The Cardinals got some good news when longtime wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald committed to coming back for the 2019 season. Fitzgerald has spent all 15 of his NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and is now slated to play at least one more season with the team.
Larry Fitzgerald isn’t retiring, and no one is more excited than his Cardinals teammates
Fitzgerald is coming back for his 16th season.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
No one is happier than his fellow Arizona teammates, especially cornerback Patrick Peterson who was extremely delighted —and surprised! — to hear the news.
Josh Rosen is more than ready to keep throwing the ball to the future Hall of Famer:
Budda Baker and David Johnson both showed their elation on Twitter. David Johnson posted a video of Fitzgerald throwing him a touchdown pass against the Los Angeles Rams this season — the first touchdown pass of Fitzgerald’s career.
And receiver Christian Kirk, fresh off this rookie season, seemed pumped to play across from Fitzgerald for another season.
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell thought the hiring of head coach Kliff Kingsbury accelerated Fitzgerald’s decision to return for another season:
“I think they had a great conversation and he’s excited about focusing on the offense,” Bidwill said Wednesday. “Obviously, he was very disappointed as all of us were in 2018. He bleeds Cardinal red. He wants to be part of getting this turned around. It’s exciting he was able to make a quick decision and get right to it.”
At the end of the season, former Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks praised Fitzgerald for what he meant to the team and the NFL:
“I can’t really speak enough about Larry, not only what he brings to this organization, but to the shield itself, the National Football League,” Fitzgerald’s last NFL coach Steve Wilks said in December. “Just a true pillar of this league.”
Rosen noted that Fitzgerald always gave great effort during practice, even when it was clear that the Cardinals’ season was lost.
“We’re 3-and-whatever and Larry’s still balls to the wall in practice,” Rosen said. “He’s running and diving for balls. He sets a standard that’s really tough to match, and it’s a really good example for us young guys.”
It’s been an eventful couple of weeks for Fitzgerald. Last week, Fitzgerald made a hole-in-one while playing golf with Barack Obama.
Fitzgerald is coming off a season where he had a career low 734 yards — he’ll be looking to improve upon with the help of Kingsbury and his spread attack he’s bringing to the NFL.
See More:
