Larry Fitzgerald

Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. (born August 31, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at Pittsburgh and was selected by the Cardinals with the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. He is widely considered by fans, coaches and peers to be one of the greatest receivers in NFL history. Fitzgerald has been selected for the Pro Bowl eleven times. He was named First-team All-Pro in 2008 and Second-team All-Pro twice in 2009 and 2011. He is second in NFL career receiving yards, second in career receptions, and sixth in receiving touchdowns. He was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Fitzgerald became a minority owner of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association in 2020. Early years As a teenager, Fitzgerald worked as a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings under coach Dennis Green. "You know just being around your childhood idols," Fitzgerald said in a 2015 interview. "Coach Green gave me an opportunity of a lifetime to be around Cris Carter, Warren Moon, Joey Browner, Randy Moss, and Robert Smith. I can go on and on. To see their work ethic and dedication to their craft, that was really an eye-opening experience for a 14-year-old, 15-year-old. It was like on-the-job training almost." Fitzgerald attended and played high school football at the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minnesota. While there, he was a two-time First-team All-State wide receiver. Fitzgerald did not meet NCAA requirements to play football as a freshman, so he spent a year at Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania.