PHOENIX — On Dec. 26, 2020, Larry Fitzgerald walked off the field as a member of the Cardinals for the final time. There was no grandiose farewell tour — the wide receiver still has not officially retired – and there were no cheers from fans donning his No. 11 echoing across State Farm Stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 17-year professional career during which he etched his name in the record books, put his team on his back when it mattered most, and captured the hearts and minds of an entire fanbase came to an unceremonious end. 

Nearly six years later, Fitzgerald will take center stage on the Cardinals’ home turf once again during his Ring of Honor ceremony at halftime of Sunday’s contest against the Denver Broncos. 

Fans unveil the signage for former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald during the Ring of Honor ceremony where his number was retired at halftime of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Ross D. Franklin

He has already been recognized by the NFL with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, but Arizona officially retiring his No. 11 also makes him one of six former players to receive such an honor since the franchise was founded in 1898.

“To now be amongst that luxurious group is a tremendous honor and I appreciate the Bidwills for even honoring me with that,” Fitzgerald said at a news conference on Thursday, Oct. 22 at the Cardinals practice complex in Tempe. 

Oddly enough, Fitzgerald’s journey in Arizona began when the team missed out on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft and the right to draft quarterback Eli Manning. A loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17 of the 2003 season would have ensured a league-worst 3-13 record, but Josh McCown’s game-winning touchdown pass to Nathan Poole as time expired moved the Cardinals down two spots.

Arizona then selected the 6-foot-3, 225-pound receiver No. 3 overall after he took home the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver and finished second in the Heisman Trophy race as a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh.

It only took Fitzgerald two seasons to prove he was capable of living up to the billing as he led the league in receptions in 2005 with 103 for 1,409 yards and 10 touchdowns on the way to earning his first Pro Bowl selection. 

The 2005 season was also the first time the wideout played alongside quarterback and fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame member Kurt Warner. In 60 games together from 2005-09, the duo combined for 4,583 yards and 39 touchdowns.

Fitzgerald shared a moment with Warner before receiving his gold jacket at the Hall of Fame, and during his induction speech, the receiver made sure to pay tribute to his former teammate.

“There have been a lot of great players across a lot of great teams/organizations over the years, but there are very few that become the first person you think of when mentioning that team or organization,” Warner told Cronkite News. “Larry Fitzgerald is one of those few.

“I am honored to call Larry a friend and a teammate, and I can think of no one, in any sport, that deserves an honor like this more.”

The on-field connection between Fitzgerald and Warner paved the way for the Cardinals to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history during the 2008-09 season.

In particular, Fitzgerald put together one of the greatest postseason runs in NFL history with 30 catches for 546 yards and seven touchdowns across four games. His two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 64-yard TD catch that became an iconic Super Bowl moment, put Arizona ahead 23-20 in the waning moments of Super Bowl 43.

Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to prevent a heartbreaking, last-minute, 27-23 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It wasn’t just the Super Bowl, it was how Larry kind of carried us there from jump balls in Atlanta to Carolina, going across the middle and blocking and making catches and going for pylons,” former Arizona Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein said.

From 2007-13, Fitzgerald recorded four seasons of at least 90 receptions and five of at least 1,000 yards. He also led the league in receiving touchdowns twice during that stretch. As a result, the wideout earned seven consecutive Pro Bowl nods, two Second-Team All-Pro selections and one First-Team All-Pro selection.

Even turning him upside down didn’t slow down his dominance as proven by ESPN’s Sports Science.

However, the Cardinals only made the playoffs once over the next five seasons after 2008, a time frame in which Fitzgerald played with eight different quarterbacks. A 5-11 finish in 2012 led Arizona to fire coach Ken Whisenhunt and hand the reins to Bruce Arians, someone who was already familiar with the receiver as a bystander.

“He was at Pitt when I was with the Steelers, so I kind of knew him coming into the draft and early in his career,” Arians said. “He had that great playoff run to the Super Bowl, and I was on the other sidelines, so I saw him go screaming down the middle of that field.”

A trade for quarterback Carson Palmer, who combined with Fitzgerald for 4,033 yards and 28 touchdowns in 60 games, brought the Cardinals back-to-back postseason appearances. The second of those, in 2015-16, produced one of the most iconic moments of the receiver’s career.

On the first play of overtime in an NFL Divisional Round bout against the Green Bay Packers at State Farm Stadium, Fitzgerald turned a full-body heave from Palmer into a 75-yard sprint as defenders desperately tried to bring him down. Seconds later, he took the ball into the end zone on a shovel pass to cement an unforgettable 26-20 playoff victory.

“I think Larry came up to me, middle of the fourth quarter and pointed that play out,” Arians said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I know you’re going to be wide open. (We’ve) just got to get the right spot for it.’

“Not thinking that they were going to throw two Hail Marys and put us in overtime, but that was the perfect spot for it, and Carson knew he was going to be wide open.”

The following season, Fitzgerald’s off-the-field contributions were brought to the forefront when he was named a co-winner of the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award. 

The Larry Fitzgerald Foundation has been dedicated to breast cancer awareness since 2005 in honor of his mother, Carol Fitzgerald, after her passing in 2003. Through both his foundation and his own personal donations, he has also supported academics, youth sports, international economic development and providing aid-related technologies to people in need in Africa.

During team functions, Fitzgerald was adamant about doing his part to make sure a tight-knit bond existed within the Cardinals’ locker room.

“When we went on road trips, he would gather the guys and take us to bowling alleys and dinners,” Sendlein said. “On the field and on the practice field, he led by his work ethic and effort and obviously his abilities, but off the field, he was a leader of getting guys together and having that camaraderie outside of the field.”

The 2017 season was the final time Fitzgerald earned a Pro Bowl nod after crossing the 1,000- yard mark for the ninth time in his career. He surpassed Terrell Owens for the second-most receiving yards all-time in November 2018 before adding the second-most career receptions all-time to his résumé 10 months later. 

By the time his career came to a close in late 2020, Fitzgerald had 1,432 receptions for 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns. His streak of catching at least one pass a game hadn’t been broken since Nov. 2004, and he ended up with more total tackles (41) than dropped passes (35).

Unfortunately, the wideout was also never able to obtain a Super Bowl trophy to go along with his impeccable list of accomplishments. The Cardinals only made the playoffs three times outside of 2008 during his career and they finished with an overall record of 136-144-2 from 2004-20, yet Fitzgerald never wavered in his loyalty to the organization.

“It wasn’t always great,” Fitzgerald said. “It was a lot of down times and tough times, and times where I could have said, ‘Grass might be greener on the other side.’ No, I’m going to try to do everything I can to figure it out. Make it right and weather the storm.”

With his Ring of Honor ceremony approaching, Fitzgerald is still humbled by the status he holds with the Cardinals’ fan base, but he is not afraid to pass the spotlight to the franchise’s current players.

“I still think to a certain degree that I have it, but it’s not like I’m in the spotlight like Trey (McBride) is or how Budda (Baker) is or (Jeremiyah) Love. They’re in the fight every single day, so I think the onus is a little bit higher with them,” Fitzgerald said.

“I’m kind of washed now and the kids are like, ‘Hey, you’re Larry Fitzgerald, right? So, my dad used to really like you man.’ It’s like it’s kind of moved on.”

Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, Pro Football Hall of Fame CEO Jim Porter, several of Fitzgerald’s former teammates including Sendlein, and Fitzgerald’s son, Devin Fitzgerald, will all be in attendance during the ceremony.

Sadly, Fitzgerald’s father, Larry Fitzgerald Sr., died on June 1 before he could see his son immortalized in Canton or Glendale.

“It’s been a really tough time because the sacrifices he made to get me (to) this place are immense, and they don’t show up on the stat sheet,” Fitzgerald said. “Thousands of hours driving me around, and I was being a jerk and not doing right. Not writing me off, but just continuing to love me and help me through the process of growing up.”

Just as Cardinals fans are eager to see Fitzgerald honored by the organization to which he dedicated his entire career, he is equally excited to be in the presence of those who supported him for 17 years.

“Just how much I appreciate them, what it meant to be able to don that Cardinals helmet,” Fitzgerald said when asked what he wants Cardinals fans to know. “The memories that we’ve been able to share out there in Glendale, I still remember 2006 like it was yesterday.

“It’s the electricity and driving up to the stadium. First time pulling into A-lot and seeing all the people on top of the stands cheering. Just all the energy that I received, all those times coming into that place and the love that I see still to this day going around in the community. I just want to be able to reiterate how much that has meant to me and my family, and something that I’ll never forget.”

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.