For Budda Baker and the Arizona Cardinals, it's all about 'the grind' as far as 2023 goes

What the “outside world” thinks about the Arizona Cardinals is irrelevant, according to captain and perennial All-Pro safety Budda Baker. He and his teammates, he said, don’t need to have a prove-it-to-the-world mentality when the season kicks off Sunday at the Washington Commanders.

“Personally, I don’t really go into what the outside world thinks because I know at the end of the day, what only really matters is the guys that are in the building, the guys that are putting the work in each and every day,” Baker said Thursday after the Cardinals wrapped up practice at their Tempe training facility.

“We can tell what can happen because we’re in that group. I know there’s a lot of things out in the media or from different sources, but at the end of the day we don’t pay attention to that because a lot of times it’s just peoples’ opinions. I can go out there and say an opinion and it won’t mean anything. … Ultimately, it’s just about doing what we think we can do and that’s win games.”

Winning has been hard to come by for the Cardinals in recent years. The outside world caught a glance of how that has affected Baker, especially this past season when the crew from NFL Films and HBO’s “Hard Knocks” chronicled the latter portion of Arizona’s 4-13 effort.

In one of the most memorable scenes from all of the episodes, the cameras zoom in on Baker after another loss and catch his heartfelt and angry plea to the entire team when he yells, “I’m tired of losing. It hurts my heart. I’m tired of losing at home. We need to get this s--t together. … C’mon, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of it. I’m f---g tired.”

Losing was a foreign concept to Baker back at Bellevue (Washington) High School, where he won five state championships — three in football and two in track and field. The Wolverines football program won 42 consecutive games and he won eight individual state titles in track.

Winning was all Baker knew, and it’s what shaped his very life. To this day, he still carries the virtues that he learned under his prep football coach, Butch Goncharof, whom he remembers as an intimidating perfectionist who never stepped off the accelerator.

“In high school, we kind of just grinded," Baker said. “It was a huge grind over there at Bellevue High School. We ran the Wing-T, so I played offense and defense and in the Wing-T, there’s a lot of fakes you have to do and in practice. You’d have to fake about 25 yards after even if you didn’t have the ball. So, I would run and act like I had the ball for 25 yards, and this was every single play.

“Even to the huddle, we had to get to the huddle a certain way, break the huddle in a certain way, get to the line in a certain time and nothing was ever right.”

Baker said Bellevue would be stomping a team 60-7 and after watching film with the players afterward, Goncharof would angrily point out that during a certain play in the fourth quarter, his team didn’t get to the line fast enough. “And we’re running gassers for that,” Baker said, shaking his head with a sigh.

But it was those days and that entire experience that molded Baker into the player he has become in the NFL. According to Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon, they don’t get much better than Budda Baker.

“He’s one of the best I’ve been around in a short period of time with what you’re looking for from a player on your team,” Gannon said. “I’ve really been in awe of him — how he goes about his day, his attitude. I talk about ‘sustained, positive enthusiasm,’ he has it.

“Obviously, the production has been there for a long time, and it will continue to be there. I think he’s going to have a fantastic year.”

Over the last five seasons, Baker leads all NFL defensive backs in total tackle (574) and solo tackles (409). His total tackles are nearly 100 more than the next closest DB (Jessie Bates with 477). Since entering the league in 2017 as a second-round pick out of Washington, Baker’s the only defensive back to have at least four seasons of 100 or more tackles.

But those numbers, and that relentless, aggressive style Baker has become known for and celebrated, probably doesn’t happen if it weren’t for his formulative years at Bellevue High.

“It was something that kind of taught me the way to work, whether it’s ups, whether it’s downs,” he said. “Of course, there was a lot of ups because we never lost a high school game. But whether it’s up, whether it’s down, you put the work in, you grind it.”

The real epiphany came two days after the Wolverines won their first of three state championships when every player made it a point to get back in the weight room together — without the direction of any coaches — to start working ahead to the next year.

“That kind of just taught me the grind and just how to work,” Baker said, “and I’ve kind of stayed doing that.”

Do the 2023 Cardinals have grinders? Baker says yes, they definitely do.

“Because JG and the coaching staff, they do a great job of letting us work, whether that’s in practice, whether that’s in walk-through or meetings,” he said. “He does a great job of honing-in on all the little details and just try to do everything the right way.”

That includes, Baker said, not just knowing what to do. But to really “know, know it,” whether it’s on offense, defense, special teams or whatever role you happen to have on the team.

“After you know, know it, it’s a matter of just playing football and taking it one play at a time,” Baker said, adding, “I definitely think that we’re going to do that as a team.”

The outside world and what they think of the Cardinals doesn’t matter.

“My only job is to care what my players think and to try and get those guys better and of course, ultimately to try to be the best person, best player I can be each and every week,” Baker said. “And like I said, to win games. For me, it’s about winning the games, so that’s going to be on my mind for the rest of the season.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals star safety Budda Baker knows the grind