fitz.1022

0:00How are you? Good, sir. Sir? Old timer. Blue collar. How you guys doing? Good, man. Good. What's up, D? Josh, how you guys doing? Okay. Larry, with, uh, this happening and, you know, fans have been clamoring for you to go in the Ring of Honor for years here. You know, just your thoughts going into this and, you know, just the timeline of all this happening for you now. Yeah, I mean it's, uh... uh, fortunately, you know, a great relationship with Michael and the family and so, like this has been something we've talked about since the time I left. And, uh, actually, there was a... about three years ago, we decided on a date, and I had something family-wise ca- came up, uh, shortly after we had, uh, kinda agreed on it. And then we just kinda put it... and Michael was like,"Hey, when, you know, it f- it feels right." And you know, it's like... And so we've always been in constant communication, and that's,

1:02that's one of the best things about being in the same place for such a long time. You know, you build really strong relationships and, you know, like I said, he's like an uncle to me. Um, and so, you know, we th- we felt like this was the right time and, um, you know, we th- we thought it was cool to be able to do it in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And, you know, Cardinals have been great about, you know, early detection and, and really being proactive in the community amongst so many other things. And so we just felt like it was the right time, and Lisa Manning was very important in, you know, getting us across the finish line as well. You always talked about, you know, wanting to leave as a game-winner current, and you did it your way. Kinda mentioned Tim Duncan as like, it's not gonna be Michael Jordan or Bill or Bird. Um, but, you know, fans have always wanted to, to have this moment with you, to have a chance to, you know, cheer you on one last time. Yeah. How cool is that gonna be to be able to have this moment with them? Yeah, I mean, I told you a long time ago it was, it was gonna... I'm a, I'm a Fitzgerald, so there's some Irish in there a long, long way back. Um, and so the Irish goodbye is kind of my thing. If you ever see me at an event, you know, say

2:06hello quick'cause, you know-... I'ma, I'ma find that,"Hey, where's that bathroom at?" You know? I'ma sneak out to the car. Um, no, but it's, it, you know, I left in 2020, and as you guys all remember, it was, it was a very different time and, you know, playing in empty stadiums and not really having the same media availability and everything became just Zoom everything, right? And, you know, I felt like my, my goodbye was, like, on Zoom, you know? And like, it, you know, it'd be great to be able to come out there on that field. I've been to a couple games since at home, you know, probably more on the road. And so, you know, to be able to go in that stadium and, you know, feel that energy again and, you know, I'm just hoping when I go out there, you know, we're up at half, taking care of business and, you know, that the fans will be in a lot better mood. Larry, what do you want to tell the fans? Uh, just, just how much I appreciate them, you know, what it, what it meant to be able to don that Cardinals helmet. You know, the memories that we've been able to share out there in Glendale. You know, I still, like, remember 2006 like it was

3:07yesterday. You know, we, you know, at that preseason opener, you know, with the, with the stadium patch, you know, against the Steelers and just the electricity driving up to the stadium, you know, first time pulling into A lot and seeing all the people up on top of the stands cheering and just, just the energy that I received, you know, all those times coming into that place and, you know, the love that I se- receive still to this day going around in the community. So I just wanna be able to reiterate how much that has meant to me and my family and, uh, you know, something that I'll, I will never, I'll never forget. Between the Hall of Fame and, and this, are you able to accept all the love and thank yous you're getting from everyone? Yeah, this, this will be... I, I, I've told people this would be, uh, probably a lot more emotional for me because it's, it's home. It's, it's where I live. It's with the people that I grew up with. You know, the Hall of Fame is like, it's league-wide. It's a lot of people that are in Canton. There's Saints fans, there's Carolina Panthers fans, there's... It's everybody's there because it's a, it's a

4:09testament to what f- professional football is. It's not a Cardinals represent... I mean, there's Cardinal representation there, but it's not solely a Cardinals experience. This will be a solely Cardinal experience, which is authentic to my experience as a Cardinal only. And so that's why it would mean so much to, to, to be out there and to be there. And then, like, you know, I, I start thinking about other things. You know, you know, Mr. Bidwill was, his number was retired. You know, I was here when Pat Tillman's number was put up. Adrian Wilson, um, Carson Palmer, um, you know, Roger Worley, you know, Aeneas Williams, Roy Green. Like, I was in the building playing in a uniform when all of these people were going up. And so, like, to, to now be able to experience it, it's, it's like, it's surreal, you know? So it just, just like so many great memories flood my mind. Yeah. I know, I know, Larry, you were just talking about the, the relationships you built here with Michael and others. I'm curious, and I know you've talked about this a lot

5:10of times, but just again, the thought process of, in the end, staying here the whole time and being a part of this the whole time. Yeah. And now that you're on this side of it, what that means to you. I mean, I, I... You would've, you would've probably imagined you see it the same way, but loy- loyalty's just, it just doesn't feel like it's the same as it once was. You know, even, like, we're hiring people at work now, it's like, you know, they're 27 years old and they've been to, like, four different locations. You'd be like,"How do you move that many times in that short a period of time?" And, you know, you, you look at, you know, like, just longevity and staying in one place and making that place work. It's not, it's not that it was always great. It w- it wasn't always great. You know, it was a lot of down times and tough times and times where I could've said,"You know what?" The grass might be greener on the other side and like, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna try to do everything I can to figure it out, right? And, and make it right and weather the storm and like that all means a lot. And I

6:11still believe in life in general. I think you learn a hell of a lot more through tough times than you do from prosperity. Like if the sun is always shining on you, like you have no idea, you know, how to, how to deal with the other side. And I think, you know, dealing with some of the difficult times, it made me appreciate the good times way more. You know, like that, that NFC playoff run we had in 2015, like that meant a lot, you know,'cause from 2009 to like that's, that is an eternity in the National Football League. I, I mean, it's eternity. And to be able to come out the other side, you know, I, you know, even like my, my-- I talk about my greatest win and people are like,"Oh, that makes no sense." It's literally 2012, we were in Seattle, we lost 58 to nothing. We were down 34-nothing in the first half going in there. And the guy in Seattle, that, that mean guy when you walk there-... he's like,"Why did you guys even come here?" Like, you know, like I, I just remember that, that guy saying that to me and the next year we go back up there, that same

7:16defense, same Legion of Boom, same great players, and we take it to them. And we did it in a way that was very unconventional. It was, uh, Stefan Taylor running it down their throat six yards, seven yards and like going back in that locker room and like everybody's so happy, man. It's like-- And there was a lot of guys that were new to that team'cause we had a regime change, but the guys that were on that team the year before, oh man, that was-- It was so embarrassing. Like it was, it was like the most embarrassing time I ever had as a professional, you know. I remember like I didn't even have a catch until like the fourth quarter and they were like manufacturing ways to just like help me get a catch. And I'm like-- I was like so embarrassed. And then like the next year we come and do that. And so like those are the moments and the memories, you know, like, you know. Then a couple years after that, you know, my dad was in the locker room. I remember this viral clip and my dad was like, his phone came on and I was giving him a hard time about that. You know, like just all those type of things, you know, come back and so like, yeah, it's, it's cool. Yeah.

8:19Along those lines, Larry, you, you always made sure you took time for the, the people at the bottom while you were on your way up. And, and you seem to genuinely care and make friendships with the security guard, the cafeteria worker, the gardener- Yeah ... people. Why has that always been so important to you? And can you talk a little bit about the reaction-- interactions you had with some of those guys? Yeah, I mean, there's some guys that are just very average at their job. Like I saw one earlier today, Slim, you know. He, he's- Like you talk about a guy who doesn't take a lot of passion in his job. You know, shows up late every day. You know, if you need a delivery, it's never gonna get there. You know, no, no, I mean, in all seriousness, like you look about guys like that and what they mean to our organization and, you know, is he catching touchdowns on Sunday? No. But he takes just as much pride in doing his job to the highest level as, as I would. And like you recognize that in people and you see it, and you see it exemplified, you know, amongst a lot of different departments here. And so that meant a lot. You know, you

9:21think about Andy out there, you know, on the grass. I mean, there's nobody in the world that takes, you know, agronomy and the way that field presents every single week. And you know, and so like, you know, stuff like when the Super Bowl was here and people were bitching and complaining about the grass, like it made me really upset because I know the time and energy he puts into it every day and meticulous details and like, you know, our surface was one of the best in the game to play in. And like, you know, he doesn't get the accolades and the recognition that he deserves. Um, so like, I mean, like I see it and, and, and I love it, and I appreciate it and, you know, I tried to talk about it during, you know, my, uh, Hall of Fame time and like trainers and, I mean, I see young Omo here and like, you know, his dad got me through games I had no business, you know, even probably playing in, but not only get me through it, you know, but actually being able to produce and do my job at a high level. And Machine and, and, and, and Jim and, and Freddie Carbajal

10:21and Tom Reed. I mean like Tom would show up for me at four o'clock in the morning if I needed to, to do something. And I remember, I remember Devin was up one night, all night crying. I'm like,"Tom, I, I, I need-- I got practice in the morning." I called him at like midnight. He's like,"He will not sleep. I, I-- What am I supposed to do?" And he's like,"Okay, do this." And I end up able to get him down to sleep, you know. And like all of those things, like they meant a lot to me and, um, you know, it's... Yeah. You- Shaped me. Larry, you also mentioned your dad. Yeah. So how are you balancing that grief- Yeah ... with this amazing time? It's been a really tough time, G. I mean,'cause the sacrifices that he made to get me to this place are, are immense, and they don't show up on a, on a stat sheet, you know. Um, the thousands of hours driving me around and, you know, when I was being a jerk and not doing right, you know, not writing me off, but you know, continued to love me through the process of growing up and, you know, it's, it's been tough not to have

11:24him, you know, since, since, uh, since June and, you know, it's... Yeah. To, to look, you know, I look at the text messages that we, that we shared and, you know, it's, yeah, it's been, it's been very tough to, to process and fill that void, you know, when somebody you can talk to every day about anything you're going through, you know, relationships, business, you know, you know, just discernment that he had and kind of, uh, you know, understanding people and all the things that you, that you talk to with your parents and not being able to have that, uh, you know, that sounding board has been, it's been a difficult adjustment. What can you imagine him saying right now? You know, I, I mean, my pops was really proud, and, you know, I got a chance to he-- I got a chance to have him out with me in San Francisco. I knew he was, he was tough. It was the last time he traveled, and, you know, I knew he probably shouldn't have been traveling, you know,'cause he had lost his ability to kind of, you know,

12:28control his constitution. You know, like it was, it was, it was tough. But he wanted to be there and experience that moment, you know. And, uh, and so, like to have him there that whole week, you know, I mean, I, I remember I pushed him into the stadium, you know, in his wheelchair. And, you know, in my mind, I thought like, you know, it's... you know, this could be, this could be it. You know, I saw the deterioration, so I really wanted to, to have him there and be there. And, you know, he still did the game for the Australian network that he was there. He did it with Ben-- does it with Ben Graham every, every Super Bowl. So getting him up there into the press box and catching up with Ben and, you know, it's kind of like our-- my pre-game routine. I can't... You know, for every Super Bowl, I, I, I mean... And so, um, it was been, it was, it was great to be able to have him be there, but, uh, to not have him in Cannes was, it was really rough. Yeah. You have gone through a lot of emotional highs and lows in the last few months. Yeah. How do you manage all of it?

13:30I don't know, I don't know if you man- you manage it. I mean, like, we're human beings. Like, I have great days, and I have really, really hard days, um, like anybody would, you know, dealing with all the things. But, you know, I, uh, you know, I, I think I just look back with great gratitude for the many people that I've had come through my life. Uh, I have gratitude for the good and bad experiences that I've had. Um, and I also just try to be, you know, an eternal optimist. You know, I, I try to find the positives in, in most things, no matter, you know, how hard they are. And I think that positive disposition is able to help me, for the most part, be able to get through the, the difficult aspects of life. And, and it, and it's always challenging. It al- it always is. You cele- Sorry. Larry, you celebrated other success, you know, like it was your own at times. We found some old clips, like Michael Floyd scores a touchdown, you jump on his back. Yeah. Pharoah Cooper one time scored a touchdown. I thought you hit as hard as any

14:30linebacker I've seen in the league. Yeah. Just what did it mean to celebrate your teammates' success like that to you? Well, I mean, like you mentioned those two guys. You know, I, I, I watched Mike when he was in high school, you know, at, at Cretin-Derham Hall and, and saw it, and then obviously followed him at Notre Dame, and I saw the things that he went through and the struggles and then live with me. And then like, you see him come out the other side, get his first thousand-yard season. And, you know, like you, you with these guys when they're going through like difficult, difficult times, you know. I mean, I look over there, I see Buddha, and, you know, Buddha got drafted here. And, you know, Tyrann Mathieu was still like an All-Pro player, right? And to see him like blossom into like a cornerstone franchise, future Hall of Famer, Ring of Honor pl- player, and do it with such class and grace and dignity, you know, that's what it's all about. It's about these relationships and seeing young men, you know, reach their full potentials. And, and not even just like men. You know, you see, you see coaches that, you know, started in quality control and have worked their way on up

15:31to, you know, being, you know, great, great player or great talented executives and coaches around the league. And, you know, you know what I mean? Like, even, like I look at John Idzik. John Idzik was our assistant general manager with, with Rod Graves when they drafted me. And like his son's the offensive coordinator now at Carolina Pan... You know, like you just see this, this, this growth, exponential growth in the game, and, you know, how many different people contributed and are taking part of it. And it's like, it's, it's really cool to see that in the fraternity and the brotherhood. And, uh, you know, that's something that I, um, I really love to see. And, you know, Michael Floyd and Pharoah Cooper and Andre Roberts and Brittan Golden, and I can go on down the list of Marcus Golden. You know what I mean? Like so many, so many guys pop in my... Like Antonio Smith. I mean, Antonio Smith, I mean, he got-- After his rookie year, he got sent over to Europe, right? And it's not like a knock on him, but he, he needed some more development. And then you see him go to Houston and turn into a Pro Bowler and get a big

16:32contract, and like, man, that's, that's unbelievable, man. It's special and, and especially when you're that close and you see the work that goes into getting to that place. It's, it's awesome. With, um, with the Ring of Honor, obviously that's a very big deal, and it's seemed kind of a foregone conclusion for a long time. But to have your actual jersey number retired, which is rare- Yeah ... for football teams and, and here, what does that signify to you? I mean, it's the high- it's the highest honor. You know, I, I think there's only, I mean, Marshall Goldberg, I think, right? Um, ob- obviously Pat Tillman and, uh, Larry Wilson. And me, I mean, like you, you think about, you know, what, what those individuals have done for the game. You know, Pat Tillman, obviously one of the great American heroes, and Larry Wilson, you know, a franchise icon and most tough physical, you know, you know, he's the greatest Cardinal to ever play. And, um, you know, to, to now be, you know, amongst that

17:38luxurious group, it's a, it's a tremendous, tremendous honor. And, you know, I appreciate the, the Bidwells for even, you know, honoring me with that. Larry- Do you like, do you like being known as a franchise icon, which you are? Um, you know, I, I mean, it's not something that I would walk around and beat my chest about. Um, but it has a nice ring to it. Larry, anytime a fan, a future player walks into the stadium, they're gonna see your name on the side of the wall. Yeah. What do you hope they think about when they see that Larry Fitzgerald number eleven name in the Ring of Honor? Yeah, I mean, like, as a player, when I came out in You know, I think it, it forces you sometimes a lot of these players you never got a chance to see. Like I, I never saw Ernie Nevers play, but like I know who he is and I know what number he wore and, you know, like it, it forces you to kind of look back at the past and see who can-- who's contributed to the organization that you're, that you're playing on. And, and I would often catch myself going into different stadiums and, you know, looking up

18:38in the stands and, you know, you're in Green Bay and you see Reggie White and you see Brett Favre and you see Ray Nitschke and you see Don Hudson and you see all of these amazing players that have essentially built the fabric of these, of these organizations and tell the story of this, this great game that has, you know, brought us all together. You know, you think about me as a player and you guys have a livelihood covering the game and like we all have our place in the ecosystem and the one common denominator is the game, right? The, the game that we all love and puts food on our tables and, and I think that, that for me was what that did, you know, seeing different names up in those stadiums. But I also, I'm a, I'm a son of a journalist so I was always curious about the history and wanted to understand it and see who's shaped it and, you know, whose shoulders I was essentially standing on, you know. And, you know, guys like Roy Green and you know, you know, you know, he's-- he was the original Travis Hunter, right? You know, everybody talks about,

19:38you know, defense, offense, special teams, you know, kind of a Swiss Army knife and like the guys that are doing it now are because, you know, these, these trailblazers did it before us. How long did it take to, uh, nail down the, the halftime speech this week? You know, actually this is, uh, it's, it's easier and harder, you know,'cause the Hall of Fame like you-- I think mine was about twelve minutes. Um, you know, you don't wanna be running it long and stuff like that, you know, but you also know this is a, this is a halftime. It's, it's gonna be a couple minutes to get it set up, you know, it's gonna be a couple minutes to assemble everybody, get everybody on the field and, you know, then you have to worry about breaking it down and specialists gonna be out there punting and kicking- ... you know before the rest of the guys get out. And so, you know, I think I got like a minute, minute and a half or something like that and, um, yeah, so it, it won't be, you know, real long. Nobody will fall asleep. Yeah. Yeah. Larry, you look at where your career has gotten you to this point, you go back to

20:40rookie you, is there any advice you wish maybe you could give him looking back onto where now-- where you are? Yeah, I mean there's a lot of things that I wish I would've, I would've done better, you know, spent more time doing right. Um, but like I, I, I feel like the mistakes that I made early are things that, you know, help, helped shape me today. Like I was, I was horrible with the media when I first got here at twenty. It's not something that I really leaned into and didn't-- just quite frankly didn't like. You know, even though I was a part of, you know, my-- saw my dad do it, like I kinda just didn't, didn't really love it and you know like Kent Somers got me fined some money and uh-... it kind of turned me around. But behind the scenes, you know, Mark Dalton was working on me for a time like,"Hey, you need to be accountable." You know, like,"You're emerging as a good player on this team and like people are gonna ask questions. You know, win, lose or draw like you need to stand up here and, and

21:42talk about it and give explanations for why things went well or why they didn't go well and you know like this is a part of your maturation process." And like you know you, you kind of grow into it, right? So do I wish I was better? Yes, early, but I think I've gotten, you know, better as it, you know, as, as time went on and you know who knows if I would've taken the necessary steps to improve had I been better early on. And you know so like you can always look at it on two sides of the coin. But um yeah there's a few things but nothing, nothing major. Fitz, you've often cited your heroes growing up- Mm ... like Chris Carter, Moss, Kirby Puckett and now you're kind of that guy for thousands across Arizona and the NFL landscape. I mean your name's on license plates, you have an instantly recognizable chant of your name that uh Arizona knows so well. What's that-- I mean I know three people that named their dogs after you so-... what's, what's that like and how do you handle that responsibility? Uh, I mean I felt like the responsibility was um, it was a lot more when I was

22:47playing. You know, like I'm, I'm, I'm kinda, I'm washed now and like it's like the kids are gonna be like,"Hey you're, you're Larry Fitzgerald, right?" I say,"Yeah, yeah." Say,"My dad used to really like you man.""My dad used to really like you," you know so it's like it's kinda moved on. But you know I, I sh-- I always remember you know driving to the stadium and I'm looking out in that stan-- you know stands and looking out at the, the people walking around and I'm like man it-- there's a lot of, there's a lot of eleven jerseys there and I'd say most of those kids I know didn't have the money to buy'em. And you know being a parent now like I'm not, I'm not gonna buy my kid a jersey of a player that I don't respect, you know if they don't play hard or they're not active in their community. Like there's a criteria that we all would have as a parent to you know be okay with our son wearing or daughter wearing their jersey and so like that responsibility was never lost on me. And um you know I still think to a certain degree that you know I have it but it's not like I'm in the, I'm in the spotlight like you know like Trey is or how Buddha

23:47is or J. Love is. You know like they're, they're in the fight every single day so I think the, the onus is a little bit higher with them. Larry you've had a lot of moments, catches inside State Farm Stadium- Yeah ... and I know you said you're gonna be emotional but when you walk inside on Sunday especially with a lot of your former teammates which they're like legend this weekend- Yeah ... do you think there's a certain moment or play or season that's gonna come to mind? Yeah I mean like that two thousand and nine being up on that podium you know holding that George Halas Trophy was, was pretty special you know? And I think the The moment was, was great, but I think the journey was even better because we were a somewhat average football team that year that got really good at the right time. You know, by any stretch of the imagination, we weren't, we weren't the best team, but we were playing at the best at the right time. And, uh, uh, you know, the memories, you know, my roommate on the road, Sean Morey, you

24:51know, sitting up until 11:30, 12 o'clock talking about, you know, what they did in Pittsburgh, you know, in the preparation for the games, and Kurt Warner talking about what they did, and Edgerrin James saying,"We did, we did this." And, you know, all the guys who had kind of experienced it, you know, those moments in the hotel, people getting up and speaking and, like, all of those things will, you know, come back to me as I, as I step on that field and think about not just the, the moments, but the men that made the moments. And yeah, that, that's the part that you, you really miss is just that camaraderie and fellowship and brotherhood. Yeah. All right, we'll take one more if there's one more. What are your plans now for your future? What are you looking forward to? Beating Mark Dolan in, uh, in pickleball consistently. He's gotten old, man. He can't move like he used to. He's got... It's, it's... There's a lot of drop shots he can't get to anymore. So that's been, that's been nice. No, I mean, I, I... You know, life is, life is full, chasing the kids around. Like, Devin has the bye week.

25:54You know, ma- one of the reasons I picked this week is'cause Notre Dame is on the bye, and being able to have him here, you know, to be able to be with, with, uh, Apollo and Milo, to be able to do it together and, you know, that's something that was really important. Um, but yeah, business, business is going well. Um, life, life is good. I, I f- I feel like I built a nice off-ramp for myself. Yeah. Yeah. All right, thank you. Thanks, Larry. All right. All right, good to see you guys.