It’s been a busy month for much-memed Cardinals S Budda Baker
Nov 7, 2020, 6:55 AM
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 25: Strong safety Budda Baker #32 of the Arizona Cardinals is tackled by wide receiver DK Metcalf #14 of the Seattle Seahawks after an interception during the NFL game at State Farm Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Seahawks 37-34 in overtime. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Good news continues to roll in for Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker.
He said Friday that he’s out of a hard cast and wearing just a splint on his surgically-repaired thumb. He’d been in a cast for four games and missed a fifth since suffering an injury.
Now it’s to see if his two-game interception streak will stay alive as Arizona hosts the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
“When it comes to gripping and stuff … I can grip now, which is definitely something that a DB would like to have,” Baker said.
RELATED STORIES
Baker has 59 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions through Week 8, but it’s been an especially busy past month for Baker. Since mid-October, he has:
— Been named captain by his teammates before a Monday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys.
— Won NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in that game in which he recorded his first career interception.
— Then against the Seattle Seahawks two weeks ago, Baker recorded another interception that nearly became a pick-six. Seattle receiver D.K. Metcalf’s chasedown of Baker to save a touchdown became stuff of legend, but the Cardinals went on to win that game to move to 5-2.
Because that play by Metcalf became a meme, Baker has been living in the spotlight during the bye week for maybe the wrong reasons.
— Sal the Agorist (@SallyMayweather) October 29, 2020
Baker, however, can get it over because Arizona won that game against the Seahawks in overtime. He is still getting sent versions of the meme two weeks later.
“On the weekends, after a football game, after a W, I might sip on a glass of tequila,” Baker said Friday. “There was one that said ‘I’m not going to get drunk tonight,’ which was me. And then tequila was D.K. Metcalf. That was pretty funny, made me laugh.”
And hey, any attention shined onto Baker, whose quiet personality didn’t make him a nationally recognized NFL player, probably is deserving.
Some national pundits recoiled a few months back when the Cardinals signed Baker to a contract extension, making him the highest-paid safety by annual average value.
Baker is putting that money to good use. He is owner of a new house near Camelback Mountain, making him neighbors of head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who already had a well-chronicled estate.
“I didn’t even know that,” Kingsbury said Friday. “It’s good to know. Property value just went up.”
