in Mexico for producer Jim Almahndro I'm Paul CALVC. We hope you enjoyed this edition of Cardinals Folk Tales presented by seventy two Soul. And I'll tell you what, I cannot wait for the

encore this year. It's gonna be Week eleven. That's right in your Cardinal schedule November twenty first card and Niners in Mexico City in prime time and Estadio as Tacca and it will be a key NFC West game as well. Special thanks to producer Jim Almhandro Lauren Coble. I'm Paul KELBC. This has been the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert. Number one kil You've been listening to the Big Red Rage presented by Santanford in Gilbert? Are you?

Santanford State Farm talked to an agent today at eight hundred State Farm and by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts. Visit acy Cardinals dot com Slash Podcasts. This has been an exclusive presentation of the Arizona Cardinals Football Club.