Larry Fitzgerald

"It's rewarding to be recognized by the fans and other players for my abilities and to be able to represent the Arizona Cardinals fans from around the world."

- Larry Fitzgerald

Larry Fitzgerald is an NFL Wide Receiver for the Arizona Cardinals. Fitzgerald has played on the Cardinals for 12 seasons and holds the NFL record for the youngest player to reach 11,000 receiving yards and 1,000 receptions.

Early life
Larry Darnell Fitzgerald jr. was born on August 31, 1983 in Minneapolis Minnesota. He attended the University of Pittsburgh in 2002, however he did not complete his college degree and works towards his degree currently. After only 2 years in college playing for the Pittsburgh Panthers, Fitzgerald was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He was the third overall pick in the 2004 draft.

NFL Career
Larry Fitzgerald made an early impact on the struggling football team, immediately stepping in as a leading receiver alongside Anquan Boldin. In 2004 Fitzgerald had his first and last game without a catch (recording 172 consecutive games with catch in his career). In 2006 the Cardinals recruited Kurt Warner to the team and Larry finally had a quarterback to catch balls from. In 2008 the chemistry between the players blossomed and took the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl ever. No one battled harder than Fitz who set the league record for most touchdowns in the postseason (7). Despite Kurt and Fitzgerald's best efforts (2 touchdowns passed from Kurt to Fitz), the Cardinals lost the Superbowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two would make magic for one more year before Warner would retire. The Cardinals faced quarterback issues for a few more years before the signing of Carson Palmer. For a little while it seemed as though the Larry-Kurt magic was back until Carson Palmer tore his ACL and Larry was practically ignored by the backups through the entire 2014 season, posting only 57 receptions 722 yards and only 2 touchdowns. Despite the lack of Carson and Fitz in the Arizona offense, the Cardinals managed to limp to the Wildcard round where they were beat by the Carolina Panthers. As the 2014 season expired so did his contract and the Cardinals were faced with a difficult decision, cut or keep Fitz. In the end, however, Larry decided he could never play on any other but the Cardinals. During the 2015 offseason Larry signed a two year deal with his team who he made a commitment to stay with through the remainder of his career.

NFL records

 * Most touchdown receptions in a postseason: 7 (2008)
 * Most receptions in a postseason: 30 (2008)
 * Most receiving yards in a postseason: 546 (2008)
 * Youngest player to reach 7,000 career receiving yards (26 years, 111 days)
 * Second youngest player reach 6,000 career receiving yards (26 years and 13 days)
 * Second youngest player to reach 9,000 career receiving yards (28 years, 81 days )
 * Second youngest player reach 10,000 career receiving yards (29 years, 34 days)
 * Third youngest player to reach 70 career receiving touchdowns (28 years, 74 days)
 * Youngest player to record 700 catches (29 years and 23 days old,)
 * Youngest player to record 800 catches (30 years, 57 days)
 * Youngest player to record 900 catches (31 years, 102 days)
 * Youngest player to reach 11,000 career receiving yards (30 years, 85 days )
 * Youngest player to reach 1,000 career receptions (31 years, 67 days)

Cardinals franchise records

 * Most career yards from scrimmage (12,214)
 * Most career receiving yards (12,151)
 * Most career receiving touchdowns (89)
 * Most career receptions (909)
 * Most seasons with 100+ receptions: 2 (tied with Anquan Boldin)
 * Most seasons with 1,000 receiving yards: 6
 * Most seasons with 10+ receiving touchdowns: 5