Arizona Cardinals with roots in other countries show pride with helmet decals

Victor Dimukeje came to the United States as a little kid from Nigeria. He hopes to return one day for a visit since he's never been back to the African nation.

The opportunity to wear the green and white Nigerian flag decal on his helmet over the next two games is meaningful to the Arizona Cardinals' second-year linebacker. It's the same for the handful of other Cardinals with close ties to other countries that have chosen to wear flags of those nations on the back of their helmets, right next to the American flag decal.

The NFL International Flag Decal initiative allows players from across the league to wear an international flag decal alongside the American flag decal on their helmets in Weeks 4 and 5 of the 2022 season to celebrate players' nationalities and heritage. For the Cardinals, that means Sunday at Carolina and next Sunday at home against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Participating Cardinals include Kyler Murray (South Korea), Will Hernandez and Max Garcia (Mexico), Marco Wilson (Puerto Rico), Leki Fotu (Tonga), Michael Dogbe and Dimukeje (Nigeria), Tanner Vallejo (Ecuador), Jesse Luketa (Canada) and Bernhard Seikovits (Austria).

"First of all it means I'm representing my people, where I came from, my roots," Hernandez said. "Second, it's a chance to integrate into the NFL. Obviously, I'm not the first Mexican that's played in the NFL, but I am proud of them. It's just a little way of showing the rest of the league and the world where I came from and what I'm proud to be.

"Even though there's been a lot of Mexican players, I don't feel like there's enough. So I want to make that a change here in the next few years," Hernandez added. "It's just a little sticker on a helmet right now, but it means something a lot bigger. It'll be something even bigger than it is now in the future."

Dogbe, whose parents are from Nigeria, always takes time to seek out opposing players of similar background after games.

Fotu, whose family is from the Polynesian nation of Tonga, enjoys learning about the various backgrounds of his teammates. He said football is part of the island's culture for those who come to the U.S.

"For me to have this chance to represent that, it means a lot to me," Fotu said.

Wilson's mother is from Puerto Rico, and he was spoken to in Spanish growing up. With his mom's side of the family, "not one lick of English going on at Thanksgiving dinner," Wilson said with a smile.

"Honestly I'm really grateful to have that heritage because it's a switch-up from people who don't always have a deep heritage," Wilson said. "You get to see different things, get culture, share it with other people."

The other side of Wilson's family is from the Caribbean island of Trinidad. But he could only pick one nation's flag to wear on his helmet.

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Ertz family fights hunger

The Ertz Family Foundation and The Athletes’ Corner are teaming up again to fight hunger through the on-field performance of the Arizona Cardinals. The two organizations will help provide meals to Arizona food banks for every touchdown the Cardinals score this season.

Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz and his wife Julie, a pro soccer player, are among those leading the campaign. Some 90,000 meals have already been donated from the nine touchdowns for the team this season.

"Philanthropy is important to Julie and I. In Arizona we wanted to make a tangible impact immediately," Ertz said. "Especially with our (infant) son, we found out that one in six children are facing hunger in our state of Arizona. So it was really important to us to kind of address that issue, and we're going to be donating the meals per touchdown, with a guarantee of 500,000 meals from Julie and I."

Ertz invited other organizations to join him and his family in the cause.

"Being able to give back and help those that weren't given the same opportunities that we were given, we understand that. Julie and I didn't become the athletes that we are by ourselves," Ertz said. "Every city we've been in, whether it's Philly or here, we've really felt the love from the fans, from the community and not only on Sundays but each and every day. So we've always tried to find a way to reciprocate the love."

Read more: Cardinals WR Rondale Moore says he's ready for Sunday

Final injury report

As the Cardinals get set to leave Arizona for Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, a couple of players on the injury report this week are gameday decisions.

Defensive lineman J.J. Watt missed practice this week with a calf injury and illness but is feeling better. After being limited Friday, head coach Kliff Kingsbury is hopeful Watt can play Sunday.

Wide receiver Rondale Moore will have to show good mobility in pregame on-field warmups as he tries to return from a hamstring injury.

Wide receiver Hollywood Brown was a surprise addition to the injury report with a foot issue and was limited on Friday. He and kicker Matt Prater (hip) are questionable for Sunday.

Three players are out this week — wide receiver A.J. Green, defensive lineman Rashard Lawrence and special teams standout Ezekiel Turner.

The remnants of Hurricane Ian, the storm that battered parts of Florida, are expected to be long gone come Sunday late afternoon at kickoff, where the weather forecast is 67 degrees and partly sunny skies.

Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM. 

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals with international roots show pride with helmet decals