The farewell never really came, not with a Covid-infested country during his final NFL season and realistically, not with Larry Fitzgerald the player who would have to deliver the farewell.
"I'm a Fitzgerald, so there's some Irish in there a long, long way back," Fitzgerald said with a smile, "and so the Irish goodbye is kind of my thing."
Five years later, the goodbye will finally happen. Sunday, the Cardinals Hall of Fame wide receiver will be triple-honored at halftime of the game against the Denver Broncos, receiving his Hall of Fame ring, going into the team's Ring of Honor, and having his iconic No. 11 number retired.
Fitzgerald, speaking Thursday ahead of a Fitzgerald-themed Legends weekend for the Cardinals, joked that he felt like his goodbye "was over Zoom," but at the time, the only way people knew Fitzgerald was done was simply that he didn't sign a contract to play an 18th season. (He explained that reasoning when he was in Canton in August.)
Fans just wanted a chance to say goodbye on their own terms to the most popular player in franchise history. This will be that moment.
"I want to say just how much I appreciate (the fans)," Fitzgerald said. "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.
"Just the energy that I received all those times coming into that place and the love that I receive still to this day, going around in the community. I just want to be able to reiterate how much that has meant to me and my family and is something that I will never forget."
It isn't the Hall of Fame induction. That is a player's greatest individual honor. His speech in Canton was about 12 minutes. Sunday, Fitzgerald estimated, it will last about 60 to 90 seconds – it is an NFL halftime, he emphasized, and there will be a game to play – but perhaps more importantly, it will be much more personal.
The Hall of Fame is about the game's greats, about fans from across the league celebrating the men who shined. As Fitzgerald's name is unveiled in the stadium, "this will be solely a Cardinals experience," Fitzgerald said.
"(It'll be) authentic to my experience as a Cardinal only, and so that's why it will mean so much," Fitzgerald added.
The Cardinals tried to put Fitzgerald into the Ring of Honor three years ago, he said, but a family issue came up. Instead it will be a date picked in part because Notre Dame football is on a bye and Fitzgerald's eldest son Devin, a wide receiver at the school, can come to Arizona for the festivities.
Fitzgerald will be the 20th member of the Ring of Honor, and the first player to go in since Carson Palmer in 2019. (Former owner Bill Bidwill was inducted in 2022.)
He will be only the sixth player to have his number retired.
"I met him at his induction at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I was like, 'Damn, man, I wish I was your teammate for a day,'" current Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. "You get that aura from him."
His memories are countless. But as he walks into the stadium again Sunday, Fitzgerald said what will pop into his mind is standing on the stage after winning the NFC Championship during the 2008 season, realizing how an "average" team got really good at the perfect time, and playoff veterans like roommate Sean Morey and quarterback Kurt Warner and running back Edgerrin James providing guidance for the team to get through the postseason.
"All of those things will come back to me as I step on that field and think about not just the moments, but the men that made the moments," Fitzgerald said. "That's the part that you really miss, is just that camaraderie and fellowship and brotherhood."
Nothing on Sunday changes Fitzgerald's reality. Yes, he'll be in the Ring of Honor, but fans have been clamoring for that for years. Yes, his No. 11 will be retired, but the Cardinals weren't going to let anyone wear it anyway.
Fitzgerald said he was honored to have his number recognized, like the five others honored the same, franchise icons all. So, Fitz, are you good with being a franchise icon yourself?
"I mean, it's not something that I would walk around and beat my chest about," Fitzgerald said.
He smiled.
"But it has a nice ring to it."
