Fitzgerald: More Than a Receiver

Our last two Hall of Fame newsletters have been smash hits, so today we’re coming back at you with one honoring one of the greatest wide receivers of all time: Larry Fitzgerald.

In 2008, Fitzgerald’s fifth year in the NFL, he set a career high with 1,431 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season. After the Arizona Cardinals squeaked into the playoffs at 9-7, though, I don’t think anyone was prepared to see the greatest playoff run by a receiver in NFL history.

Fitzgerald ended his four-game playoff run with 30 catches for 546 yards and seven touchdowns. We never have, and likely never will, see a playoff run like it again.

Larry Fitzgerald currently ranks second all-time in receptions (1,432) and receiving yards (17,492), and it looks like it’s going to stay that way for a while. No active receiver is within 350 receptions or 4,000 yards of Fitzgerald, and those that are creeping in are nearing the ends of their careers.

The active players with the best chance of catching Fitzgerald are Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and Puka Nacua, and they’re all over a decade away, if they even play that long.

The term generational gets thrown around way too often in sports, but Larry Fitzgerald was actually a generational player.

While Fitzgerald is one of the best receivers of his generation, how does he stack up against all the receivers in NFL history? There have been some very talented receivers who weren’t able to play as long as Fitzy, so how do you weigh their peak against Fitzgerald’s longevity?

It wasn’t easy, but I took a shot at it.

Though, as always, I pawned the harder task off to Daniel Rios. Instead of only ranking him against wide receivers, he ranked Fitzgerald against every player of his generation, which includes the likes of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Aaron Donald. Hope you had fun with that one, Daniel.

Now that you’ve seen the stats…

Alright, alright, alright. We’ve talked extensively about the work Larry Fitzgerald did on the field, but if you asked him about his proudest achievement in the NFL, he’d probably say winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

Fitzgerald lost his mother to breast cancer in 2003, just a year before he made it to the NFL. In 2005, one year into his career, Fitzgerald launched the Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund, a foundation put in place to help educate women on breast care prevention and treatment, as well as help make sure kids in the Minnesota and Arizona area get access to the school supplies they need to be successful in their education.

But that’s not all Fitzgerald did. He also spent a lot of time internationally in India and Africa, partnering with other foundations to distribute hearing aids, build classrooms, and install irrigation systems that helped farmers expand cultivable land and create a more reliable food source.

Fitzgerald was a fantastic player on the field, but he’s an even better man off of it.

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