Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, currently a free agent, finally gave an answer Friday as to how he feels about signing on for an 18th NFL season.
“For now, I’ll be a radio broadcaster. I just don’t have the urge to play right now,” Fitzgerald said on “Let’s Go,” a national SiriusXM show he is launching with Tom Brady and moderated by Jim Gray. “I don’t know how I’ll feel in September, October, November moving forward, but I just, today, I just don’t have the urge, and I think I have to be respectful of that. Football is not one of those games you want to walk out there and play and not be fully engaged and ready to prepare and do the things necessary that you need to do.”
Fitzgerald played his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals, who used the third overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft on him. He will turn 38 on Aug. 31.
With the Cardinals, he made 11 Pro Bowl teams and played in Super Bowl XLIII, a 27-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers to conclude the 2008 season.
If he chooses to retire, Fitzgerald’s election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, when he’s eligible, is certain. His 1,432 career receptions are second only to the legendary Jerry Rice (1,549), and he is second in receiving yards with 17,492, again trailing only Rice (22,895). He is sixth in touchdown receptions with 121, behind five current Hall of Fame members.
On Thursday, Cardinals general manger Steve Keim told The Arizona Republic that Fitzgerald would be welcomed back if he wanted to play.
“Every year it hasn’t been any different,” Keim said. “Larry represents himself and he and I will sit down and talk, and I’ve always told him, ‘Let me know what you want to do.’ That’s the kind of respect that he certainly deserves. Like (coach) Kliff (Kingsbury) said, the ball’s in his court. It’s truly up to him.
“He knows if he wants to be a Cardinal he can be a Cardinal. But at the same time, you don’t go tell Larry Fitzgerald or give him ultimatums. We’ve got too much respect for him to do that. If he wants to play, I know he’ll let us know he wants to play.”
