July 26, 2013
In the summer of 2011, Darnell Dockett appeared on a series of internet videos as part of his quest to buy a pet alligator. Yes, a pet alligator. And he did; its name is "Nino."
Two years later, he's not too far off from being able to start his own wildlife preserve.
Dockett, a defensive lineman entering his eighth year with the Cardinals, announced this week on Twitter that he had purchased a tiger cub and named it either "Buddy" (according to his tweets) or "Little Buddy" (according to a follow-up interview with FOX Sports 910 AM in Phoenix).
My pet tiger his name is "buddy" I'm gonna bring him to a practice in training camp atleast "one day" he's handsome! pic.twitter.com/XiFHvzr7PC
— DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) July 23, 2013
Dockett knows what you're thinking, by the way, and no, this is not a joke.
"Yeah, I'm serious. A little baby tiger," he said in his interview with FOX Sports 910. "It's the coolest thing ever."
Of course it is. And what do you do with the coolest thing ever?
"I'm trying to bring him to training camp," Dockett added. "I don't know if they'll let me, but we're going to see."
Of course he is. And perhaps the most entertaining aspect of this story is that the tiger cub might not even have been Plan A when Dockett went exotic-pet shopping. What was Plan A, you ask?
Dockett offered $30,000 for a monkey. The owner wouldn't sell, he said.
I was trying to buy him, "skeeter" but I couldn't guy wouldn't sell
