Larry Fitzgerald Teases Retirment After 17-Year NFL Career

It looks like Larry Fitzgerald might be retiring. The former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver appeared on his Sirius XM Radio show Let’s Go this week and Jim Gray asked him if he was going to play football this year. Fitzgerald didn’t completely rule out playing but is not getting himself ready to join an NFL team.

“For now, I’ll be a radio broadcaster,” Fitzgerald said per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. To be honest with you I just don’t have the urge to play right now. I don’t know how I’ll feel in September, October, November moving forward but I just, today, I just don’t have the urge. And I think I have to be respectful of that. Football is not one of those games you want to walk out there and play and not be fully engaged and ready to prepare and to do the things necessary that you need to do.”

In January 2020, Fitzgerald signed a one-year, $11 million contract with the Cardinals. He played in 13 games during the 2020 season and caught 54 passes for 409 yards and one touchdown, the lowest total in his career. Fitzgerald tested positive on COVID-19 on November 26 and was activated back to the roster on December 8.

Fitzgerald may not want to return to football right now, but the Cardinals are ready to have him back. The ball’s in his court,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said in July during training camp. In response to Fitzgerald not being with the Cardinals, All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Green was signed during the offseason. He will be the No. 2 wide receivers behind DeAndre Hopkins who had a monster 2020 season.

The Cardinals just missed the postseason last year, but with quarterback Kyler Murray entering his third year, he has a chance to lead the Cardinals to big things this year. “As he continues to get better at his position, in terms of his leadership, and his status is going to continue to grow, it’s going to be essential for him to continue to strengthen the relationship with guys in the locker room because what he’s going to accomplish on the field is going to be legendary,” Fitzgerald said on the Huddle & Flow podcast in September. “He’s just that talented.”

Fitzgerald was drafted No. 3 overall by the Cardinals in 2004. In his career, Fitzgerald has caught 1,432 passes for 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns. He is a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team and the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.