Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has fifth-highest celebrity influence in NFL

Arizona Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald may have not reached 1,000 yards receiving in any of his last three seasons, but his latest placement in a celebrity ranking confirms he’s not only still the face of the franchise, but also remains one of the faces of the league.

The Celebrity DBI index measures consumer perceptions of celebrities and then ranks the top 3,000-plus actors, musicians, CEOs, news personalities, politicians, athletes and more — all in one list. The index is powered by Dallas-based company The Marketing Arm.

ESPN recently discussed the top 10 NFL players in the Celebrity DBI rankings, as seen in the video below, and Fitzgerald was revealed to be fifth. Only Marcus Mariota (Tennessee), J.J. Watt (Houston), Russell Wilson (Seattle) and Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) ranked higher, respectively.

Yes, Mariota has yet to play a down in the NFL, but still came in first.

Mega-stars like Denver’s Peyton Manning and New Orleans’ Drew Brees were also in the top 10, but both came behind the Cardinals veteran wideout.

New England quarterback Tom Brady used to rank high on the list, but Bloomberg reported he took a significant plunge with the “DeflateGate” scandal, since the index considers fans’ trust in the celebrity, after all.

Fitzgerald, 31, will soon enter his 12th NFL season. He is 91 catches away from 1,000 for his career, and he needs only 137 yards to pass former Jacksonville receiver Jimmy Smith for 20th in all-time receiving yards. The Cardinals receiver sat out two contests in late November last year with a knee injury, his first time missing any games since 2007.