Arizona Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald named to NFL 100 All-Time Team
Dec 20, 2019, 6:52 PM | Updated: Dec 21, 2019, 11:48 am
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is one of the all-time greats and the NFL made that official Friday.
Fitzgerald was named to the NFL’s 100 All-Time Team, which has been revealed position-by-position. With quarterback and coach the two other spots left to be revealed, Fitzgerald at this time is the only current Cardinals player to make the list.
He joins nine other receivers to receive the honor: Jerry Rice, Raymond Berry, Don Hutson, Paul Warfield, Lance Alworth, Steve Largent, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison and Elroy Hirsch. A select panel of NFL observers is choosing the team in celebration of the league’s 100th season.
“It kind of is like a gut-punch, honestly, just to hear — the hair on my arms is standing up,” Fitzgerald said of the honor Thursday while joining Big Red Rage on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
“For the last 100 years, that’s amazing to think of how many guys have played in the game, it’s truly humbling.”
The 36-year-old is an 11-time Pro Bowler who has been remarkably consistent, as shown by him making that list despite being named a First Team All-Pro just once and a player of the week only four times.
Fitzgerald is second all-time in receptions (1,370) and receiving yards (16,990), sixth in receiving touchdowns (119) and 48th in games played (248).
The defining accomplishment that speaks to Fitzgerald’s career is him leading the league in receptions twice, once in 2005 (103) and again 11 years later with 107 in 2015, reflecting his ability to be a top-level talent from the jump and then so much later in his career.
This season, Fitzgerald has 67 receptions for 711 yards and three touchdowns, with those first two leading the team. Fitzgerald signed back with a one-year deal last offseason and is set to be a free agent at the end of this year.