Fitzgerald not settling in 15th year
On Sunday, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will lace up his cleats, put on a Cardinals uniform and take the field for a regular-season game for the 219th time.
For someone who has become synonymous with the franchise, he’s not making any assumptions about the season opener.
“I don’t have any idea on Sunday what my role is going to be, if I’m going to get any ball,” Fitzgerald said. “So all this stuff is brand new, so it’s exciting.”
While Fitzgerald says he doesn’t know how many touches he’ll get, no one around him is worried. Head
coach Steve Wilks and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy know exactly what he’s capable of. While they’ve re-engineered the offense, the trust in Fitzgerald is clear.
“I’m sure he’ll get more than a few,” said rookie wide receiver Christian Kirk on the plan to target Fitzgerald.
“He’s our leader, he’s our rock, he’s our foundation. We go as far as he takes us.”
Fitzgerald will surely be critical to the game plan. Plus, a catch will add to history. With one catch, Fitzgerald will extend his streak of games with at least one reception to 212 consecutive games, the second-longest in league history.
He’s currently tied for second with tight end Tony Gonzalez at 211. The record belongs to Jerry Rice, who had 274.
In all 218 career games, Fitzgerald only has one without a reception: Week 8 against Buffalo his rookie year.
Still, with the weight of the streak looming, the Cardinals don’t want to jinx anything.
“Don’t say that. Don’t say that. I don’t want that pressure,” quarterback Sam Bradford said Wednesday with a smile.
With the way Fitzgerald raves about Bradford’s precision and ability to create openings, it bodes well for Sunday and for the rest of the season.
Fitzgerald is chasing Rice in more way than one. Rice holds the NFL records for all-time receiving yards (22,895) and alltime receptions (1,549).
Fitzgerald is currently third in both of those categories. To get to second, he needs 390 more yards to pass Terrell Owens and 92 more receptions to pass Gonzalez. To get to Rice, it’ll be a little more work: 7,351 yards and 316 receptions.
“I don’t know anybody who plays for Number 2,” he said, bristling at even the thought of settling. “I don’t even – that doesn’t even register to me. I don’t play for second.”
The main thing stopping him from putting up those numbers is time. At age 35, Fitzgerald recognizes his playing time is dwindling, and he acknowledges that some of those records are out of reach. Still, he’s not playing that way.
“It’s not going to happen, but the mentality of being happy finishing second – can’t ever allow that to happen,” Fitzgerald said.
If he’s decided either way, Fitzgerald has not yet announced how much longer he’ll keep playing.
“If it was up to me, I’d say five more,” wide receiver Trent Sherfield said. “He gets better as he goes. I hope he can keep playing as long as he wants to, and I think he can.”
For Sherfield and the other Cardinals wide receivers – Kirk, Chad Williams and J.J. Nelson – any extra time with Fitzgerald helps them improve, too.
They’ve all spoken about how much they’re able to soak in from Fitzgerald. The veteran leader uses every opportunity to share his knowledge, whether it’s adjustments on the line at practice or breaking down film. He’ll tell Kirk to widen out to avoid a safety. He’ll point out ways to rework routes to Sherfield.
There are fresh faces around him everywhere he looks during Year 15.
“That’s not just the wide-receiver room,” said Fitzgerald, reminiscing on a moment this preseason where it really hit him. “I remember standing on the sideline at the Cowboys, looking across the field and thinking, ‘I don’t know
on that team.’ I came into the league with (Tony) Romo, Jason Witten. I used to know a lot of guys… Dude, I don’t know anybody out there.
“I went to the locker room, and I didn’t have anybody to talk to after the game. That’s when you know you’re getting old.”
McCoy says that age doesn’t show on the field. Wilks agrees.
“You watch him in practice, guy’s 15 years in and the way he operates and catches the ball and finishes, I think is a great model for the young guys to follow,” Wilks said. “Not just on the receiving corps or the offense, but the team as a whole.”
In fact, when Wilks says the team as a whole, the first-year head coach is including himself.
“He’s just a phenomenal individual, and I lean on him a lot,” Wilks said.
Wilks and Fitzgerald didn’t get to know each other until the season. And everything Wilks had heard about Fitzgerald was true. That seems to be the consensus on a player determined to make a big impact for at least one more season.
“It’s been nothing less than what people tell you it would have been, getting to sit behind a legend, learn from him,” Kirk said.
Notes
❚ Defensive end Markus Golden will not play Sunday. Tight end Jermaine Gresham is still questionable.
❚ Cindy McCain, wife of the late senator John McCain, will serve as the team’s honorary captain on Sunday.