Fitzgerald’s Pass Route Runs Past Pittsburgh to Arizona
By GREG BISHOP
Published: January 24, 2009
PITTSBURGH — Last Wednesday, 11 days before Pittsburgh’s meeting with Arizona in the Super Bowl, the Steelers fan who trained the Cardinals’ most potent threat spent lunch re-enacting Larry Fitzgerald’s greatest hits.
Mere retelling of Fitzgerald’s college exploits would not suffice for Walt Harris. So he traced patterns on the table. He shifted his body in the seat. He cupped his hands to make imaginary grabs.
In 2000, Harris and his staff saw what others failed to see in Fitzgerald, then an unheralded recruit in academic trouble. During his tenure as coach at the University of Pittsburgh, Harris recruited, trained and ultimately unleashed Fitzgerald on the N.F.L., and, eventually, on the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.
“God works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?” Harris said.
Ever the football coach, Harris ordered a wedge salad, then began describing the most-watched DVD in his Pittsburgh home. It is filled with catches ranging from difficult to spectacular to improbable, all crammed into the 2002 and 2003 seasons, before Fitzgerald took his circus act to the N.F.L.
The game against Rutgers in which Fitzgerald reached across his body to make a one-handed catch that Harris described as nonchalant.
The time in practice when Fitzgerald shielded the future N.F.L. cornerback Shawntae Spencer with his body, accelerated and stretched all of his 6-foot-3 frame to secure the ball.
The game against Virginia Tech in which Fitzgerald arched his back and caught the ball without ever seeing it.
“I love to watch that tape,” Harris said. “You lose track of all the catches. And you wonder, where did he come up with them?”
Before the Cardinals selected Fitzgerald with the third pick in the 2004 draft, before he broke the N.F.L. record for receiving yards in a postseason this month, he dazzled everyone at Pitt.
The education of a receiver started then.
“He always said he was going to be the best receiver in the game, and he is,” said Tyler Palko, a former Pittsburgh quarterback who is one of Fitzgerald’s best friends. “The thing I keep coming back to is he’s one of a kind.”
Fitzgerald grew up in Minnesota and loved Penn State, but coaches reduced their recruiting efforts because his grades were not up to par. Pittsburgh never lost interest.
Coaches there loved the way he slept each night with a football, loved the way he caught every pass thrown in his direction at their camp. They encouraged him to transfer to Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania in 2001, the middle of his senior year of high school.
At Valley Forge, Fitzgerald wore a uniform, cut his dreadlocks and wore the shiniest of shoes. A year and a half later, programs like Ohio State and Michigan State were interested, and he even visited the Spartans on the eve of signing day.
Still, the Panthers received his commitment. The athletic office exploded “in jubilation,” Harris said, adding, “Because we knew what we were getting.”
Remainder of article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/sports/football/25fitzgerald.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Excerpts:
By GREG BISHOP
Published: January 24, 2009
PITTSBURGH — Last Wednesday, 11 days before Pittsburgh’s meeting with Arizona in the Super Bowl, the Steelers fan who trained the Cardinals’ most potent threat spent lunch re-enacting Larry Fitzgerald’s greatest hits.
Mere retelling of Fitzgerald’s college exploits would not suffice for Walt Harris. So he traced patterns on the table. He shifted his body in the seat. He cupped his hands to make imaginary grabs.
In 2000, Harris and his staff saw what others failed to see in Fitzgerald, then an unheralded recruit in academic trouble. During his tenure as coach at the University of Pittsburgh, Harris recruited, trained and ultimately unleashed Fitzgerald on the N.F.L., and, eventually, on the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.
“God works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?” Harris said.
Ever the football coach, Harris ordered a wedge salad, then began describing the most-watched DVD in his Pittsburgh home. It is filled with catches ranging from difficult to spectacular to improbable, all crammed into the 2002 and 2003 seasons, before Fitzgerald took his circus act to the N.F.L.
The game against Rutgers in which Fitzgerald reached across his body to make a one-handed catch that Harris described as nonchalant.
The time in practice when Fitzgerald shielded the future N.F.L. cornerback Shawntae Spencer with his body, accelerated and stretched all of his 6-foot-3 frame to secure the ball.
The game against Virginia Tech in which Fitzgerald arched his back and caught the ball without ever seeing it.
“I love to watch that tape,” Harris said. “You lose track of all the catches. And you wonder, where did he come up with them?”
Before the Cardinals selected Fitzgerald with the third pick in the 2004 draft, before he broke the N.F.L. record for receiving yards in a postseason this month, he dazzled everyone at Pitt.
The education of a receiver started then.
“He always said he was going to be the best receiver in the game, and he is,” said Tyler Palko, a former Pittsburgh quarterback who is one of Fitzgerald’s best friends. “The thing I keep coming back to is he’s one of a kind.”
Fitzgerald grew up in Minnesota and loved Penn State, but coaches reduced their recruiting efforts because his grades were not up to par. Pittsburgh never lost interest.
Coaches there loved the way he slept each night with a football, loved the way he caught every pass thrown in his direction at their camp. They encouraged him to transfer to Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania in 2001, the middle of his senior year of high school.
At Valley Forge, Fitzgerald wore a uniform, cut his dreadlocks and wore the shiniest of shoes. A year and a half later, programs like Ohio State and Michigan State were interested, and he even visited the Spartans on the eve of signing day.
Still, the Panthers received his commitment. The athletic office exploded “in jubilation,” Harris said, adding, “Because we knew what we were getting.”
Remainder of article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/sports/football/25fitzgerald.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Excerpts:
For all Fitzgerald’s gifts, Harris ranked his coordination first, ahead of leaping ability, fearlessness, timing and deceptive speed. Fitzgerald never showcased his passing skills, but he had a rifle of an arm, too, one he used to pelt the crossbar routinely from 70 yards away after practice.
From http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/qa-with-larry-fitzgeralds-former-coach/
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