If you’ve been trying to figure out whether Larry Fitzgerald will retire or come back for an 18th NFL season, the man himself just gave a pretty strong clue.
The Arizona Cardinals legend discussed his future in football in a recording of his new SiriusXM radio show “Let’s Go” with broadcaster Jim Gray. He made it sound like a return isn’t planned for the immediate future, but stopped short of saying he has retired.
From the Cardinals:
“For now I’ll be a radio broadcaster,” Fitzgerald said. “Jim, 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 do the things necessary that you need to do.”
The 37-year-old Fitzgerald had already provided a pretty strong indication that he wouldn’t be playing for the Cardinals at the start of the season by not appearing at Cardinals training camp. Arizona opens its season in three weeks on Sept. 12.
The Cardinals are also fairly well-equipped to move on without Fitzgerald, with a wide receivers room headliend by DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Christian Kirk, plus plenty of depth like Andy Isabella and second-round pick Rondale Moore.
Fitzgerald did leave the door open for a return, though, but it seems fans will have to wait until midseason to see him back on the field, if he returns at all.
If this actually is it for Fitzgerald, it’s the end of one of the great wide receiver careers in NFL history. In 17 NFL seasons, Fitzgerald has posted 1,432 receptions (second all-time), 17,492 receiving yards (second) and 121 receiving touchdowns (sixth), plus 11 Pro Bowl selections.
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