Marcus and Larry Fitzgerald Jr. were both in school when they lost their mother Carol to breast cancer five years ago.
Paul Connors, AP
Sharing The Dream
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald returns to the Twin Cities every April to support the causes his late mother, Carol, took on: HIV/AIDS prevention, breast cancer awareness and minority education.
CARDINALS REACH AGREEMENT WITH WR LARRY FITZGERALD
Tempe, AZ – The Arizona Cardinals Football Club today announced that the team has agreed to terms on a four-year contract with wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD. The new deal will keep him under contract with Arizona through the 2011 season. In accordance with club policy, terms were not disclosed.
Fitzgerald was selected to his second Pro Bowl last season after recording an NFC leading 100 receptions for 1,409 yards and a team leading 10 touchdowns. The 100 receptions gave him his second 100-catch season of his career, joining teammate Anquan Boldin as the only players in franchise history to record two 100-catch seasons.
The 24-year old Minneapolis native was first selected to the Pro Bowl following the 2005 season after he set a franchise record with 103 receptions for 1,409 yards and 10 touchdowns, also becoming the youngest receiver in NFL history to record a 100-catch campaign that season when he was 22 years old.
Originally the third overall selection in the 2004 NFL Draft out of Pittsburgh, Fitzgerald has started in all 60 games in which he has appeared with the Cardinals collecting 330 receptions for 4,544 yards (13.8 yard avg.) and 34 touchdowns.
- azcardinals.com -
Fitz Gets a New Four-Year Deal
Cardinals, Pro Bowl receiver finally agree on contract By DARREN URBAN
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald signed a new four-year contract Tuesday that puts him in a deal through the 2011 season.
The contract saga of the Cardinals and Larry Fitzgerald ended Tuesday when the Pro Bowl wide receiver agreed to a new four-year contract worth a reported $40 million.
And it even ended dramatically, with Fitzgerald signing his contract moments before boarding a plane that would eventually take him on a three-week vacation to Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Chile.
Larry Fitzgerald was due to leave on a vacation to South America a little after noon Tuesday and hoped to drop into the Cardinals offices in Tempe that morning, sign his new four-year contract and be on his way.
But his agent, Eugene Parker, was not finished going over the details, and Fitzgerald was worried about missing his flight. So the Cardinals and Fitzgerald went mobile, traveling to Sky Harbor Airport to finish the deal.
By 12:40 p.m., Fitzgerald was signed, sealed and departed, the deal finalized at a Terminal 3 Starbucks.
Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL
Arizona Cardinals two-time Pro Bowl WR Larry Fitzgerald is one of the best pure athletes in the National Football League. He grew up around the game. Larry was a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings when Randy Moss and Cris Carter were wearing the Purple. He moved on to star at my alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, where he was one of the most decorated receivers in Big East Conference history. Then as an NFL player himself, few have been able to compare to his combination of size (6′3″ 226), speed and ball skills. Add a dogged desire and determination and you’ve got all the ingredients of a superstar at his sport.
The Arizona Cardinals have been called all of that -- and more -- over the years. Much of it has been justified. For years, the Cardinals were an organization that didn't want to spend to be good. Part of it was they couldn't.
Fitzgerald in four seasons: 330 catches, 4,554 yards and 34 touchdowns. (US Presswire)
They played in a college stadium with a bad lease and no club seats. Revenue was tight. That has changed. With a new, shiny stadium that produces plenty of revenue and president Michael Bidwill, the son of owner Bill Bidwill, much more active in the organization and seemingly much more willing to spend, those nasty words aren't coming the Cardinals way as much anymore.
These aren't the same Cardinals, including at the negotiating table. Which brings us to receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
The Cardinals have put themselves into a tough situation with Fitzgerald, their star player, because he has hit accelerators in his contract that raise his salary to $14.6 million in 2008 and $17.4 million in 2009. Even with the cap at $116 million, that's way too much money for one player.
The Cardinals want to keep Fitzgerald but not at those numbers. They've hinted that they might be forced to release players and won't be able to add new ones in free-agency. They might not be able to re-sign linebacker Calvin Pace, a player they want back.
Fitzgerald's deal doesn't work financially the way it is. But the Cardinals have said they will keep Fitzgerald, no matter what.
So these are the options: Keep him and possibly cut some of his friends to make it happen -- weakening the team in the process -- or give him a new long-term deal. The Cardinals are trying to get the latter done, but so far they've reached no deal.
By JUDD ZULGAD, Star Tribune February 23, 2008 INDIANAPOLIS — The Vikings' need for a top-flight receiver would make Holy Angels graduate Larry Fitzgerald Jr. a seemingly very attractive option considering his contract issues with the Arizona Cardinals. Only one problem: Arizona isn't planning to move the two-time Pro Bowl selection. "We're negotiating with Larry to try to restructure his deal," Rod Graves, Cardinals vice president of football operations, said Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "At this point, we do know that he's going to remain a Arizona Cardinal. He has a huge cap number going into the '08 season, so obviously we're trying to restructure it. But regardless of whether we have success with that or not he will remain a Cardinal. We will not trade him." And then Graves backtracked a bit, saying: "Let me just say this, that's certainly not our intention. I never say never to anything." Fitzgerald, four seasons into his six-year rookie contract, is slated to count a whopping $16 million against Arizona's salary cap in 2008. By catching 330 passes for 4,544 yards and 34 touchdowns in his NFL career, he has reached several escalator clauses built into his contract. Fitzgerald, 24, caught 100 passes for 1,409 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. According to a recent report in the Arizona Republic, the Cardinals are believed to have made a multiyear offer that would make him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
CARDINALS TO FLY WITHNAVY’S FAMED “BLUE ANGELS”
Tempe, AZ – On Wednesday, January 30, Cardinals President MICHAEL BIDWILL and Pro Bowl wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD will each take flight in an F-18 Hornet along with a pilot from the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels.
