Larry Fitzgerald- A Look back On The Pitt WR Now NFL Hall of Famer
Cheers! Larry Fitzgerald will be inducted into the NFL hall of fame this weekend in Canton, Ohio. Larry played 17 years in the NFL totaling 121 TD’s and 17,429 receiving yards and what could be the most impressive is only 29 total dropped passes and 44 tackles. Yes a wide receiver with 17 years in the NFL has more tackles than drops. Fitz played all 17 years with the Arizona Cardinals (you love to see that) but before that he spent 2 years with your Pitt Panthers, and BOY did he leave his mark at Pitt.
Fitz was one of a kind at Pitt. In his freshman year he led the Big East with 69 receptions and 12 touchdowns. Not to mention also totaling 1,005 receiving yards. Seriously before Tavon Austin, there was Larry Fitzgerald. Fitz is unique because the longevity and magnitude of his NFL career in a way masks what he accomplished in college (not a bad thing). Honestly I feel like Larry’s career was so amazing that people don’t even know he went to Pitt.
Larry’s sophomore year at Pitt somehow got even more impressive. Fitz led all of college football in receiving yards with 1,672 and also touchdowns with 22, all of this in 13 games! This really put Larry on the map as he was the Biletnikoff Award (best WR in college football), 2nd in Heisman voting, and Walter Camp Player of the Year (basically the mini heisman award. Most guys that win the Heisman win this too).
The good ole days
All of this led to Larry Fitzgerald being drafted 3rd overall in the 2003 draft after just 2 years playing college football (not as common back then). The part that stings the most I think with Fitz at Pitt was the lack of success Pitt had when we was there. In 2002, Larry’s freshman year Pitt went 9-4. His sophomore year in 2003, Pitt was ranked #10 in the country to start the season and they finished 8-5. No wonder he declared for the NFL draft because those records are just flat out disappointing.
This has always been an ongoing dilemma, Pitt has now 11 Pro Football Hall of Famers as alumni (4th best in College Football) and always has a few stars with decent longevity in the NFL, look right now and you will see Calijah Kancey, Avonte Maddox, James Connor, Jordan Addison, and Damar Hamlin. Those names aren’t niche Pitt football knowledge either, they are known NFL’ers! You can even argue Pitt has a few more future hall of famers in the pipeline with Aaron Donald and LeSean McCoy.
All of this NFL success coming out Pitt and Western PA as a whole and Pitt has only won 10+ games twice since 1981! That’s 45 years! Clearly Pitt has some serious issues and it makes me worried we will never get back to those days of Pitt our dad’s always talk about.