It's Larry Fitzgerald's weekend in the desert, and the Arizona Cardinals' legend couldn't be more thankful for the Red Sea as he prepares to enter the team's Ring of Honor.
“Just how much I appreciate them. What it meant to be able to don that Cardinals helmet, the memories that we've been able to share out there in Glendale. I still remember 2006 like it was yesterday," Fitzgerald told reporters this weekend when asked about Arizona fans.
"We had that preseason opener with the stadium patch against the Steelers. Just the electricity driving up to the stadium, first time pulling in the A lot and seeing all the people up on top of the stands cheering and just the energy that I received all those times coming into that place and the love that I receive still to this day going around in the community. I just want to be able to reiterate how much that has meant to me and my family and something that I'll never forget.”
Fitzgerald, after being inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame earlier this year, will go into the Cardinals' Ring of Honor as the team plays host to the Denver Broncos in Week 7.
Reflecting in a press conference with reporters, Fitzgerald said he doesn't take seeing the flurry of No. 11 jerseys lightly.
"I felt like the responsibility was a lot more when I was playing," Fitzgerald continued on being asked about emerging as an Arizona sports icon.
"I'm washed now and the kids are like, 'Hey, you're Larry Fitzgerald.' I say, 'Yeah, yeah.' They're like, 'My dad used to really like you. My dad used to really like you.' So it's kind of moved on, but I always remember driving to the stadium and (I'd be) looking out in the stands and looking out into the people walking around and I'm like, 'Man, there's a lot 11 jerseys there.' I'm saying (to myself) most of those kids I know didn't have the money to buy them and being a parent now, I'm not going to buy my kid a jersey of a player that I don't respect if they don't play hard or they're not active in their community.
"There's a criteria that we all would have as a parent to be OK with our son wearing or our daughter wearing their jersey, so that responsibility was never lost on me. I still think to a certain degree that I have it, but it's not like I'm in the spotlight like (TE) Trey (McBride) is or how (S) Budda (Baker) is or 'J Love' (RB Jeremiyah Love) is. They're in the fight every single day, so I think the onus is a little bit higher with them.”
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