Larry Fitzgerald, 36 and still one of America’s best, is staying put. He signed a deal Wednesday that’ll see him wear the Arizona Cardinals red jersey for a 17th-straight NFL season.
His new contract is only for one year, but the veteran wide receiver is insisting that he has no intention of ever leaving his team. “Arizona and is where I started and it’s where I’ll finish,” he told reporters
Fitzgerald has played in 250 games for the Cardinals, who drafted him with the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.
Until then he had played college football at Pittsburgh, where he earned unanimous All-America honours.
Since then the 6ft 3in, 218 lb star wide receiver has been selected for the Pro Bowl eleven times. He was also named as a First-team All-Pro (2008) and Second-team All-Pro in 2009 and 2011.
He’s second only to legendary Gerry Rice
And as from September 29, 2019, he has been listed second only to the legendary Gerry Rice in NFL career receiving yards and career receptions.
He career passes totalled 17,083 yards and he had taken 1,378 receptions, 120 for touchdowns, at an average of 12.4 yards
He was also second in career NFL receptions, and sixth in receiving touchdowns.
This season, he’ been working with a rookie head coach, Kliff Kingsbury, and a rookie quarterback Kyler Murray. Yet despite this and his advancing years, Fitzgerald has managed to stay top of the class at Arizona. He’s taken 75 completed passes for 804 yards and four touchdowns.
“This season was among the most fun of my career,” he wrote on Twitter.
“The future is so bright for this team and I relish the opportunity to build with this talented young nucleus.
“Arizona is where I started and where I will finish. 2020! Let’s get to work!”
If Fitzgerald is to catch Rice, he‘s going to have to stick around for quite some time. Right now he is 5,812 yards behind Rice in receiving yards and has made 171 fewer catches.
This season was among the most fun of my career. The future is so bright for this team & I relish the opportunity to build with this talented young nucleus.
Arizona is where I started and where I will finish. 2020! Let’s get to work!#GoCards #RedSea @AZCardinals pic.twitter.com/ftNd85iFRj
— Larry Fitzgerald (@LarryFitzgerald) 15 January 2020