Larry Fitzgerald entering Hall of Fame as Cardinals icon after 17 years of pass-catching excellence

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Larry Fitzgerald came to the Arizona Cardinals as a 20-year-old intent on becoming an NFL superstar.

First, he had to learn how to do some laundry.

As Fitzgerald — one of the greatest and most productive receivers in league history — prepares to go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in Canton, Ohio, his favorite memories of the only team he played for during a stellar 17-year career aren't always about the team's unlikely run to the Super Bowl during the 2008 season, the playoff wins or the individual highlights.

Instead, he remembers folding clothes with a couple of Cardinals equipment guys named Mark Ahlemeier and Steve Christensen, learning how to become a grown man who can wash his own underwear.

It wasn't glamorous for the No. 3 overall pick in 2004 out of Pitt, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

“It was on those big industrial washers and dryers in the back,” Fitzgerald said. "My mom washed my clothes when I got to college, then my girlfriend did it for me. I had to figure it out when I got to Arizona and those guys helped me in a big way.

“Those are the things that make you look back and be appreciative and thankful — that they would do that for you. Because they didn't have to do that.”

Fitzgerald's fondness for the Cardinals — and vice versa — would never waver during a career that featured plenty of personal success, but up-and-down team success. The pinnacle came in the 2008 postseason, when he was dominant during a four-game playoff run that included 30 catches for 546 yards and seven touchdowns.

The 546 yards receiving are still an NFL record for the most in a single postseason.

It culminated with 127 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches in the Super Bowl — including a go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter — though the Pittsburgh Steelers would eventually rally past the Cardinals for a 27-23 win on Feb. 1, 2009.

“It’s truly a blessing to come in at 20 years old and stay with the same organization for their entire career,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s a two-way street. Ownership has to want you to be there, and you have to want to be there as well.”

At a rock solid 6-foot-3 and 218 pounds, Fitzgerald used his size and speed to total 17,492 career yards receiving, which ranks second in NFL history behind Jerry Rice. His 1,432 career catches are also second all time while his 121 receiving TDs rank sixth. He was an 11-time Pro Bowl selection and made All-Pro in 2008.

Even more impressive — he had all that production even though the Cardinals didn’t always have star quarterbacks.

Fellow Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer certainly qualify as high-level QBs, but there were a total of 22 quarterbacks over 17 years who completed at least one pass to Fitzgerald, including journeymen like John Navarre, Brian St. Pierre, Max Hall, Richard Bartel, Ryan Lindley and Brett Hundley.

Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has a favorite stat of Fitzgerald’s that is almost hard to believe: He had more career tackles (41) than dropped passes (29).

“That’s an incredible statistic and it’s unimaginable,” Bidwill said. “The professionalism, the attention to detail of his craft and how he never stopped working. He was always the first player at practice and the last guy off the field. I’d say to every rookie, everyone who didn’t feel like they needed to practice harder — ‘Look at our best player. There’s a reason he’s our best player.’”

The Bidwills — who have owned the Cardinals for nearly a century — have a relationship with Fitzgerald that goes beyond most owner/player partnerships.

One of Michael Bidwill's favorite memories is from back when his dad, Bill, was still alive and ran the franchise. In 2016, Fitzgerald came over to Bidwill's house after practice to spend Thanksgiving with Bill, who had lost his wife to cancer just a few months before.

“He knew that was the first major holiday that my dad didn’t have my mom there,” Michael Bidwill said. “It meant so much to him.”

After he got done at the Bidwills', he spent some time at a soup kitchen serving meals before heading to a local children's hospital to tell a few kids goodnight. All after a grueling two-hour practice before a big game.

Bidwill said he knows that story sounds almost too good to be true, but it's just how Fitzgerald operated.

Fitzgerald — when asked about the story — shrugged it off as something he was happy to do.

“So many people are struggling and going through difficult times,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it's good to be aware of all that. I wanted to make sure that the people who turn the TVs on every single week, supporting us, for them to feel that same level of support from me and my family.”

Fitzgerald played his final season during 2020, which was played in front of either no fans or sparse crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Always a humble superstar, he never announced he was retiring, instead just quietly ending a career that is one of the best for a receiver in NFL history.

Six years later, he'll take his place among the league's all-time greats in Canton. It's been a bittersweet summer for Fitzgerald, whose father Larry Fitzgerald Sr. died on June 1 at 71. The elder Fitzgerald was a longtime sports writer in Minnesota and his profession was one reason his son was so comfortable around the journalists that covered him in Arizona.

This weekend will be a celebration of Fitzgerald's on-the-field greatness, and also a salute to a man who became synonymous with the Cardinals and loved every minute of it.

“It’s not always the great moments — the Super Bowls and playoff games,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s the conversations you have at lunch with guys. Seeing teammates get married and have kids and their families grow. Guys getting new contracts. Guys going from practice squad, to being free agents, to being starters, seeing the maturation and the process.

“Those are the parts of the game you really miss.”

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