SAN FRANCISCO – Larry Legend has his gold jacket.

Or at least he will, after Larry Fitzgerald is sized and it is made, given the news – expected as it was – Thursday night that the Cardinals wide receiver indeed was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility.

Fitzgerald was joined in the Class of 2026 by quarterback Drew Brees, linebacker Luke Kuechly, kicker Adam Vinatieri, and running back Roger Craig on the NFL Honors stage, surrounded by Hall of Famers—a moment that Fitzgerald said "crystalized" his realization he was Canton-bound.

"This is never something you conjure up or imagine," Fitzgerald said. "It is surreal to be here up on this stage."

Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, Fitzgerald's quarterback from 2005-2009 and helped guide Fitzgerald's growth in the league, was the person to announce Fitzgerald's name.

"I played with a lot of great ones, I've played with a number of guys that are in Canton," Warner said. "He belongs in the mix, without a doubt.

"Everything to me that epitomizes what a Hall of Famer is, from production to impact to when you watched him, you said, 'OK, that guy is different.' He's got everything that stacks up."

Fitzgerald, humble as he is, rarely talked about the Hall of Fame. He said he didn't begin to think about it privately until he was already in Year 15 of a 17-year career.

"You start looking at the numbers and who you are close to, thinking you are getting in the conversation," Fitzgerald said. "But it is nerve-wracking. You don't know. You play in Arizona. That's not L.A. or New York. … You never know."

Fitzgerald knew for a couple of weeks he was getting into the Hall. He learned the news while on a business trip in Florida, when a friend told Fitzgerald he had a new yacht that was docked – coincidentally – right near where Fitzgerald was staying.

When Fitzgerald boarded the boat, Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss, who played on the Vikings teams for which Fitzgerald was a ballboy, told Fitzgerald he was Canton-bound.

"Holding on to it is difficult, because there are so many people you want to reach out to," Fitzgerald said. "I pick up my phone (Thursday night) and I got literally 1,000 messages and 150 missed phone calls in an hour.

"It just crystalized how many people care about you and value what you did and the relationships you have, and that means the world to me."

Fitzgerald becomes only the eighth wide receiver ever to go in on the first ballot. That list is Raymond Berry (1973), Lance Alworth (1978), Paul Warfield (1985), Steve Largent (1995), Jerry Rice (2010), Moss (2018) and Calvin Johnson (2021).

"My only regret is I didn't get to play with this guy," Brees said in the post-announcement press conference, nodding at Fitzgerald.

He is only the second Cardinal to go in on his first ballot, after safety Larry Wilson in 1978. He will be inducted into the Hall in August, and his inclusion in the class makes the Cardinals a candidate to play in the Hall of Fame game to begin the NFL preseason.

The numbers made it impossible not to immediately vote Fitzgerald in. At the top of the resumé were his receptions – 1,432 of them – and yards receiving – 17, 492 – that put him second in NFL history, both behind Rice.

There are more stats and reasons. Many more. Including:

• A member of the NFL 100 team, made up of the 100 best players in the league's history;
• A member of the 2010s All-Decade team;
• 11 Pro Bowls;
• NFL record eight seasons of at least 90 receptions;
• NFL record of 17 seasons of at least 50 receptions;
• Sixth all-time in touchdown catches (121);
• His 1,432 catches were the most with a single team;
• Led NFL in receptions twice and TD receptions twice
• Most games (263) as a wide receiver with one team
• His 546 receiving yards and seven receiving TD in 2008 Playoffs are both the most in a single postseason in NFL history;
• Delivered the "Hail Larry" two huge overtime catches to beat the Packers in the 2015 Divisional playoff game.

It was that Super Bowl run in 2008 that Warner said changed everything for Fitzgerald.

"I thought for a long time he didn't get the respect he deserved," Warner said. "Until we went to the playoffs I think he was missed in the desert. No one really knew how good this kid was until they saw him on the big stage and it was like 'Wow.'

"Those playoffs those couple of years really elevated him, and then (in 2015) he did it again."

That was all on the field. Off it, Fitzgerald shunned the ability to move to a different franchise, spending all 17 years of his career with the Cardinals as the face of the franchise.

"As both a person and a player, Larry Fitzgerald is in a class by himself," Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said. "No one has represented the National Football League with greater consistency or distinction, on the field or off it. His selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility is a fitting reflection of that legacy. In Arizona, we were fortunate to have a front-row seat for all 17 of his remarkable seasons, and we are enormously proud to see him take his permanent place among the game's all-time greats."

Fitzgerald's path wasn't always smooth. He arrived as a hyped No. 3 overall pick in 2004, had his first 1,000-yard season in 2005. But it took time for Fitzgerald to evolve into the player he became.

That, as was found out Thursday night, was Hall of Fame-worthy.

"As a rookie you knew he had the talent to play the game and play it at a high level on a consistent basis, said Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, a teammate during Fitzgerald's first season. "His work ethic, he learned how to become a pro. He grew up around pros. He saw how pros should act and how pros should train and prepare to play week in and week out. I saw the potential.

"The one thing about potential, everybody has it, but not many people are willing to nurture it. He grew that potential, he developed it, he matured it, and he took advantage of it."

That turned into 17 seasons with one team, connecting a kid who grew up in Minnesota and went to college in Pittsburgh permanently to the Valley of the Sun. It's a connection Fitzgerald cherishes after carving out his Hall of Fame career.

"The reward is going to a restaurant in town and some person comes up to you and says 'My father passed away five years ago and some of the best memories was watching Cardinals games with you.'

"That means more, that you were able to bring joy to people's lives. They were on this journey with you."