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And Bickley totally nails the Boldin situation...
Fitzgerald's off-season offers a few parallels
by Dan Bickley - May. 2, 2009 11:03 PM
The Arizona Republic
Football fields are just like the plains of Africa. Only the strong survive.
The only exception is in Detroit, where the lions have no teeth.
Larry Fitzgerald witnessed the parallel up close and personal. After visiting the troops in Iraq and touring the pyramids of Egypt, the [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Cardinals [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]wide [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]receiver [/FONT][/FONT]spent time at the Kruger National Park in South Africa. And you thought the Steelers defense was intimidating?
Fitzgerald saw a leopard drag a gazelle into a tree.
"He ripped it apart, and everything inside hit the ground," Fitzgerald said. "There were hyenas down there, and they just tore it apart. Blood was flying everywhere."
He saw a leopard snatch a baby from the womb of a Cape buffalo.
"They all turned around and chased the leopard away, but the baby was already dead," Fitzgerald said. "That was the only part I was kind of sad about. But that's survival of the fittest. At home, we sprain an ankle, we go to the training room and nurse it. Out there, you sprain an ankle, you die."
It was the kind of vacation that could change a man's perspective. It also was a symbolic and brutal reminder about his day job, a profession in which you're either on the hunt or about to become someone's lunch.
"I've got a long way to go. I can see it on tape," Fitzgerald said. "And that really excites me."
So much has changed in one year. The Cardinals no longer are identified as possessing the best receiver tandem in the NFL. They have the best wide receiver in football, period. Fitzgerald has galloped past teammate Anquan Boldin in production and perception. These days, the two men are more of a contrast than a combination platter.
Boldin continues to seethe over his contractual situation. He believes the team made him look foolish over the NFL draft weekend and doesn't think the Cardinals tried all that hard to trade him elsewhere. He should know this path charted by agent Drew Rosenhaus is both dangerous and slippery, tarnishing his warrior image.
Along with Darnell Dockett, Boldin showed up for the beginning of minicamp with a new injury that kept him from practicing. The performances drew a sarcastic remark from [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]coach [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Ken [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Whisenhunt[/FONT][/FONT], who let his suspicions be known. Boldin wouldn't say for sure that he'd be attending [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]training [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]camp[/FONT][/FONT] in Flagstaff.
"Whatever is wrong with him, I hope it heals quickly," Fitzgerald said.
Don't we all?
It's a shame. Of all people, Boldin is coming off like a diva, and during draft weekend at least two NFL head coaches wondered about his character.
Meanwhile, Fitzgerald is going in the opposite direction. He shined during last year's playoffs. He gave the Cardinals the lead in the closing minutes of the Super Bowl on a play that still draws goose bumps. He made the cover of a popular video game and was invited to ESPN to shoot commercials and various promotional material.
He is the rare story in sports: the young kid who banked huge money yet remained supremely motivated. He doesn't drop passes, and he doesn't celebrate in end zones. He represents performance in its purest sense, and aside from a certain gossip columnist in Minnesota who continues to jab Fitzgerald over his domestic business, everybody loves Larry.
To Cardinals fans, he more than deserves the money. He is money.
"It takes getting to the next level for you as a player to get pushed into that upper echelon," [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Cardinals [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]quarterback [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Kurt [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Warner [/FONT][/FONT]said. "One great example is Larry. Look at how much you heard about him through the playoffs and what he's accomplished in the playoffs, and it was great. But we've all seen that for a couple years now.
"But because of the (Phoenix) market and not having success, that value doesn't seem to be there. When you go and move on and you're in the spotlight and you're on TV every week and you're playing in Super Bowls, your stock goes up. That's just how it works."
Along the way, Fitzgerald has become a world traveler, a man constantly expanding his horizons - except when he gets home. Now that he's back in uniform, he won't dare look around. It's time to fly under the radar, not around the globe. This way he doesn't have to see the big question in front of him:
Where does he go from here?
"Nothing has changed for me," Fitzgerald said. "My goals are still the same. I want to be the best. And I'm going to do whatever it takes to get there. This is a process. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I know that every day I put together a good practice, the better I'm going to become and the better this football team is going to be.
"That's how I approach it. I never look too far ahead. This dream could be over in a second."
Knock on wood.
Fitzgerald's off-season offers a few parallels
by Dan Bickley - May. 2, 2009 11:03 PM
The Arizona Republic
Football fields are just like the plains of Africa. Only the strong survive.
The only exception is in Detroit, where the lions have no teeth.
Larry Fitzgerald witnessed the parallel up close and personal. After visiting the troops in Iraq and touring the pyramids of Egypt, the [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Cardinals [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]wide [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]receiver [/FONT][/FONT]spent time at the Kruger National Park in South Africa. And you thought the Steelers defense was intimidating?
Fitzgerald saw a leopard drag a gazelle into a tree.
"He ripped it apart, and everything inside hit the ground," Fitzgerald said. "There were hyenas down there, and they just tore it apart. Blood was flying everywhere."
He saw a leopard snatch a baby from the womb of a Cape buffalo.
"They all turned around and chased the leopard away, but the baby was already dead," Fitzgerald said. "That was the only part I was kind of sad about. But that's survival of the fittest. At home, we sprain an ankle, we go to the training room and nurse it. Out there, you sprain an ankle, you die."
It was the kind of vacation that could change a man's perspective. It also was a symbolic and brutal reminder about his day job, a profession in which you're either on the hunt or about to become someone's lunch.
"I've got a long way to go. I can see it on tape," Fitzgerald said. "And that really excites me."
So much has changed in one year. The Cardinals no longer are identified as possessing the best receiver tandem in the NFL. They have the best wide receiver in football, period. Fitzgerald has galloped past teammate Anquan Boldin in production and perception. These days, the two men are more of a contrast than a combination platter.
Boldin continues to seethe over his contractual situation. He believes the team made him look foolish over the NFL draft weekend and doesn't think the Cardinals tried all that hard to trade him elsewhere. He should know this path charted by agent Drew Rosenhaus is both dangerous and slippery, tarnishing his warrior image.
Along with Darnell Dockett, Boldin showed up for the beginning of minicamp with a new injury that kept him from practicing. The performances drew a sarcastic remark from [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]coach [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Ken [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Whisenhunt[/FONT][/FONT], who let his suspicions be known. Boldin wouldn't say for sure that he'd be attending [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]training [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]camp[/FONT][/FONT] in Flagstaff.
"Whatever is wrong with him, I hope it heals quickly," Fitzgerald said.
Don't we all?
It's a shame. Of all people, Boldin is coming off like a diva, and during draft weekend at least two NFL head coaches wondered about his character.
Meanwhile, Fitzgerald is going in the opposite direction. He shined during last year's playoffs. He gave the Cardinals the lead in the closing minutes of the Super Bowl on a play that still draws goose bumps. He made the cover of a popular video game and was invited to ESPN to shoot commercials and various promotional material.
He is the rare story in sports: the young kid who banked huge money yet remained supremely motivated. He doesn't drop passes, and he doesn't celebrate in end zones. He represents performance in its purest sense, and aside from a certain gossip columnist in Minnesota who continues to jab Fitzgerald over his domestic business, everybody loves Larry.
To Cardinals fans, he more than deserves the money. He is money.
"It takes getting to the next level for you as a player to get pushed into that upper echelon," [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Cardinals [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]quarterback [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Kurt [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Warner [/FONT][/FONT]said. "One great example is Larry. Look at how much you heard about him through the playoffs and what he's accomplished in the playoffs, and it was great. But we've all seen that for a couple years now.
"But because of the (Phoenix) market and not having success, that value doesn't seem to be there. When you go and move on and you're in the spotlight and you're on TV every week and you're playing in Super Bowls, your stock goes up. That's just how it works."
Along the way, Fitzgerald has become a world traveler, a man constantly expanding his horizons - except when he gets home. Now that he's back in uniform, he won't dare look around. It's time to fly under the radar, not around the globe. This way he doesn't have to see the big question in front of him:
Where does he go from here?
"Nothing has changed for me," Fitzgerald said. "My goals are still the same. I want to be the best. And I'm going to do whatever it takes to get there. This is a process. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I know that every day I put together a good practice, the better I'm going to become and the better this football team is going to be.
"That's how I approach it. I never look too far ahead. This dream could be over in a second."
Knock on wood.
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