IRVING, Texas — Before Larry Fitzgerald became Larry Legend as the greatest wide receiver in the history of the Arizona Cardinals, he was a star wide receiver for the University of Pittsburgh. And now, Fitz is being honored for that success as he will officially become a hall of famer.
The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced on Monday that Fitzgerald was elected as part of the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2024. He will officially be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during the NFF's annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas in December.
Fitzgerald will also be honored at the University of Pittsburgh next fall.
Fitzgerald was the best wide receiver in college football while he was at Pittsburgh, catching 161 passes for 2,677 yards and 34 touchdowns. In 2003, he was named the Big East's Offensive Player of the Year, a consensus All-American and was the winner of the Biletnikoff Award, which is given annually to the top wide receiver in the nation.
Recent winners of the Biletnikoff Award include Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., Tennessee's Jalin Hyatt and Pittsburgh's Jordan Addison.
Fitzgerald also won the 2003 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, which is given to the nation's most outstanding player. Recent winners of that award include LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, USC quarterback Caleb Williams and Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III.
He was also on the cover of EA Sports' NCAA Football 2005 video game.
Fitzgerald was selected by the Cardinals with the third overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft and went on to play 17 seasons with the team, catching 1,432 passes for 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns. He was an 11-time Pro Bowler and Walter Payton Award winner. Fitz also led the Cardinals to their lone Super Bowl appearance in 2009 and has become a staple of the community in the Valley through various business and charitable efforts.
Fitzgerald made his second appearance on a video game cover when he appeared with Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu on the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL 10.
Fitzgerald will be eligible for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026.
About the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame Class
The 2024 College Football Hall of Fame class is comprised of 19 players and three coaches who were selected from a ballot of 78 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and 101 players and 32 coaches from other divisions of college football.
Here is the full class:
- Wide Receiver Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State, 2009-11)
- Running Back Paul Cameron (UCLA, 1951-53)
- Quarterback Tim Couch (Kentucky, 1996-98)
- Running Back Warrick Dunn (Florida State, 1993-96)
- Quarterback Armanti Edwards (Appalachian State, 2006-09)
- Cornerback Deon Figures (Colorado, 1988, 1990-92)
- Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh, 2002-03)
- Running back Toby Gerhart (Stanford, 2006-09)
- Defensive Tackle Dan Hampton (Arkansas, 1975-78)
- Offensive Guard Steve Hutchinson (Michigan, 1997-2000)
- Cornerback Antonio Langham (Alabama, 1990-93)
- Wide Receiver Randy Moss (Marshall, 1996-97)
- Defensive End Julius Peppers (North Carolina, 1999-2001)
- Linebacker Paul Posluszny (Penn State, 2003-06)
- Nose Guard Dewey Selmon (Oklahoma, 1972-75)
- Quarterback Alex Smith (Utah, 2002-04)
- Cornerback Kevin Smith (Texas A&M, 1988-91)
- Offensive Tackle Chris Ward (Ohio State, 1974-77)
- Running Back Danny Woodhead (Chadron State, 2004-07)
- Mark Dantonio (Head Coach at Cincinnati from 2004-06 and Michigan State from 2007-19)
- Danny Hale (Head Coach at West Chester [PA] from 1984-88 and Bloomsburg [PA] from 1993-2012)
- Frank Solich (Head Coach at Nebraska from 1998-2003 and Ohio from 2005-2020)
The class includes eight unanimous First Team All-Americans (Blackmon, Fitzgerald, Gerhart, Hutchinson, Langham, Moss, Peppers and Ward), eight consensus First Team All-Americans (Cameron, Couch, Figures, Moss, Posluszny, Selmon, Kevin Smith and Ward) and eight multi-year First Team All-Americans (Blackmon, Cameron, Edwards, Moss, Posluszny, Selmon, Ward and Woodhead). 12 of the players were first-round picks in the NFL Draft (Blackmon, Couch, Dunn, Figures, Fitzgerald, Hampton, Hutchinson, Langham, Moss, Alex Smith, Kevin Smith and Ward). Tim Couch and Alex Smith were No. 1 overall draft picks.
According to the National Football Foundation, after the Class of 2024 is inducted, there will be 1,093 players and 233 coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame, which is just 0.02% of the 5.71 million players and coaches in the history of college football.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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