The farewell never really came, not with a Covid-infested country during his final NFL season and realistically, not with Larry Fitzgerald the player who would have to deliver the farewell.
“I’m a Fitzgerald, so there’s some Irish in there a long, long way back,” Fitzgerald said with a smile, “and so the Irish goodbye is kind of my thing.”
Five years later, the goodbye will finally happen. Sunday, the Cardinals Hall of Fame wide receiver will be triple-honored at halftime of the game against the Denver Broncos, receiving his Hall of Fame ring, going into the team’s Ring of Honor, and having his iconic No. 11 number retired.
Fitzgerald, speaking Thursday ahead of a Fitzgerald-themed Legends weekend for the Cardinals, joked that he felt like his goodbye “was over Zoom,” but at the time, the only way people knew Fitzgerald was done was simply that he didn’t sign a contract to play an 18th season. (He explained that reasoning when he was in Canton in August.)
Fans just wanted a chance to say goodbye on their own terms to the most popular player in franchise history. This will be that moment.
“I want to say just how much I appreciate (the fans),” Fitzgerald said. “What it meant to be able to don that Cardinals helmet. You know the memories that we’ve been able to share out there in Glendale.
“Just the energy that I received all those times coming into that place and the love that I receive still to this day, going around in the community. I just want to be able to reiterate how much that has meant to me and my family and is something that I will never forget.”