GLENDALE, Ariz. — Down and out for decades, the Arizona Cardinals have turned a bad joke into a Super Bowl-bound team.
Yes, the Cardinals, founding members of the NFL but historically among the most dysfunctional of franchises, are heading for the championship game in Tampa, Fla.
Capitalizing on Larry Fitzgerald's three first-half touchdown receptions, then coolly marching downfield to Kurt Warner's 8-yard scoring pass to rookie Tim Hightower with 2:53 left, they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 Sunday for the NFC championship.
A big-time Cardinals fan here at the Dark Tower passed along an online listing for a cool figurine that was released last February.
It's a "Super Bowl XLII: Larry Fitzgerald" limited edition from McFarlane Toys.
And, man, it would really be scary if it had XLIII attached to it.
It captures Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals' glue-fingered receiver, in a pose very familiar to anybody who watched the Arizona-Carolina playoff game.
The "prone figure measures 7 1/2 inches from head to toe, and hovers 3 3/4 inches above a 5 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch custom base," according to its description.
It also has "limited articulation at neck and biceps."
As he leads the turnaround of a longtime NFL doormat, Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowl receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr. is driven not to repeat his own history.
Memories of the last time he was on the sideline for an NFC championship game are still fresh.
The Minneapolis native was a ball boy at the Metrodome on Jan. 17, 1999, when the 16-1 Vikings were heavily favored to beat the Atlanta Falcons in the conference final. Fitzgerald and his younger brother Marcus were fired up because their father, Twin Cities sports journalist Larry Fitzgerald Sr., had promised they could travel to Super Bowl XXXIII.
As entertainer Will Smith said in a hit released earlier that winter, the Fitzgerald boys were "going to Miami."
Larry Fitzgerald rarely drops the ball, except metaphorically.
The news-media-shy Arizona Cardinals wide receiver frequently turns down opportunities to enhance his "Q" rating. A national audience caught a glimpse of this in the final minutes of the team's divisional playoff victory against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday when celebratory sideline shots included Fitzgerald shaking his head at a team employee who was sharing Fox's request for a postgame on-the-field TV interview.
You are one of the NFL's top three receivers. You're well-spoken, well-rounded, well-traveled. You've hiked Machu Picchu and bungee-jumped in Auckland, New Zealand, but it's Madison Avenue that could be your most rewarding destination. Who are you, Larry Fitzgerald?
Notes from the press box at Bank of America Stadium for Panthers - Cardinals.
It's an easily arguable point that Larry Fitzgerald was the main reason why the Arizona Cardinals are headed to their first NFC Championship game in franchise history. (You could also say "Jake Delhomme is the real answer, but there's no need to be a jerkstore.) Fitzy put on a masterful first-half show, compiling a franchise record for receiving yards before the Panthers even had time to make adjustments.
Usually he compiles these stats quietly. But the word from he and his teammates is that Larry changed his normal behavior on the sidelines and amped up his attitude. Just ask Antonio Smith:
Normally, he doesn't [talk much] and today he did. And when somebody who is normally quiet finally says something and it means something and they are showing it with their play, it flows through everybody. I think everybody felt it and everybody turned their motor up.
Fitzgerald acknowledged as much -- insofar as the talking, although he played it down to a degree.
I get excited every once in a while, but I try to keep my cool and make sure I am being accountable for myself and to my teammates.
Now, whether Larry's performance stemmed from his dad's presence (he was in the press room for a Minnesota newspaper), his boosted emotion, or the fact that the Panthers apparently, according to Anquan Boldin, "stuck to the same scheme" defensively is hard to tell. More than likely, it's a combination of the three, but after watching the Cats get torched over and over again, it's not that tough to give most of the "credit" to the Carolina coaching staff.
Billick wowed by Fitzgerald, not so impressed with Eli
Brian Billick always has interesting insights, and he's picking it up as the postseason continues ...
-- Billick is very impressed with Cardinals receiver LarryFitzgerald. Billick remembers him as a ballboy from Minnesota when Billick was the offensive coordinator. Billick called the Panthers not paying more attention to Fitzgerald a "head-scratcher."
Studs and Duds, Divisional Weekend: Larry Fitzgerald's Balls Never Dropped
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - You’d have thought the Carolina Panthers’ defensive game plan would have been simple Saturday. Stop Larry Fitzgerald.
After all, Arizona’s running game hasn’t exactly been hitting on all cylinders this season. Plus, wide receiver Anquan Boldin missed practice all week with a hamstring strain and was declared inactive before the game.
Stop Fitzgerald, and Carolina would likely shut down the Cardinals.
Instead, the Panthers acted as if Fitzgerald was just another receiver, and he made them pay, catching eight passes for 166 yards and a touchdown in the Cardinals’ 33-13 victory.
Arizona Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald runs upfield after a catch against the Carolina Panthers. Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009.
On Thursday, we ran a blog entry with the headline, "Experts think Delhomme will surprise this week." Well, we were right...just not in the way we meant to be right.
We thought Jake Delhomme would play well against a Cardinals' defense that allowed the most TD passes (36) in the NFL this year, but instead, Delhommethrew five interceptions and lost a fumble in Arizona's 33-13 victory over Carolina on Saturday. Larry Fitzgerald (pictured) led the way for the Cardinals with eight catches for 166 yards and a TD.
The Carolina Panthers were nothing more than strangers in their own house.
For the first three minutes of the second-round playoff game last night they looked like they belonged, scoring the first touchdown. But after that the Arizona Cardinals roughed them up pretty good to the tune of a 33-13 victory at Bank of America Stadium.
One of the problems that the Panthers encountered was the hot duo of quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. They did the most damage to the Panthers' secondary.
"We are still trying to soak up what just happened," cornerback Ken Lucas said in the quiet Carolina locker room. "Once you make the playoffs you have no room for error. You don't get a chance to do this over again next week, so it's tough for us to go out there and have our worst game of the season when it mattered the most."
CHARLOTTE - Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald hardly had fond memories of Bank of America Stadium entering Saturday's NFC Divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers.
After all, his college career at Pittsburgh ended in the stadium and he had lost his only previous pro game here earlier this season.
But all that will mean little to Fitzgerald today - or after his dominating performance sparked the Cardinals to a 33-13 rout of the Panthers.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Just moments before Arizona would bludgeon the Carolina Panthers to a matted, bloodied pulp, a small group of Cardinals players gathered in a circle and passed around a small object.
It was a tiny ammonia capsule. Around and around the capsule went, passing from hand to hand. Each player put the capsule under his nose, took a whiff, and then jumped excitedly, before handing it to the next guy down the line. The capsules were originally designed to wake unconscious people but are now used by some players as makeshift, short-term performance enhancers with the ammonia fumes providing a metabolic kick-start.
With Larry Fitzgerald in the zone, it didn't matter what time zone the Arizona Cardinals were in.
Led by their superstar wide receiver, the Cardinals snapped their East Coast jinx with a stunning 33-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Saturday night in the NFC divisional round.
Despite being a double-digit underdog and sporting an 0-5 record this season in states bordering the Atlantic Ocean, the surprising Cardinals shellacked the turnover-riddled Panthers behind the wondrous play of Fitzgerald.
Voted as a starter to the Pro Bowl this season along with fellow wideout Anquan Boldin and quarterback Kurt Warner, Fitzgerald reeled in eight catches for 166 yards and a touchdown to help Arizona end an even bigger drought.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Superman couldn't play Saturday night. A nagging left hamstring kept Anquan Boldin from bursting out of the phone booth and flying to the rescue.
Good thing for the Cardinals they have another dynamic caped crusader.
With their gladiator receiver stuck on the sideline, the Cardinals turned to their slick, jumping-jack wideout, Larry Fitzgerald, who responded with the game of his life.
Despite a Week 17 win over Seattle, many analysts considered the Cardinals to be "limping" into the playoffs and destined to lose their first-round game. Apparently, the Cardinals didn't listen to the analysts.
Larry Fitzgerald (pictured) had six catches for 101 yards and a TD and made up for the loss of Anquan Boldin (hamstring) during Arizona's 30-24 victory against Atlanta.
Larry Fitzgerald couldn't sleep. He felt restless and annoyed. His mind was consumed with a play few would remember the following morning.
Against the Seahawks in the final regular-season game, Fitzgerald made a one-handed, wrong-handed catch on the sideline. It was a play most receivers make every few years. It's the kind of play Fitzgerald makes every week, and each time, they look easier and easier.
He also caught a game-changing touchdown pass while being smothered by Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant. Fitzgerald is so strong and in control of a play that he often seems oblivious to great defense, and when this one was over, Trufant was stupefied. He made gyrations of disgust and disbelief.
Alltel Wireless, the official wireless partner of the Arizona Cardinals, is teaming with star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to give away 50 pairs of tickets to the Arizona Cardinals v. Atlanta Falcons game playoff game to the first 50 fans that visit Alltel’s retail location 2010 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe. on Monday, Dec. 29.
Alltel will also be raffling a few pairs of tickets to the Cardinals first-ever playoff game in Arizona during the store event.
These are among the hottest tickets ever for a Cardinals game and they are free on a first-come, first-served basis. Alltel recommends that fans arrive at the store early to secure their place in line for a chance to witness the NFC West Champions make history the weekend of January 3, 2009 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
Fitzgerald will be on hand, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Alltel Wireless store to distribute the tickets, talk to fans and sign autographs.
