In their words: Boldin, Arians, Peterson and more on Larry Fitzgerald’s HOF career

Arizona Cardinals legend Larry Fitzgerald will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. As we count down until his celebratory moment, fellow Cardinals greats Anquan Boldin and Bruce Arians, the Hall of Famer himself and more have stopped by Arizona Sports’ shows to reflect on his illustrious career.

Whether Fitzgerald was making highlight catches on the field, spending extra time with the fans or making a difference in the community, the Hall of Famer was beloved in Arizona during his 17-year career and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest sports figures in the Valley.

Here are the highlights from a week full of Fitzgerald memories.

Anquan Boldin marvels at Larry Fitzgerald’s jump-ball ability

“You can just throw the ball up, and for him it’s not a 50-50 ball, it’s more like an 80-20,” Boldin told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke. “The way that he caught the ball, it’s a skill set that a lot of people don’t have. He makes it look so easy and so effortless that people don’t really understand like it’s the true art.

 

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“Like to see him go up and out-muscle a DB or jump over somebody’s head, or to track a ball over his left shoulder. I mean, it’s truly a work of art, and people don’t understand the amount of work that goes into that.”

Bruce Arians admires Fitzgerald’s reliability

Arians coached Fitzgerald for five seasons in Arizona, which included a trip to the NFC Conference Championship Game.

The former Cardinals coach shared memories with Bickley & Marotta of switching Fitz’s receiver position and the adjustment that came with it, breaking down the legends’ highlight plays and, most importantly, the character behind the player on the field.

“I think the two major words that come to great players are accountability and availability. Larry was extremely accountable every single day,” Arians said. “He didn’t miss practice. Never missed games. He was always there, and you could always count on him to give you his best. He’s a great leader.

 

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“Be selfless. Score (a) touchdown, hand the ball to the referee and go celebrate with your teammates. That’s what I think Larry’s known for, just being a great teammate and never wanted it all on himself. Never wanted the spotlight in those situations.”

Kurt Warner remembers Fitzgerald’s coachability

Fitzgerald has credited Warner with being a major influence and mentor for him early in his career, helping him grow up in the NFL. It was the Cardinals receiver’s ability to take advice and coaching and act on it that Warner remembers.

“The thing that I always loved about Larry and appreciated about Larry was that when you challenged him, he always stepped up to the challenge,” Warner told Bickley & Marotta. “He always looked at that as, A) show you or whoever was challenging him, or B) to listen to that and continually be coachable.

“I remember challenging him early on with his route running and how he stepped up to the challenge.”

Warner gave another example of when former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley challenged Fitz to be the best blocker, so he could be the most complete player.

“(Haley) would pull out highlights, after challenging him, of Larry running down the field faster than he runs a route and laying a block for somebody that’s spring (him),” Warner recalled.

Then Arians had one of the biggest challenges for Fitzgerald of his career, which ended up building him further into the Hall of Fame receiver he became.

Arians wanted Fitzgerald to move inside and the wideout did not want to. But he accepted the challenge, and thrives in that role.

“He had some of his most productive years once he was challenged to move inside and and took on that challenge and evolved as a player,” Warner said. “I think that’s just a teaching point and a learning point for all of us that no matter how good you are, no matter what you’ve accomplished, you always have to stay coachable. You always have to listen and learn and try to evolve.

“That’s why Larry is the first-ballot Hall of Famer. That’s why he’s one of the greatest to ever of play. That’s why his numbers are where they are. He never stopped taking that coaching, applying it and using it to sharpen him and get better.”

Patrick Peterson saw the detail-oriented star

“With him doing the little things (stood out) to me. When we was in practice, I never forget, every time he caught a ball, he finished in the end zone (after the play was called dead),” Peterson told Wolf & Luke. “You never see many receivers doing that. I always asked him, ‘Why do you finish every catch, no matter if it was at the minus-10-yard line (in the end zone)?’ He wanted to finish because he wanted to take those characteristics into the game.

“At the end of the day, you’re going to be breaking tackles throughout the game, and you just don’t want to not know what to do once that do happen. He was just putting himself in the right mindframe.”

Kelvin Beachum sees Fitzgerald as the star who happened to be a prankster

“He’s mastered what it means to be a part of the people business in the locker room,” Beachum told Wolf & Luke. “When you hear the stories and there are so many, even his relationships with defensive linemen. Especially as he got later on in his career, they would bring us outside the box from time to time. He would de-cleat D-ends from time to time.

“The thing is, man, he was a jokester. … I know many people remember the clip, I think it was Lisa Salters, he brought out the smelling salts and put it in front of her nose. And Kurt Warner, he hog-tied him around his legs.”

Dave Pasch remembers Larry Fitzgerald’s acts of service, respect for others

Pasch was the Cardinals play-by-play announcer for 24 years (2002-2025) and the entirety of Fitzgerald’s career. Pasch watched the Hall of Famer grow from a rookie to become the face of the franchise, and his ability to do so with respect and honor amazed Pasch.

The former Cardinals broadcaster shared a memory with Bickley & Marotta from early in Fitzgerald’s career, already displaying the type of person he was.

“My wife had a real big health scare and …  I had to miss a college football game. My phone rings and it’s Larry. Larry called me just to check on me, to check on my family and I’ll never forget that,” Pasch said. “At that point he’s probably 24 years old and …  I don’t know how well we knew each other but that’s kind of who Larry is. He’s very thoughtful of others, very considerate of others.”

Pasch said he didn’t even know how Fitzgerald found out about his wife’s health scare. He also shared a memory of back when he would eat with the team in the meal room.

“I just remember in the meal room … with the team he would be somebody that would come sit with us. You’d see sometimes him sitting with the training staff, sometimes he’d be with the doctors,” Pasch said. “He understood what it meant to be the face of a franchise and that meant you treated everybody with respect and honor.

“Those are two things about Larry and the person that makes me thrilled for him because just knowing what’s in his heart.”

Cris Collinsworth explains the skillset that made Fitzgerald great

Collinsworth followed a long career as an NFL receiver (1981-88) with a long career in the booth, where he covered Fitzgerald’s career.

“A) I think he was so big and strong,” Collinsworth told Wolf & Luke. “B) he believed that he didn’t have to think about catching the football. It just stuck to his hands. … The catch and run that he made to take the lead in the fourth quarter (of the Super Bowl) will go down as one of the greatest plays we’ve ever seen. That playoff run that he had, I’m really hard-pressed to come up with anybody that did anything better than what he did.”

 

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Fitzgerald’s ‘passion for people’ stood out to Lorenzo Alexander

Alexander only spent two seasons of his 13-year career in Arizona, but that was plenty of time for Fitzgerald to leave a lasting impact.

“One of the great competitors but just had a childlike passion. He just loved every single day when he showed up and you love being around that,” Alexander told Wolf & Luke. “What extends beyond that, his passion to serve others, especially in the community and seeing how he leverages his platform … and he’s still doing that today. So he definitely has a champion’s heart on and off the field.

“Fitz is not a rah rah. He is not that, but he’ll go out there and moss. But all that work you saw happened in practice. That’s what you got to see as a player and you saw this greatness. You’re like, ‘A dude gifted like that, is working like that. I need to up my game because I’m not gifted like that.'”

Alexander added sometimes you hear stuff about players and it’s different from what you experience, but Fitzgerald lived a “singular life.”

“Who you see is what you get. Perception is reality,” Alexander said. “He genuinely loves people.”

Larry Fitzgerald reflects on historic 2008 playoff run

“When I go back and I look, there are things I wish I may have prioritized more, that I would have understood how fleeting these experiences were, because you guys talked about the 2008 run, when I was in it, I was like ‘I’m gonna be back here again,’” Fitzgerald told Wolf & Luke. “I’m coming back here. I don’t think you really understand how rarefied that is.”

“I was definitely in the zone. That’s kind of really what I felt like. The game just was very slow to me. I never experienced it again like that,” Fitzgerald added.

The Cardinals legend reminisced on the love he received when he got home after that run as well.

“I got home that night and on my door, I had like baked cakes and flowers and cards and posters and all type of stuff,” Fitzgerald said. “The community really just turned up. Literally, there was like 30 things on my doorstep when I got home. And then throughout the course of the week, people were giving me things for Tampa, like ‘Here, you need some slippers.’

 

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“People were so into it. It was amazing. I got the cards, the handwritten notes from adults and kids. I’ll be at a restaurant and people will send notes over and put them on my car, in the windshield wipers. It was a cool, cool time.”