RE: Larry Fitzgerald

Dear Larry Fitzgerald,

I’m sorry I pissed you off. No, really, I’m very, very, very sorry. I’ll never do it again.*

*No guarantees.

But you have to admit, you can’t blame me for doubting you. You’re not the only great receiver on that team. And the two quarterbacks you have throwing to you – Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart – are, well, Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart. How was I supposed to know Warner was going to play a full 16 game season for the first time since 2001? How was I supposed to know that Warner was going to magically learn how to “hold onto the football” for a full season? How was I supposed to know that the Cardinals were going to purposely abandon the running game for the entire season? And, most importantly, how was I supposed to know the Cardinals were going to bench their mega-million dollar franchise quarterback for a 37-year-old who everybody thought was washed up?

Now, I never believed you were a terrible wide receiver. I’ve always known you were talented. I remember watching you play for Pittsburgh in college and thinking you were going to make a very good pro. I would have taken a look at you for this year’s fantasy season if I didn’t feel like the combination of Braylon Edwards, Greg Jennings, Calvin Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh was going to be good enough.*

*Which it was. Hey, 50/50 ain’t bad. And how was I supposed to know Mr. Championship and Edwards were going to bust? Nobody thought they were going to suck. Adding Wes Welker mid-season helped ease that pain. Sorry, back to my apology letter.

As for these playoffs, I must say you’ve been ridiculously good. Though, some of it is somewhat tainted because the rest of the NFC has not caught onto the fact that they should double and triple team you when Anquan Boldin is not on the field, but, still, you’ve made some insane plays this postseason. My favorite would have to be the first touchdown catch you made against the Eagles in the NFC title game – the one where you ran over about seven people on your way to the endzone. That was insane. The backflip on the flea-flicker touchdown was pretty nice too.

Please take the following YouTube clip of some of your greater moments as a tribute for my failure to see Kurt Warner turning into a better quarterback than Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Joe Montana combine. I just didn’t see it coming.

Here’s to you, Larry -

Ben