Cardinals host Mikey’s League event
TEMPE — Haggai Chisom Ndubuisi made a new friend on Saturday, 23-yearold Jake Capstick.
Not long after Ndubuisi, a Cardinals rookie offensive lineman from Nigeria, met Capstick at a football skills camp for 40 kids and young adults from Mikey’s League, he was pushing Capstick up and down the field inside the Cardinals’ practice bubble. Even in one-on-one drills, when Ndubuisi helped Capstick run with the ball or defend another player, the two of them joyously smiling and laughing as onlookers cheered.
And when there was a break in the nearly two hours of football and fun, Ndubuisi was right by Capstick’s side, chatting with him and inviting teammates to show off their dance moves to the music of a live deejay.
“I have a younger brother who is sick, too,” Ndubuisi said. Capstick reminded Ndubuisi of his brother in Africa, and instantly a bond was built.
Capstick deals with cerebral palsy. But he loves football and plays the flag version of it, and is often one of the first players picked for teams because he can use a pool noodle on his lap to make tackles.
If the pool noodle touches the ball carrier, he or she is ruled down.
The skills camp, in which players and participants interacted with drills such as throwing and catching passes, pass coverage and route running and an agility relay, was planned by Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck and Karl Bender, co-founder of locally-based Mikey’s League. The organization helps people with disabilities play sports in an inclusive environment, and what would normally have been a practice was moved inside the Cardinals’ bubble with more of an atmosphere.
There was almost as much dancing as football being played. Luketa and a youngster did the Griddy, the dance routine popular among young people after being made famous by NFL players to celebrate touchdowns starting in 2020.
Bender’s younger brother Mikey dealt with cerebral palsy his whole life, but did so with courage and never let it stop him from playing sports.
While Bender was deployed to Iraq, Mikey passed away at age 21. Bender was sent home to be with his family, and just after he’d left an explosive device decimated his military unit.
“He saved my life,” Bender said. “If I was there, I wouldn’t be here. My mom would have been burying two kids. And so I always felt very passionate about doing something in his memory.”
Bender said playing sports changed the way his brother viewed life. “It wasn’t ‘He couldn’t,’ it was ‘How can he,’” Bender said.
Mikey graduated from high school and went on to study web design at Mesa Community College, not being held back by his disability.
Mikey’s League was founded to, according to its website, use sports as a vehicle to “challenge the limits placed on children with disabilities and allow them to inspire and teach us.”
Gardeck said he’s made community engagement a part of his life since high school, and his attitude clearly had an effect on teammates. Veteran linebacker Devon Kennard took part, as did a long list of rookies including draft picks Keaontay Ingram, Christian Matthew, Cameron Thomas, Myjai Sanders, Lecitus Smith and Jesse Luketa.
One reason for Kennard’s presence was his friendship with Gardeck. He worked up a sweat trying to cover pass receivers in that drill.
“Once I found out about Mikey’s League and what was going on, it was a no-brainer for me. And you know, this is a special group and to show them you know their value and really compete
with them, have fun with them. I think it’s important ... for me to be out here and give these kids that experience and opportunity,” Kennard said.
“You’re kind of caught in a routine, especially at the professional level (where) football kind of loses that enthusiasm and everything, and being able to do events like this, it kind of re-attaches you to the essence of the sport,” Gardeck said. “And I think it’s great for all the young guys to come out and experience it and kind of get that itch to give back.”
Invited to see Mikey’s League in action last year, Gardeck came out to an event not intending to stay long, Bender said. Gardeck stayed an hour and was enthusiastic about partnering with the organization.
Getting the participants to the Cardinals facility prior to Saturday was delayed by COVID, but for Bender, the experience was bigger than any amount of money Mikey’s League could receive.
“This is what we shoot for. We want to bring it back. I feel the Cardinals want to bring it back,” he said.