❚ Cardinals, fans owe Larry Fitzgerald a better send-off if he retires.
No one wants Larry Fitzgerald to retire or move on to another franchise after this season.
Not his fans. Not his teammates. But if he decides to come back, we’ve all got to start doing better by this guy.
The Arizona Cardinals beat the Cleveland Browns 38-24 on Sunday at State Farm Stadium, but that was no way to send out the greatest athlete in the history of this town.
Good thing he hasn’t made up his mind, yet.
“I’ve told you,” he said laughing, answering a question about whether this was his last home game in red for the umpteenth time. “It’s a job. I love what I do, but when it’s over, it’s over.”
‘Everybody loves Larry’
Fitzgerald has given this town 1,370 catches (second-most in NFL history), nearly 17,000 receiving yards (also second) and 119 touchdown catches (sixth all-time.)
But how has he been repaid? With seven wins over the past two years? With so many Cleveland Browns fans in the seats that that the dean of Arizona football writers, Kent Somers, said it looked like the first day of hunting season?
At least there were tens of thousands of fans in red who understood what might be at stake. Every time the Cardinals got into scoring position, they started chanting his name.
“I just looked at C. Kirk the first time it happened and just started shaking my head,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. “Everybody loves Larry.”
Murray said it. Kenyan Drake cosigned it.
“I’ve known the guy for five or six weeks now, and he’s one of my favorite people. I’ve never met a person that knows so many people,” Drake said. Fitzgerald even knows his opponents. “Larry is a tremendous person, an exceptional player,” said Browns coach
Freddie Kitchens, who was an assistant coach under Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians.
“I feel very fortunate that I was with him for 11 years, and I saw him work every day,” Kitchens said. “I saw him grind every day. I saw him get himself ready to play during training camp. And show up every Sunday and play. I don’t know when was the last time he missed a game. He’s just impeccable in everything he does.”
The last time he missed a game? He missed two in 2014. Other than that, Fitzgerald has played in all 16 every year going back to 2008. He’s missed six total games since his 2004 rookie season.
Tread on the tires
Another guy Fitzgerald knows is Jerry Rice. Rice is the all-time leader in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. And he’s not ready for Fitzgerald to walk away.
“This is just Year 16 for him,” Rice said earlier this season. “I played 20 years. And I think with the game today, I think you’re going to see guys playing much longer.”
Plus, Rice thinks Fitzgerald still has the goods.
“The hands on this guy are just unbelievable,” Rice said. “He doesn’t drop the ball.”
Fitzgerald could pass Rice in career receptions with two or three strong seasons.
Rice isn’t the only one who thinks Fitzgerald still can play.
Coach Kliff Kingsbury was looking for Fitzgerald on the final possession in the red zone.
“Yeah, they zoned it off,” Kingsbury said. “We weren’t able to give him the ball, but any time we’re down there, Fitz is a big target. He’s caught a bunch of them, so he’s a good guy to go to.” Everyone was rooting for it. “I wanted him to get in that end zone,” Drake said. “That last play, they went zone so it didn’t free up like we thought it could have.”
Drake is another one who knows Fitzgerald still has the goods.
“I feel like he’s got a lot more tread on the tires,” Drake said.
‘The sign of a good culture’
He took a crack at what he might say to Fitzgerald to keep him from moving on after the season.
“The way he works diligently, week in and week out,” Drake said. “I feel like, there’s a lot of things he’s accomplished, but he hasn’t got that top championship, yet. So, I feel like, that’s the thing to play for.”
That could be a factor. Fitzgerald delivered on that stage, too. (Santonio Holmes was out of bounds.)
But at this point, it’s about everybody around Fitzgerald.
The organization has to do better about building a winner around him.
Fans have to make sure the stadium isn’t overrun with rival colors.
Imagine if this was it? Would this be a fitting send-off for the greatest player in the history of this town?
Of course not.
But maybe he’s got another year in him? It does seem clear to me that he likes the direction the organization is heading.
“The men work hard,” he said of his teammates after posting three catches for 42 yards on Sunday. “They stay together. They fight. That’s really the sign of a good culture being created here. With the youth of these guys here, and the way they fight that bodes well for the future.”
And for his return?
Let’s hope so.