Tag: Larry Fitzgerald

Larry Fitzgerald to receive Musial Award for Extraordinary Character

Fitz will receive the 2024 Musial Award for Extraordinary Character at the awards ceremony on Nov. 23 at the Stifel Theatre in St. Louis.

He becomes eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026 after a 17-year career with the Arizona Cardinals and is considered a sure-fire first-ballot enshrinee.

However, another honor is coming Larry Fitzgerald’s way earlier when he will receive the 2024 Musial Award for Extraordinary Character at the awards ceremony on Nov. 23 at the Stifel Theatre in St. Louis.

Fitzgerald joins broadcaster Bob Costas, who will be presented the 2024 Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award for Sportsmanship at the 2024 Musial Awards. Numerous people throughout the country are also honored for acts of sportsmanship.

The Musial Award for Extraordinary Character annually recognizes an individual who demonstrates remarkable class, perseverance, and overall sportsmanship.

Said Marc Schrieber, president of the St. Louis Sports Commission, which produces the awards, “Larry exemplifies all that’s right in sports. A true class act, we admire the honorable way he played the game and his dedication to making an immense difference through his philanthropic efforts. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize Larry and celebrate the excellence, generosity, respect and goodwill he embodies.”

Presented by Maryville University in St. Louis, the awards are produced by the St. Louis Sports Commission and the National Sportsmanship Foundation, a charitable nonprofit organization. In addition to keeping the legacy of Stan Musial alive, the mission of the Musial Awards is to encourage kindness, selflessness, integrity and civility in sports and society – and to inspire people across the nation to be good sports. The event has occurred in St. Louis since 2005.

Known as The Most Inspiring Night in Sports®, the Musials will be packaged into a one-hour special that airs throughout the country on CBS in December.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

11 days till the Cardinals’ season opener against the Bills

It is Larry Fitzgerald days away from the Cardinals’ season opener!

The Arizona Cardinals trimmed their roster to 53 players and now await practice squad additions, waiver wire additions and potentially other moves in free agency.

They are only 11 days away from their first game of the regular season, which will be on the road September 8 against the Buffalo Bills.

No. 11 is a number that won’t likely ever be used again, as it will most certainly be retired.

It belonged to receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who is arguably the best Cardinals player in franchise history.

He spent 17 years with the team and has every career franchise receiving record. He is second in NFL-all-time history in receptions and receiving yards, behind only Jerry Rice. He will certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

The countdown continues!

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Justin Jefferson’s contract extension is comparable to legends before him

Justin Jefferson is well on his way to being one of the best wide receivers of his generation, both on the field and financially.

Justin Jefferson is well on his way to being one of the best wide receivers of his generation, both on the field and financially.

Jefferson and the Vikings have agreed to four-year, $140 million extension, which was reported Monday.

Bill Barnwell of ESPN pointed out that the Vikings financially locked Jefferson into a deal comparable to those that legends at his position before him had. The money per year is, of course, higher, but the percentage of the team’s salary cap remains similar.

Barnwell points out that Jefferson’s contract takes up 13.7% of the Vikings’ cap. It aligns with the deals that Larry Fitzgerald signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2011 and Calvin Johnson with the Detroit Lions in 2012.

Those contracts were both for eight years compared with the four years that Jefferson got. The Vikings’ overall salary cap total is also greater over a shorter period of time.

To Jefferson’s benefit, however, his deal comes when he is much younger than Fitzgerald and Johnson were when they got their extensions. Jefferson will turn 25 this month, while Fitzgerald was 28 and Johnson was 26 at the time of their deals.

How Larry Fitzgerald somehow became part of the Terry McDonough story

Larry Fitzgerald is a character in the odd story between the Cardinals and former team exec Terry McDonough.

The Arizona Cardinals were ordered to pay former executive Terry McDonough $3 million for defamatory statements they made publicly after he filed a grievance for wrongful termination and other things.

ESPN’s Tisha Thompson has the full report and revealed an interesting fact that somehow includes legendary receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

How?

Arbitrator Jeffrey Mishkin detailed how the Cardinals got info related to spousal abuse allegations they referred to in their public response to McDnough’s grievance.

In September 2018, former Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald received an unsolicited letter from McDonough’s former father-in-law accusing McDonough of abandoning his daughter. Fitzgerald gave the letter to a team executive who “did not notify Mr. Bidwill of the allegations in the letter” but instead “put the letter in Mr. McDonough’s employment file and never spoke a word of it to Mr. Bidwill until nearly five years later,” when the team searched McDonough’s “emails and files for potential content to include” in its statement, according to Mishkin’s decision.

This raises all sorts of questions. Why did the former father-in-law send it Fitzgerald? Why wasn’t Bidwill told? Why didn’t anyone follow up before making public comments about McDonough’s character without real knowledge of the situation?

This continues to be an ugly situation that hopefully will have some sort of conclusion soon.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

9 star-studded PGA Tour pro and celebrity pairings at the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

These pairs are going to be fun to watch.

The second signature event of the PGA Tour’s 2024 season is here as a loaded field of 80 pros has descended upon Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterey Peninsula.

The amateurs in the field will play alongside their partners for the first two rounds — one at Pebble Beach, one at Spyglass Hill — before it’s just the pros at Pebble Beach over the weekend.

Among the world’s best in the field are Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa.

Pebble Pro-Am: Picks to win, odds | Sleepers

As for the amateurs, here are nine star-studded pairings for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

A.J. Brown names his top 5 wide receivers of all time with a warning to older players

Philadelphia #Eagles A.J. Brown names his top 5 wide receivers of all time with a warning to older players

A.J. Brown is one of the best pass catchers in football, and after three straight monster performances, he’s second in the NFL in receiving yards (672), and he’s on pace for close to 1,900 yards after six games.

Brown and the Eagles are preparing for Tyreek Hill and the Miami Dolphins, with their speedy pass catcher leading the league with 814 yards, and he cruises towards 2,000+ yards on the season.

On Friday, the Eagles All-Pro was asked to name his top five wide receivers all time, and he’s catching some flak for excluding some massive names.

Brown joked that he meant no disrespect to any older player left off his list.

DraftKings to open first-of-its-kind sportsbook in partnership with PGA Tour

DraftKings and the PGA Tour are calling this a “first-of-its-kind partnership”.

Ten months after breaking ground, the DraftKings Sportsbook at TPC Scottsdale is ready for its grand opening.

Former Arizona Cardinals receiver and avid golfer Larry Fitzgerald will make the ceremonial first bet on Thursday, Oct. 19, which is also when they’ll hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The sportsbook opens to the public on Oct. 20 at 10 a.m.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was at the groundbreaking last December. He said there was a time when he couldn’t envision a sportsbook opening at the site of one of the Tour’s venues but admitted if he had, “this would have been the location I would have said.”

Well, now it’s a reality, this first-of-its-kind partnership between DraftKings and the PGA Tour. The 13,000-square-foot venue is about a 5-iron away from the TPC Scottsdale clubhouse. The sea of fans that descend on the WM Phoenix Open next February won’t have a difficult time finding the place.

There will be 40 betting kiosks, seven ticket windows and 3,400-square feet of video walls showing that day’s sports action. There’s also a dining area and a huge sports bar that opens up to a patio with cabanas and firepits.

Ron Price, COO of the PGA Tour, and Jennifer Aguiar, DraftKings Chief Compliance Officer, are scheduled to be in attendance along with Fitzgerald. Former ESPN personality Mike Golic will emcee the event.

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5 Cardinals named best to wear their uniform number in NFL history

Larry Fitzgerald headlines five former Cardinals who were the best to wear their uniform number in history

The NFL offseason brings innumerable lists and rankings. It is just what happens when there are no NFL happenings.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar put together a list of the player in NFL history that was the best for each uniform number.

Several players who played for the Arizona or St. Louis Cardinals made the cut. Check them out below.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

100 days till Cardinals’ season opener: Stats for No. 100

Here are a few “100” stats as the Cardinals are 100 days from their season opener.

We have officially made it to the final 100 days off the offseason. The Arizona Cardinals will kick off the 2023 regular season in 100 days on September 10 on the road against the Washington Commanders.

It will be the official beginning of the Jonathan Gannon era as head coach.

In our countdown until the start of the season, we will give you notable stats in Cardinals history related to the number of the day.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.