Revenge of the Birds
The Arizona Cardinals have had their fair share of exceptional receivers over their history: Roy Green, Ricky Proehl, DeAndre Hopkins, Jackie Smith, Anquan Boldin, Pat Tilley, Sonny Randle, Mel Gray, and Frank Sanders, to name a few.
Oh. And a guy named Larry. Larry Darnell Fitzgerald, Jr., to be exact.
RELATED: LARRY FITZGERALD MAKES IT 10 FOR 10
If you made a list of the best receivers for the franchise, Fitz would be at the very top. And now, his first ballot as a possible inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame has come up. He and QB Drew Brees were picked in their first year of eligibility as two of the nominees among modern era players for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
The Cardinals have 23 players in the Hall of Fame and 19 members in their Ring of Honor.
In all, 13 total players were picked from a list of 128. The others are LB Thomas Davis, DTs Jurrell Casey and Geno Atkins, C Maurkice Pouncy and OG David DeCastro, RBs LeSean McCoy and Frank Gore, TEs Jason Witten and Greg Olsen, and QBs Philip Rivers and Alex Smith.
Fitzgerald leads the Cardinals’ franchise history in almost every category. He is #1 in total yards (17,492), targets (2,335), receptions (1.432), and touchdowns (121). He is high up on the list in yards per reception average (12.2) and catch reception percentage (61.3%).
He is considered among the greatest to play the position in a list comprised of Jerry Rice, Don Hutson, Raymond Berry, Fred Biletnikoff, Calvin Johnson, Steve Largent, Randy Moss, Julio Jones, and Lance Alworth.
Arizona finished the 2003 season at 4-12-0, tied with the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, and the New York Football Giants for the league’s worst record. The four teams were then slotted with San Diego getting the first overall selection, followed by the Raiders, Cardinals, and Giants.
The Chargers chose QB Eli Manning as Oakland took OT Robert Gallery. This put Arizona on the clock. Available were QBs Ben Roethlisberger and Phillip Rivers, defensive backs Sean Taylor and DeAngelo Hall, LB Jonathan Vilma, and a trio of highly-touted receivers in Reggie Williams, Roy Williams, and Fitzgerald.
Calmer heads enabled the Cards to select Fitz, although both quarterbacks on the board would have been helpful. At the time, the signalcallers for the Cardinals were Jeff Blake, Josh McCown, and Preston Parsons. Two seasons later, Kurt Warner would arrive.
Fitzpatrick grew up in Richfield, Minnesota, located less than an hour south of Minneapolis along I-35W. He was an All-State receiver in his junior and senior years at the Academy of Holy Angels High School. He chose the University of Pittsburgh as his next stop.
Pitt played him in his freshman year right off the bat. In just his second college game, he had 10 receptions for 103 yards in a losing effort. For the year, Fitzgerald played in every game with 69 receptions for 1,005 yards and 12 TDs.
In 2003,...
