Larry Fitzgerald Deserves Arizona Cardinals Statue

Tom Brady is getting a statue of himself outside Gillette Stadium after his marvelous career with the New England Patriots. It's always a fun sight to see for fans of a franchise who get to see their favorite players and team legends become immortalized forever.

Several amazing players and other football figures have earned such an honor across every team in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens have a statue of both Ray Lewis and Johnny Unitas, the latter of whom won a Super Bowl with the then Baltimore Colts.

Speaking of the Colts, Peyton Manning has his for the Indianapolis version of the franchise.

Dan Marino has a monument for the Miami Dolphins. Jim Brown with the Cleveland Browns. Tom Landry with the Dallas Cowboys. Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers. You get the idea.

An honor of such prestige does not and should not be handed out lightly. As insane as this may sound, not every Hall of Fame player for a franchise deserves a statue. I'm sorry, but I'm not wrong.

But it does beg the question of who is worthy of an honor like that. And although you would imagine the list to be massive, it isn't and shouldn't be.

NFL.com's Adam Rank made a short-list of five players who are worthy of such an honor.

There were a few names omitted that I believe were snubbed (none more so than Drew Brees for the New Orleans Saints), but there was one player who deserves a statue as much, if not more, than any other player on this list.

Larry Fitzgerald.

Arizona Cardinals Need Statue of Larry Fitzgerald Outside of State Farm Stadium

We can start with this question: Does Larry Fitzgerald deserve a statue for the Arizona Cardinals? If your answer isn't a resounding "YES!" then I'm afraid you are a bozo, at best.

Fitzgerald has been the face of the Cardinals since their move to the desert and even with the franchise's previous stints in Chicago and St. Louis, he remains one of the biggest figureheads in its storied history.

The future Pro Football Hall of Famer, pending his eligibility becoming official, defined a franchise for nearly 20 years. During that time, he saw peaks and valleys, high and lows, and some of the Cardinals' best and worst seasons.

And yet, he never wavered and never requested a trade. He just went to work every Sunday and put together one of the greatest career's a wide receiver has ever assembled.

Rank made his argument:

"I wrestled with this one, because the Cardinals have a great tribute to Pat Tillman outside of State Farm Stadium, which really raises the bar high in terms of who else should enter such company. But Fitzgerald absolutely delivered. A class act both on and off the field during his 17-year career with the Cardinals, he finished with the second-most receiving yards in NFL history (17,492, behind only Jerry Rice), earned 11 Pro Bowl selections and won the 2016 Walter Payton Man of the Year award. This Cardinals icon is very deserving of such an honor."

Why Larry Fitzgerald Deserves Spot Next to Arizona Cardinals Legend Pat Tillman

The Pat Tillman statue is special and beyond precious in a seemingly endless amount of ways, and that's all that needs to be said there for the American hero.

But as far as Fitzgerald goes, he is worthy of such an honor. His career is a remarkable one full of greatness even in forgettable and even horrific seasons. When #11 was on the field, Cardinals fans tuned in to watch -- he was the saving grace for a franchise that struggled to give the fans what they wanted most.

The accolades and numbers speak for themselves, but there is simply one reason Fitzgerald deserves to be immortalized, and it has nothing to do with his on the field production.

Fitzgerald should be given a statue in his honor is for the way he conducted himself.

As we mentioned, Fitzgerald stuck it out with one franchise his entire career -- which is a rarity in sports including the NFL. Not only that, but he spent 17 seasons -- almost two decades -- with one franchise. Not even guys who are receiving or have statues like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning can say that!

It makes Fitzgerald one of one.

And in that timeframe, he never complained. In fact, he always embraced the team and certainly the fans who were loyal to him more than the franchise at different points in time. His big smile was always something that gave even the most depressed Cardinals fan hope of getting a win that day.

Speaking of which, he did that several, several times. Perhaps that was never more evident than when the playoffs rolled around. Arizona didn't make many trips in Fitzgerald's 17 seasons with just four appearances in that time and nine games played. But man did he make an impact in those games.

The 2008 postseason run to the Super Bowl was incredible by itself with playoff records for yards (546) and touchdowns (7) in a single run. No one will ever forget his 64-yard touchdown reception in the Super Bowl that dropped the jaws of everyone watching.

We also won't forget his heroics in the 2015 playoff game against the Green Bay Packers including a 75-yard scamper in overtime before taking a shovel pass into the endzone for the win.

I'm not exaggerating -- I'm getting chills just writing this.

But again, these are things that Cardinals fans will hold dearly forever -- and they should. Fitzgerald gave a fan base that has known little success something to watch and enjoy. When the stakes were at their highest, he showed up. It was special

And that's what makes Fitzgerald so special. He provided an endless amount of cheering, smiling, tears, laughter, and joy across 272 total games played. Even people who weren't fans of the Cardinals knew who Fitzgerald was.

Not just that, they knew how great he was. Some may have owned his jersey simply because it was Larry-freaking-Fitzgerald.

He was, is, and always will be the face of the Arizona Cardinals and will be forever beloved by all who got to witness him. Perhaps it's even more than that.

Maybe, just maybe, Larry Fitzgerald is the face of Arizona sports -- professional, collegiate, amateur, or any other category -- entirely.

Should he get a statue from the Arizona Cardinals? You better believe it, and you better believe that not a single player on Rank's list or nearly any other deserves it the way that Fitzgerald does.

He's more than a player... he is Arizona sports.

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