Is anyone watching? Why is Budda Baker not among the NFL’s best defensive players?

On By Littum

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Do me a favor and show Budda Baker some love.

Buy a shirt. Make a sign. Start a song. Make a tailgate recipe (Budda’s chest)? Say his name on the radio. (First time caller, long time listener.) Do you smoke a budda? (What? It’s legal.) Tackle someone. Get 12 friends and call yourselves “The Baker’s Dozen.” Go to a bakery. Become a school safety. Plan an excursion to Tibet. Get a license plate that says “Bak3rFN.”

Do something! Something! Because the Cardinals’ ball-hawking safety is overlooked by casual fans and Vegas oddsmakers despite being second in the league in official stats like “tackles” and first in unofficial stats like “how the hell did he make THAT play?!” And that’s up to you, Cardinals fans, because Baker won’t do anything to draw attention to himself except make plays.

“For me,” Baker said Thursday at Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training center in Tempe. “I’m not overlooked when I’m on that football field. Guys know who I am. Players know who I am. Coaches come up to me after the game, they know who I am.”

‘I just want to win’

BetMGM has odds for defensive player of the yearand Budda’s winning odds are 0.0. He has some jargon next to his name that doesn’t make sense to people who have any sense: “Off the board.” This despite being the undisputed leader of a surprisingly good defense on a first-place team.

“At the end of the day,” Baker said, “I don’t really care. … When you’re on the field, that’s all that matters. Seeing who makes All-Pro or Pro Bowl, gets I don’t feel any way. I just want to win.

“I want the opportunity for myself, but also the other guys, the younger guys, to win games and hopefully go deep into the playoffs.”

Watching Budda Baker play is like watching a psychic with a pocket full of fireworks. He’s usually there early, just waiting to blow something up.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this guy in the backfield threatening to take the pass or steal a pass. He diagnoses plays like a TV doctor identifying mysterious diseases.

“I’m a movie junkie,” Baker said. “Some might watch Netflix, some might watch TV or other things, I like to watch film. … Seeing what a quarterback looks like, what he likes to throw in his quick game, what’s his stride in the quick game versus mid-range versus deep throws. Just a whole lot of understanding of the game.”

Another thing about Budda is that he always bumps into something.

If this was the 80s, we’d be talking about him like he was Ronnie Lott. If he had hair, we’d be comparing him to Troy Polamalu. If he had a motorcycle, we’d be arguing about who was crazier: Budda Baker or Evel Knievel.

Some of the guys ahead of Baker on the player of the year list are players everyone knows: TJ Watt. Nick Bosa. Myles Garrett. Micah Parsons. Sauce Gardner. Max Crosby.

Some are names football junkies know: Chris Jones. Trey Hendrickson. Will Anderson. Fred Warner. Pat Surtain II. Dexter Lawrence.

Some are players I have never heard of and I watch football for a living.

‘Finding success in myself’

Budda isn’t worried about any of that.

“I don’t find it comforting to get success from other people,” Baker said. “I find it comforting to find success within myself. How can I get better as a person? As a player? … I’m the best version of myself that I can be, that’s all that matters. My family, the people who really know me, they know exactly what it is and that’s all that matters.”

Part of the problem is that Budda Baker is a victim of the franchise he plays for. The Cardinals don’t have the clout of the Cowboys, Raiders or Steelers. It is what it is.

Part of it is that in the modern NFL, safeties are treated a little better than stray dogs and cats. Nine of the past 10 defensive players of the year have been pass rushers.

The last safety to be named the league’s top defensive player was Polamalu in 2010. It was the end of an era. Four defensive backs (Ed Reed, Bob Sanders, Charles Woodson and Polamalu) won the honor between 2004-10.

Since then? Crickets.

But we don’t need to play that into account here. We can show the guy the love that the others don’t, and we can hope that team president Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort do the same. Baker is a free agent at the end of the year, and his market value will certainly be high.

I’m not a guy who spends other people’s money, but Baker seems like the kind of player I’d figure out a way to appreciate.

Well Moore at [email protected] or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.