ATTENTION GRABBER
Fitzgerald, 32, still a big threat
HE IS 32 years old and he just wrapped up his 12th season in the NFL. A year ago, people talked of his decline and suggested that the end of his career was near.
But no, says Larry Fitzgerald, this isn’t the end. On Sunday evening, the veteran receiver will lead his Arizona Cardinals into Bank of America Stadium to take on the Carolina Panthers for the NFC championship, but this isn’t Fitzgerald’s last ride. He still has plenty of football left in him. “If I didn’t know how old I was, I would feel like I’m 20,” he said. “I don’t feel any different, honestly. That’s exactly how I feel. I feel good every day I step out on the practice field. I can do everything that’s asked of me.”
The receiver position is increasingly dominated by younger, flashier talents such as Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones and DeAndre Hopkins. Of the 26 receivers who topped 1,000 yards this season, just six were age 30 or over. One of those players, Lions star Calvin Johnson, 30, is already mulling retirement.
But Fitzgerald spent 2015 reminding everyone that the old guard can still play, a point he hopes to continue proving on Sunday. After falling short of the 1,000-yard mark in three straight seasons, he piled up 1,215 receiving yards and nine TDs this season, along with a career-high 109 receptions. In last Saturday’s NFC divisional-round thriller against the Green Bay Packers, he added an exclamation point, racking up 176 receiving yards and two TDs, including all 80 Cardinal yards on the game-winning overtime drive.
Sure, the old man who feels like a youngster may have slowed down, but not by much, said Panthers receiver Ted Ginn, who played with Fitzgerald in Arizona last season.
“Larry’s been doing this for a while,” said Ginn. “I just think that (idea that he was slowing down) was what people were saying. But deep down inside, Larry didn’t lose too much of nothing. You lose a step when you get older, but he can still get it done.”
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has helped Fitzgerald age gracefully by tweaking the receiver’s usage within his offense. With receivers Michael Floyd and John Brown both proving to be dangerous outside threats, Fitzgerald increasingly played in the slot in 2015, and he thrived there.
Fitzgerald’s role, coupled with the depth of the Cardinals’ aerial attack, could allow the veteran to put together yet another great postseason game on the road, and maybe even get Arizona back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2008 season. The Panthers ideally want ace cornerback Josh Norman handling Fitzgerald, but Norman rarely covers receivers lined up in the slot.
Norman didn’t rule out making such a move, but he cautioned against it since Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer has so many other weapons.
“You can’t think it’s all about him (Fitzgerald) because they have the other receivers,” Norman said. “They’ve got Floyd, they’ve got Brown. So for me, it depends how they scheme things.”
And that means there should be opportunities for Fitzgerald, who has always thrived in the playoff spotlight. Last time he was in an NFC title game, back in that 2008 season against the Eagles, all he did was score three first-half touchdowns — tying an NFL record for receiving TDs in a playoff game — and total 152 receiving yards.
And he’s still capable of carrying an offense.
“Great players play great in big games,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said, “and that’s how you get to the Hall of Fame. Some guys shrivel in the moment; other guys flourish in the moment. He flourishes in the moment.”