Larry Fitzgerald made football look easy during NFL Hall of Fame career

At a position that’s dominated by big personalities and loud statements, Larry Fitzgerald mastered the art of stillness. The legendary Arizona Cardinals wide receiver, who sits second all-time on the NFL receiving yards list, played 17 years of incredible football — now he deservingly enters Canton, giving us an opportunity to appreciate what he brought to the game of football.

Loyalty. Respect. Exactness. These are the three words that best describe Fitzgerald’s career, which in a lot of ways mimics that of Tim Duncan in the NBA. Both Fitzgerald and Duncan were lifers with one team in their respective sports, put up mammoth numbers, and were often overlooked because they simply weren’t flashy. While Larry Fitzgerald’s peers put up jaw-dropping one-handed catches and spectacular diving efforts, Fitz didn’t need to. He possesses route running so spectacular it was as if he followed a laser line, technique so peerless he was always in the right place at the right time, separation generated not by 4.4 speed, but by doing every little thing perfectly to shake his man with body feints and misdirection.

When we think of receivers who made a quarterback’s life easier, Larry Fitzgerald’s face would be at the top of the Wikipedia entry.

There’s one astonishing stat that underscores Fitzgerald’s greatness: 29. That’s the number of drops he had across 17 SEASONS. These weren’t gimme catches either, as Fitzgerald’s hallmark play was running deep, then turning on a dime, jumping, and high-pointing the ball where defensive backs never stood a chance. To put that 29 drop stat is context just compare it to a few of the current legends at WR in terms of drops-per-year.

• Ja’Marr Chase: 40 drops, 9 per season
• Justin Jefferson: 32 drops, 6 per season
• A.J. Brown: 58 drops, 9 per season
• Puka Nacua: 17 drops, 6 per season
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 20 drops, 7 per season
• Larry Fitzgerald: 29 drops, 1.7 per season

Fitzgerald did all this despite rarely having great coaching or an elite offense around him. While Fitzgerald did benefit from the tail-end of Kurt Warner’s career, then the tail-end of Carson Palmer’s career, he never had that signature franchise QB to go the distance with him. Similarly, he rarely had an elite No. 2 receiver to take the pressure of being doubled on ever snap, outside of Anquan Boldin, who was in Arizona for less than half of Fitzgerald’s career.

The stats alone meant that Fitzgerald was always going to enter the Hall of Fame, but there was so much more to him as a player than just the numbers. Larry Fitzgerald was a leader in the locker room, a rock in the community, and the ultimate good guy in football. One of those guys you couldn’t help but root for, even if you disliked the Cardinals as a whole.

Congratulations on the Hall of Fame, Larry Fitzgerald.