The Dave Pasch Podcast - Christian Kirk

playoff team in six years. The aura of when an Arizona sports team is making it to that game and they're able to bring the valley together, it just really means a lot. And as a kid, it really hit home for me. So I always knew, you know, once I got drafted here, that that's what I wanted to do for this team. Christian will discuss what he expects Monday night in Los Angeles. It's so far when the playoffs get underway. He'll also address the good and the

bad from this regular season. Christian will talk about what it means to be a part of a playoff team being that he's from Phoenix, and I'll also talk about the clothing line that he started in the offseason. We are presented by betmgm, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Hilo River Hotels and Casinos. You can sign up for BETMGM today using code cards one thousand and get your first bet risk free up to one thousand dollars. New customer offer paid in free bets.

Visit betmgm dot comfer terms and conditions twenty one and over. Arizona only. Please gamble responsible gambling problem called one eight hundred. Next step. Time now for our conversation with Cardinals wide receiver Christian Kirk. So, Christian, let's first of all address the game on Sunday, because it's easy for us to say, okay, you reset, you move on. It's a new season, a

fresh start for the Cardinals. But the way things ended on Sunday, coupled with what happened in Los Angeles, is that a little hard for you guys just to flush it and say, okay, reset, new season. Yeah, you know, I think it's going to take a couple of days for us to um really flush it, you know, especially coming into the locker room after a disappointing loss, and you know, hearing that La lost and all we had to do is win to win the division, and you

know that was one of our goals. And you know it hurts, especially with after we how we played on Sunday. A lot of it is just you know, things on our side that we can fix. Granted, you know, Seattle came out and played a great game. We knew that's a great team. You know, that's that's a rivalry game, and we knew that that was going to be their

super Bowl, and we didn't match their intensity. We didn't match um, you know, everything that they were doing and so um, you know it ended up us losing, and um, you know, those are key contributors to you know, how games like that turn out. So for us, it's it's I think it's going to be important to look at the film, Um, keep correcting, keep looking at you know, where we went wrong, and use that going into you know,

the playoffs. So I'm calling the game, yeah, today, the Cardinals game, but I'm also calling the Rams game like off the television too, because you're trying to update everybody and what's going on so that they're you know, kept abreast of what's happening in both games and how that impacts the Cardinals. So I'm scoreboard watching all of us are Yeah, were you guys? Are you guys paying attention to what's going on in the other game in your

game on Sunday? You know, it's funny. I'm probably one of the few that even noticed this, But we have the scoreboard, clickers and stadium where usually you can look and see what teams around the league are doing in the scores, and I noticed they took the rams and forty nine ers one off. There's a missing a little box where it would go. So I noticed that pretty early into the game. So there was no scoreboard watching for me. I knew I wasn't going to be able

to find out until laughter. I think that that's a good thing, you know, for us to not I'll be running back to the sideline and looking up to see, you know, what's going on. You know, we had a focus on what we were doing. Look, you guys are in the playoffs. That's a big deal, right if you take it out of context with what happened against Seattle and the last ten games after the seven h start

going four and six, it's a big deal. First times, there's twenty fifteen first time for you, first time for a lot of guys that you've been in the playoffs. Oh, it's it's a tremendous opportunity for us. And like you mentioned, I mean I was here in two thousand and eighteen when we only won three games five games the following year, and then you know, last year we won eight games battle to get into the playoffs and didn't make it, came up one game short, and to have the season

that we've had. At times, you almost, you know, when you're on an eight game winning street, you forget how hard it is to win games in this league, and you almost take it for granted, and then you get humbled by going you know, it was a four and six and in the last stretch and you start to remember, you know this, this is the NFL. If you don't show up to play your best every Sunday, you will lose and you will continue to lose until you fix that.

And you know, for me, I don't the you know, memory of you know, only winning three games and not even you know, being competitive to now making it to the playoffs and being able to be on that play in that stage and you know, have the opportunity to you know, if we continue winning, um, making it to the place where you know, we all dream of as

as as young kids. So I think it's you know, important for everybody to you know, really hone in on you know what this means to them and um, you know, really trying to be the best that they can be. You played in big games in the SEC. You've played in big regular season games, and you said, look, we're this is I remember losing thirteen games in twenty eighteen. What do you think it'll be like Monday when you walk out there? What do you think the game will

be like? Everybody says it's faster, it's a little bit more physical. Maybe it's called differently by the officials, Like what are your expectations for what it will be like on Monday in Los Angeles? You know, I'm honestly curious, you know, I was. I was thinking about that. You know, we we've played in some big time games, you know, I I think you know, when we play the Packers, you know, a bunch of guys who said, hey, I've

been to the playoffs. This will be similar. Feel you know, when you have two you know, top teams in the NFL playing on primetime, you know, especially we're playing on Monday night. You know, I can imagine I'll have somewhat of a similar feel. But yes, you know, I feel like the sense of urgency and the heightened you know, intensity of the game. You'll be able to feel that, and you know every single play that nobody will be taking a playoff just because you know you're playing for

it to not be your last play. Being a hometown guy, does it mean more to you that you're part of an Arizona Cardinals team that has made the playoffs one thousand percent. It's been my only goal since I've been here, is you know, to make it the playoffs and bring a super Bowl, you know, to Arizona, just because I remember, you know, the last time Cardinals played, you know, in the Super Bowl, just the buzz and the energy. And you saw it similarly with the Suns this past year,

just how they talk about rally the valley. You know, it really was, you know, the valley came together and you know, we were having neighborhood watch parties and just the aura of when an Arizona sports team is making it to that that game and they're able to bring the valley together it just really means a lot, and as a kid, it really hit home for me. So I always knew, you know, once I got drafted here, that that's what I wanted to do for this team.

You had a pretty good memory. You were twelve years old and you remember what it was like. Yeah, Cardinals made the run. Yeah, I mean I specifically remember, you know, the whole entire playoff run in to the Super Bowl. You know, we were having neighborhood watch parties, you know, all our neighbors. You know, we'd getting into one of our neighbors garages, we'd watch the games and you know, going crazy cooking food and like I said, just just the aura and the buzz you know, around the valley

was just unreal. What do you remember? And maybe you don't because you're off at am, you're in college. Do you remember twenty fifteen? Do you remember that postseason for the Cardinals coming within one game of the Super Bowl? I do, And you know I remember, you know, when they traveled down to Carolina and you know that one hurt and obviously I wasn't here, so watching it from home,

watching it back in Texas. Uh, you know, I was the loan proud Cardinal, you know, in that locker room and where I was watching it, but still the same thing, you know, you know how excited everybody was to see the team have the success that they were having, and you know, they ultimately did have a great season, and you know there's still you know, one of the historically best teams you know that has ever come through you know,

this organization. You talked about one of your goals being to get the Cardinals to the playoffs and bring a championship to the valley. Being from here Swaro High School in Scottsdale, how important was that experience for you playing high school football here locally in terms of getting you to where you are today. You know, it was very important.

And I was blessed to play under the best staff and you know, Arizona High School football led by you know, coach Jason Mons, who had been my coach since I was in the fourth grade, and you know, he impacted my life and you know so many different ways and it's still so important in my life and just helping me get to where I wanted to be and uh, you know never lost out and always you know, gave me the ability to go out there and show what I can do and help, you know, lead the team

along the way. And you know, the main thing for me especially that was one of the big things that were going to Texas A and M is. I wanted to put Arizona on the map. That's that was my

biggest thing. I got a tattoo of the Grand Canyon with the Arizona state flag on my shoulder before I went to Texas A and M and everybody could see it, you know, when I was out there playing, you know, people slowly but surely started seeing the Arizona the Grand Canyon and the flag, and I just wanted to show all the kids that were up and coming, you know here locally in the valley, like you can do it too. You know. For a while, the narrative was, oh, they

play in Arizona. There's not that great a football out there that talents and you know, they have one player here and there that that that goes in a successful in college football. But I knew we have talent everywhere and we have great players, and I think, you know, we are seeing it now. You know how many top five star kids and four star kids are coming out of the valley that are going to the next level

and being very successful. I wanted to just be almost like a light, to light on that path for those kids, like, hey, you can do it too. Have you had any experiences where you've had somebody come up to you that, you know, either a parent or a kid that's in high school that said, hey, I want to be like Christian Kirk. I want I want to be a guy that you know plays for the Cardinals that grew up here. Definitely, you know, not as specific as you know playing for

the Cardinals. I mean, I'm sure that's every you know,

local kids dream is to play for the Cardinals. Um. But I've definitely had parents and you know kids, you know, especially from Sawaro that obviously one say that you know, they appreciate, you know, all that I've done for the community, and you know, kind of being a septing zone for you know, their kids or their journey to you know, get to where they are and just be an inspiration and that, you know, that's what keeps him be going because I was that kid, you know too, looking up

to Larry Fitzgerald and an kum Bowden and everybody coming you know through here and trying to be in their position. One day. All right, let's talk a little bit more about this team and what's ahead here against the Rams. Let's start with talking about the potential return of JJ Watt.

When the Cardinals announced last week that he was being taken off injured reserve and over the next twenty one days would be eligible to be activated, there was a big national buzz jj Watt, you know, with what he's done over the course of his career, as as big of a name as there is, certainly on the defensive side in the NFL. If JJ's back, what does that

do for your locker room first of all? And then what do you think that could mean on the field for you guys to have him in the game Monday night? It means a lot on and off the field, you know, having a in the locker room and you know, being i' gonna see ninety nine run out there on the field,

I think it does a lot. You know, Like you mentioned, he's done so much in this league, and he's so established and no matter what you feel, his presence out there and the fact that he's even in the position to get back out there and play on Sunday is unreal. And I was giving him credit last week. This whole time, you know, he's been rehabbing. I didn't see his schedule or his regime change one day. You know, he was consistent doing the same thing every single day. And you

know that's the reason why he's JJ Watt. You know, he's been doing that his whole entire career, and so I just, you know, tip my hat to him. And you know the fact that he works so hard to get back and come back and lead us and still has been leading us, you know, even you know, throughout his injury. I think it'll be big for us to

get him back. You know, one of the things that fans are talking about this week, and it's something they've been talking about all season, is the inconsistency of the team, inconsistency of the offense, inconsistency of Kyler. But clearly Kyler has grown from year one to year two, year two to year three, and he's accomplished a lot. He's been he's going to a second probo all, he's been Rookie of the Year and now he's led a team to

the playoffs. How have you seen him bro any personal stories you can share or just watching him work behind the scenes. What have you noticed about him and his maturation. Well, I think he's more defined on portraying to you know, us as skill players in the offense of you know, what he's looking for and what he wants and what he's comfortable with from a vocal part aspect. You know, at first when he first came in, and that's all

of us as rookies, you don't really say much. You know, you kind of just go with the play call, go with the scheme. If you don't like it, you know, you know, you run it anyways. For him, now, you know, he's really taking control of the offense. You know, we're getting looks that you know, he doesn't like co check

out of it. He did a great job. You know, we saw it last week against Dallas, you know in that four minute where he was checking out of some plays and getting his end too, you know, some some run options where you know, we made some big plays at the end to seal it. And he's done the same in the passing game. And I just think he's slowly but surely, you know, really growing into that vocal leader that we need to really you know, command the offense.

And you know, one thing I always commend about him is I never questioned his you know, will to go out there and win. You know, I know that's the most important thing to him, and you know I see it from him every single Sunday, no matter what win or lost. That you know, he's putting it all on the line out there most of the time. To win a Super Bowl, you have to have a great quarterback. There have been teams that have won Super Bowls without

a great quarterback. But man, I've seen a lot of guys come through this league doing this for twenty years and doing college football for ESPN for almost twenty years and seeing great players come through there. And Kyler can do some things I've never seen before. Patrick Mahomes was that guy where like, okay, I've never seen a guy play the position like Patrick Mahomes. But there are things

that Kyler Murray can do that Mahomes can't. The quickness that he has, the burst in the run game, because Kyler has a skill set that is unique. It is elite. And for you, as a receiver and guys in that room, do you think coming into the playoffs, there's something to that like, hey, we can follow this guy. This is a guy that can take us there. I know it's a team game. This is a guy that can get

us to a different level one percent. You know, I think his dynamic ability and his ability to extend plays with his legs and you know, be able to be a part of the run game, and with what he can do in the past game, you know, those are plays that need to be made in the playoffs. You know, there are going to be times where the protection is going to break down and we're gonna need him to scramble and you know, make one of those crazy plays

that you know he makes every single game. And we're fortunate to have that, you know, because if you have an immobile quarterback, it's harder to do some things that we do schematically, and you know how we install some of our plays and you know, just for us in our receiver room, any to play that is called or put in that week, you know, it's not hey, you know, HEYJ, we need you to go here so you can get Christian open, or Christian we need you to go here

to get AJ open. Everybody's open on any single play. I mean there's been multiple times, you know, this season where we've practiced a player where it's gone to that guy four times that week, and then we get into the game and Kyler throws the backside, and you know, that's just how his brain operates, because one thing he does really well is adjust with how the game is going and just with what the defense is giving him, and if he sees it, you know he's going to

take it. And so in our room, you know that'll be a big thing for us, especially going to the playoffs. Is still continuing that. It is just making sure we're adjusting with him and you know, making those plays when they come to us. You had a career, Christian, you had almost eighty catches, almost a thousand yards. I know you were short of that mark eighteen yards short of a thousand yards. Was that a personal goal for you? Do you set personal goals coming into and I know

it's contract year, so it's an important year. How much did you think about that in the offseason coming into twenty twenty one? You know, I was thinking about it last night because disappointed about the loss, definitely wanted to get to a thousand yards just kind of a lot of my mind. But when I really sat down and looked at it coming into this year, personally, my one soul goal was to stay healthy all season, and that was the one goal that I hit and I'm okay

with that. That's what helped me go to sleep at night. It was, you know what, the one goal, and I said it from day one, is I just want to be healthy for all seventeen games and make sure I'm available for my team to be the best player that I can be for all seventeen games. That's my one goal. And I accomplished that. So I can't be mad at that. Whatever yards, whatever catches, whatever touchdowns, whatever I ended up with,

that was good enough. But as long as I was on the field to be available, I was okay with that, and so I think that's what contributed to me, you know, having a career years I was available, and you know, I really took that stuff to heart because I'd never been hurt my whole entire career until I got here. You Know, I had an unfortunate broken foot my rookie year, unfortunate you know, high ankle spraining, which are terrible injuries in my second year and kind of nagged and bogged

me down through the end of that year. And then you know, last year, I missed the game with a groin and missed the game with COVID and it's almost like I can't catch a break. And I've never experienced this, and so I knew if I could just be healthy and be strong and be out there and confident that hey, you know, on myself, I can be available, just go out there and play. Everything else would take you know,

advantage of you know, of itself. Did you do anything differently in the off seas to prepare it for this year or was it just simply you got lucky? Because I hate when you know, unfortunately a lot of people in our business, hey, well he's injury prone. And yeah, there are some guys that you know are always injured and it is because you know, they had an ankle and that ankle leads to an achilles or whatever. But I mean, you, like you said, you had so many

different things. So was it just good luck this year or was there something different you did from a conditioning standpoint, strength training or whatever in the off season to get ready. Yeah, I mean I think it's a little bit of both. I agree with you. I mean, some guy go with their whole career without getting hurt, and it's like that's just lucky, you know, because some of us go out there and we get in injuries that are so unlucky on plays that you know, you would never even guess

the guy got injured on, you know. But for me, yes, the offseason played a big part in it, and I feel like I'm pretty regimented and you know, have a

pretty good offseason program. I think the key for me was the consistency throughout the season, really finding a routine for myself, a warm up, a recovery every single day that I can do that I know works for my body, and it's easy to do it weeks one through eight, but it's week fourteen, fifteen, sixteen seventeen when I'm tired and I really don't want to do the warm up and it's cold outside and I don't want to go

out thirty minutes before practice. Those are the days where it's that starts to add up, and then that's what helps you kind of boost you into the end of that season, because you know, especially towards the end, you know that's when guy's body start breaking down and you really see some of the injuries. So I think that was the key for me. A couple more we'll get you out here. Tell me about the clothing line you started, the name of it, why you named it, what you did,

and what type of clothes you're offering. Yeah, this Air liber Avenue, it was a little offseason venture that I did this past year and just had the opportunity brought to me to collaborate with some people out in Los Angeles, A great team around me, and so I think all good clothing lines have a story, and you know, me being Arizona loud and proud, I wanted to name it after the street that I grew up on, Air Libra Avenue and just kind of tell the story of you know,

my vision and you know, my kind of seeing Arizona through my lens. And it's just you know, streetwear, clothing and stuff that everybody can wear. And you know, I thought it came out great and it's just been fun to see everybody's response. Fans, friends, family, everybody supporting it. And it's been fun and you know, really looking forward to continuing it. Can we hook Ron Wolfley up with some of your clothing. I don't know if you've seen

wolf dress, but he definitely needs a new wardrobe. Yeah, we can definitely get get Wolflee. All right, that's fair, all right, last one home road? What happened? I don't know, I was asking us earlier. I don't know that the team's ever lost five in a row at home and won a Super Bowl. I don't know that the team ever lost five in a row and made the playoffs five row at home. But you guys are eating one on the road, and you're playing in the road now

in the playoffs. And I've been asked one hundred times, probably more than a hundred why, and I can't come up with an answer. Do you guys have an answer? I don't think I have an answer for you either. It's it is. It's it's really unreal, you know, just the ratio, and and you know how we've performed because it it is. You know, it's it's out there in broad daylight. Of how we look on the road. It's

totally different to how we look at home. And I think that'll be the number one question, you know, when this is all said and done, when we go back and look at it is, you know what happened and why? But I know for the future that's got to change,

because you know, our fans deserve better. There's no reason why they should be looking forward to come and do a home game, you know, and we lose every game, you know, while we're here at home, and that's just on our end, that's unacceptable and we got to be better. And so that'll definitely be an area for the future that you know, we got to look at, you know, being better. Well, listen, man, I appreciate you coming in.

You had a great season. Thank you playing all games, as you said, especially in the first year of a seventeen game season, when guys are dropping like flies around the league, that is an accomplishment to lead the team in receiving a big accomplishment, and you made the playoffs. Good luck on Monday in La. Thanks. I appreciate you

having me all right, man. Great stuff from Christian Kirk, very open and honest about the good from this season, the bad, and also what to expect on Monday Night football in the postseason as the Cardinals face the Rams. I love his memory of being a twelve year old and celebrating the Cardinals run to the Super Bowl in two thousand and eight. I remember just about everything about that postseason run. And I just finished my twentieth year

calling Arizona Cardinals games. Don't take for granted at all the opportunity to call these playoff games, and that two thousand and eight run to a Super Bowl where the Cardinals limped into the postseason. It reminds me of what we just witnessed, the Cardinals starting seven or no and then finishing poorly, losing four or five. But like that two eighteen, the Cardinals certainly are capable of getting on a run and we'll see if it happens Monday night

in Los Angeles at SOFI Stadium. We are presented by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Hila River Hotels and Casinos. You can follow us on Twitter at pashpod. Thanks to Christian Kirk for being our first postseason guest on the Dave Pash Podcast, and we will talk to you next Monday, the first Monday Night football playoff game Cardinals and Rams. I'm Dave Pash. Thanks again for listening to the Dave Pash Podcast. M