Larry Fitzgerald started his professional football career after being selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2004 National Football League (NFL) draft. He has played for 17 seasons with the team and holds impressive records including franchise career leader in receptions, receiving yards, and total touchdowns. In 2019, he was selected to the NFL’s 100 All-Time Team, honoring the best players of the NFL’s first 100 years. In 2016, he was awarded the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award—the NFL’s highest honor recognizing charitable work. In 2015, he was the inaugural winner of the Art Rooney NFL Sportsmanship Award, presented for great sportsmanship and integrity in competition.
Perhaps more impressive, however, is Fitzgerald’s work off the field as a philanthropist, prominent business owner, and investor. In 2005, Fitzgerald established The Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund with the goal of closing the reading and technology gap in under-resourced schools, in addition to funding breast cancer research and support services in honor of his late mother.