Fitzgerald speaks out on Cardinals, Pro Bowl
Jan 25, 2013, 5:49 PM | Updated: 5:57 pm
With the NFL Pro Bowl approaching, the Arizona Cardinals’ pro bowlers are participating in practices in Hawaii throughout the week.
Patrick Peterson, Daryl Washington and Larry Fitzgerald, as expected, are facing questions in regards to their new head coach and their 2012 season gone bad.
“For me and my team, it wasn’t a good year to be quite honest with you,” Fitzgerald told NFL Network. “We’re a long way from where we need to be, (and) I’m a long way from where I know I can be. So we’re excited about the new season.”
Fitzgerald also touched on the firing of the staff that worked with him over the last six seasons — all of which ended in Pro Bowl appearances.
“It’s a tough business,” Fitzgerald said. “We lost some good coaches, but that’s part of the business.”
The hiring of new head coach Bruce Arians was a topic discussed with Fitzgerald for the first time on camera, as he has been on his annual vacationing rendezvous.
“I think he’s a phenomenal coach,” Fitzgerald said. “I got a chance to talk to him and met with him a couple times. He’s really excited. He’s offensive minded. Look at what he was able to accomplish in Indy with everything that transpired there that season, with a rookie quarterback (and) coach Pagano being sick. He had a lot of adversity to overcome and he was able to keep that team together.”
With this being Fitzgerald’s seventh Pro Bowl appearance — most by any offensive Cardinal in franchise history –, he is taking this year’s the most serious, as the Pro Bowl has been harshly criticized of the lackluster play by its athletes. The threat of the Pro Bowl leaving Hawaii — or even cancelled — is closer now than ever, and the players realize that.
“It’s a privilege to be here among some of the great players in our league,” Fitzgerald said. “We understand this is a big game, a big year. We want to keep it hear in Hawaii. We love it (here).”
