Over 17 seasons, 263 games, 1,432 catches, 17,492 yards, 121 touchdowns (with one touchdown pass), and countless hours in the locker room and practice field, Larry Fitzgerald's career featured plenty of "moments."
But as the Cardinals prepare to put the Hall of Fame wide receiver into their Ring of Honor and retire his No. 11 at halftime of Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos, it felt fitting for me to collect 11 moments from No. 11.
These are not his top moments. A couple could rank in there, but those are all the ones we know and love. Ones talked about and recalled in length back in August when Fitz went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Some of these are more off the radar, like the time the famous teammate tackler Fitzgerald decided while the Cardinals were at the Greenbriar Resort in West Virgina back in 2015 for practice to go after offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin – only to have Goodwin flip the script and take Fitz down with a wrestling move.
A moment.
So here in no particular order, in honor of Fitz's number being forever Fitz's, are 11 moments for No. 11.
HAIL LARRY CATCH-AND-RUN, 2015 DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS vs PACKERS
The Cardinals had a great team in 2015, and if Carson Palmer hadn't messed up his finger on his throwing hand late in the season, maybe the NFC Championship could've been closer in Carolina (OK, the Panthers were on a heater that season.) Nevertheless, the Cardinals came much too close to losing their first playoff game, at home, no less.
But to see Fitzgerald grab that across-the-body-throwback Palmer pass and weave his way 75 yards down the field as the crowd (and announcer Al Michaels) went crazy is burned in the brains of anyone watching. Setting up his own game-winning touchdown was all Fitz. The man showed again how he was his greatest in the biggest moments.
GAME-WINNING CATCH IN MIAMI, 2004 (AND BRIEF POSTGAME PRESSER)
The Cardinals had a 17-game road losing streak as they went to Miami midway through the 2004 season. Fitzgerald hadn't made a huge impact yet as a rookie, but here he was at the end of the game, high-pointing a Josh McCown pass in the end zone with seconds left in the game. His first clutch moment.
The aftermath resonates as well. A loss to the struggling Cardinals cost Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt his job, and then as Fitzgerald – in those days, a frequent bail-out-of-the-locker-room-to-avoid-media guy – arrived at the podium for the media. It was a short session, and kind of awkward because Fitz barely spoke. Crazy to think given how polished and as much of a team spokesman that he became.
THE ORIGINAL HAIL LARRY AGAINST 49ERS, 2007
Fitzgerald was still trying to break into true stardom in 2007. He had a huge season in 2005 but in 2004 and 2006, he didn't even reach 1,000 yards. Then Ken Whisenhunt showed up, and Kurt Warner took over for good, and Fitzgerald showed his greatness.
That was encapsuled at the end of a first half at home against the 49ers, when a Hail Mary Warner threw on the second quarter's final play went into a mess of hands and ended up in the vice grip of Fitz – who then flipped the ball to the ref, ducked under the ropes security had already put up for the players to get unimpeded to the locker room, and ran into the tunnel not even waiting for the extra point. That one was hard to forget.
DIVING TOUCHDOWN AGAINST PANTHERS, 2008 DIVISIONAL ROUND
Did the Cardinals benefit greatly when the Eagles upset the Giants in the Divisional round of 2008, allowing the fourth-seeded Cards to play the NFC Championship at home? Of course. But it was that game in Carolina the same weekend that really gave everyone the vibe that the Cardinals, at that point, could find themselves improbably in a Super Bowl.
They hammered the Panthers on the road. They derailed Jake Delhomme's career by forcing six turnovers. But it was Fitzgerald's crossing pattern right before halftime and legendary dive for the pylon, hitting it with the ball in his outstretched left arm, that really delivered the "Holy crap, these guys might just be those guys" moment for the first time.
PATRICK PETERSON GETS GOT, 2018
Fitzgerald loved to needle people. Everyone. He once came at me when I had my two young sons at training camp in Flagstaff, pointedly asking why neither one was wearing a Fitz jersey (for the record, one had Anquan, one had Edgerrin James.)
Flash forward to 2018, when Patrick Peterson wasn't happy at the time and it leaked that he asked to be traded. On Thursday of that week, Fitzgerald sat in front of his locker, the phalanx of media surrounding him as usual. As Peterson came into the room, he tried to give Fitzgerald grief about his press conference, joking that he needed to wrap it up.
"What'd you say, you wanted to be traded?" Fitzgerald responded with a smile. "I didn't hear you." Fitzgerald clearly relished the zinger. Fitz and Peterson were and remain close. But for Fitz, no one was ever safe.
ALL THOSE CONTRACT EXTENSIONS
Part of Fitzgerald's legacy was his contracts. Sure, there was the monetary part of it – according to Spotrac, Fitz made better than $180 million in his 17 Cardinals seasons, and like Jeremiyah Love, I'm not sure he ever touched it, instead living on other income – but also the way they came down.
His first extension, in 2008, was a four-year, $40M deal ($10M a year for an in-prime star? How quaint) that came up against a deadline. A deadline of Fitzgerald traveling to South America. The Cardinals were in a bad salary cap place with Fitzgerald's final rookie contract year cap hit (in those days, no slotted rookie deals) and needed to get the extension done. GM Rod Graves went to Sky Harbor airport to get it signed; Fitz did a conference call with reporters before his flight in lieu of a press conference.
There was the next extension, which he signed on a Saturday evening on his way to dinner and did the press conference right then before undoubtedly heading for some tony steakhouse or something. And then there were all those final years, when Fitz was signing one-year deals for the final four seasons of his career.
"What was special about Larry, and it was not lost on us, when we were doing his contracts … he was more than a regular player," Graves told me. "He was an ambassador for our team, an ambassador for the league, we were dealing with a once-in-a-(GM)-career type of player. We were focused on him retiring as an Arizona Cardinal.
"We knew there was a heavy price to pay for that, but he brought such joy and excitement, class, to the organization that in my opinion, he was worth every dime he got out of football."
THE ONE TIME FITZ SPIKED THE BALL
Larry Fitzgerald scored his 121 touchdowns in his career, famously flipping the ball to the official after each. He spiked the ball just once, it happened to come after a two-point conversion, and everyone noticed. It came at the end of the 2018 home win over the 49ers (Mike LaFleur on the 49ers staff at thye time.)
Fitz never spiked the ball, or did any celebrating. He even apologized – perhaps his tongue was in cheek at the time – for setting a bad example for the young people watching. His comment after was that he was reeling when eldest son Devin chose to attend the Arizona State Fair that day instead of attending the game.
"My feelings were a little hurt," Fitzgerald said, a smile crossing his face. "I was carrying that around all day and I kind of let it out."
FINAL TOUCHDOWN OF FITZ'S CAREER
Fitzgerald's last touchdown came against the Eagles in front of a Covid-sparse crowd at State Farm Stadium. It was fittingly Fitz, falling backward on to his rear end as he grabbed the ball even with the defensive back's hands all up in the play.
There wouldn't be another touchdown. Fitz played his last home game the following week, although nobody knew that for sure. (Technically, no one knew it for sure for months, because, in case you hadn't heard, Fitz never announced he was retiring. That probably is moot now that he's in the Hall of Fame and is about to go into the Ring of Honor and have his number retired.)
BLOWING GOODBYE KISSES, FINAL HOME GAME
Fitzgerald ran off the field at State Farm Stadium a week after that Eagles game, blowing kisses to loved ones (and not many else, given all the Covid-empty seats) as he ran to the tunnel. He had six catches in a loss to the 49ers, albeit for 28 yards. And it turned out to be a true goodbye moment. He didn't play in the finale at Los Angeles because of an injury, and again, did I mention he didn't really announce he was retiring?
PRESS CONFERENCE HUG FROM KURT WARNER, 2008 NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
There was a moment after the Cardinals won the NFC title in 2008 where Fitzgerald was up on the stage on the field, an incredulous smile on his face, championship hat on his head, looking out at the berserk Cardinals fans still going crazy at the notion of their team in the Super Bowl.
But the lasting image I have is Fitzgerald, nattily dressed and doing a postgame press conference, only to have Kurt Warner come up from behind, giving a bear hug as the teammates wore the pure joy of what they had accomplished. There was a reason Fitzgerald was always trying to recapture that the balance of his career.
THE CHANT THAT LIVES FOREVER
I mean, no list of Fitzgerald moments would be complete without one that wasn't singular but instead repeated over and over again, never getting old. A big play by Fitz. The crowd roaring. Fitz jumping up and usually letting out a primal scream.
And then it would begin:
"LAR-RY! LAR-RY! LAR-RY!"
