Forty-three years ago, Cyndi Lauper sang about girls just wanna have fun, but it’s clear the Arizona Cardinals players — and coaches — also feel that way. Yes, boys just want to have fun, too.
That became a topic of discussion this week in the aftermath of the season-opening victory over the Los Angeles Chargers when tight end Trey McBride said the word “fun” 19 times during his Wednesday media session.
After first mentioning how the team’s offense is fun, McBride was then asked what makes it fun for him aside from the ball coming his way.
He said, “Honestly, it's just I see my teammates having fun. I see (wide receiver) Kendrick Bourne making plays and dancing and doing all stupid celebrations, and that's fun. Like guys are out there having fun. Guys
are smiling in the huddle. When I make a big play, everyone's excited for me. When Mike (Wilson) makes a big play, Marv (Harrison Jr.) makes a big play, guys are excited for each other, and I think that's what makes it fun is the camaraderie and the team behind what you're doing, and I just feel like everyone's together, everyone's excited for each other and that's what makes the game fun.”
McBride later mentioned offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as a catalyst after being asked if it was a “trickle down” from head coach Mike LaFleur.
“I feel like Mike does a really good job and Hackett especially is like when we do something good, let's celebrate it,” McBride said. “Like if we score a touchdown, let's all get excited for each other. It's hard to score in this league, it's hard to make big plays, and when you do that, let's be excited for each other, and I think Hackett has done a really good job of emphasizing, man, let's go celebrate this.”
McBride noted it begins in practice, saying, “If we don't celebrate, he's calling it out. So, yeah, from the top down, it's been trickled down to us, and guys are excited to play, guys are excited to be out there with each other and it's been a lot of fun.”
At first, McBride said. “It's kind of corny when you catch a five-yard route, but then you do it over and over, you see the effect that it has on a defense when the whole team's celebrating. You see it on film; the guys are walking back, head down, whatever it may be. It does matter, it makes a difference and it's fun to be happy and celebrate and be excited to be out there playing football. No one wants to mope around and be Debbie Downer. Have fun when you're out there and the more fun you have, the better it is.”
Bourne has developed special handshakes for each player and a reporter noted that when the players first got on the grass for Wednesday’s practice, they were practicing Bourne’s first-down celebration.
Said McBride, “Yeah, it's hard to do. He's got all the hand motions. Kendrick's awesome, man. He's got a great vibe in the locker room, in the offense. He brings the energy up. He's a great asset to the team.”
The following day when Hackett had his time with the media, he was asked if he felt it necessary to encourage the players to celebrate because they weren’t doing it enough.
“I don't know if it was necessarily encouraging because they weren't doing it,” Hackett insisted. “I think that regardless of what anybody wants to say, this is not an easy game. We like to say it's not for everyone and to score any points in a football game in the National Football League is an accomplishment. And so I think that you have to celebrate that and you have to be excited not just for you for making that touchdown, whether it's running or catching or throwing, it takes all 11. So to me, if we say it takes all 11, everybody should celebrate together and be together. And that's part of being a team. So I think it's just a kind of philosophy. It's a mindset.”
Hackett then cited the example of the three-yard touchdown pass McBride scored against the Chargers.
He said, “(That) was a fantastic route, but a lot of guys were blocking, and another guy threw it. Another guy was a distraction. I mean, there's a lot of different things that go into it. And I think that's the fun thing about football. I mean, there are so many things that have to go right for a touchdown to work. From every block, the amount of human error that goes into it, the trying from a coaching standpoint to get the defense that you want to see. There's so many different things; that's why I'm celebrating. It's hard to score in this league. So, I think even if you score a lot of points, it's a great thing for everyone.”
When asked how that approach began for him, Hackett said it was when he began wondering, “How do you bring a team together? Well, it's about when you get to that goal that you want. Obviously, the end goal is to win a football game, but it's a long game and so to build that and be a strong team and be together is what you're always trying to do. And it's just something that I truly believe in.”
A reporter noted that Bourne said a lot of players don’t celebrate because it’s on to the next play, so he was asked if the Cardinals bought in right away.
At that point, Hackett laughed and said, “There's a lot about the celebrations right now. I didn't know we were going to talk about this.”
He then said, “It doesn't have to be crazy. The most important part is that they celebrate together and they're all together down there. Sometimes a guy scores and he runs off and does his own thing and you got the team chasing after him; they want to celebrate. I mean, they work, too. So I think that everybody in the end when you show the tape, when you show how the good teams; they usually are celebrating together.
“Because they're a team and they're happy for each other. I think that's it. It's not necessarily that I'm trying to get them to buy in. It's just real, like if they celebrate together, they're a good team and they're happy for each other and they realize the work that they've put in all week. I don't even think there's something to buy into. I think it's just you show them and they started enjoying it.”
Of course, the reality is that there isn’t much fun in losing. We’ll begin finding out soon enough how long the fun will last in the ultimate week-to-week sport there is.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals' victory brings out the fun in everyone
