Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald battled emotions, found perspective following COVID-19 bout
TEMPE, Ariz. – You know you’re something special when country music star Blake Shelton compares you to one of his favorite snacks.
“Just read that @Larry Fitzgerald has been activated for this Sunday’s game!!” Shelton wrote Wednesday on his Twitter account. “I haven’t been this happy since I had my first bacon and mayonnaise sandwich. Let’s go @AZCardinals!!! Just in time!!!”
Fitzgerald has never had a bacon and mayonnaise sandwich, but he’s thrilled to be back with the Cardinals nonetheless after being activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list. He’s missed back-to-back games for the first time since 2014 when he suffered a sprained MCL, but this was something altogether different.
Fitzgerald, 37, tested positive for the coronavirus. Though he said he only felt uncomfortably ill for a few days, it led him to lose 9 pounds and his sense of smell and taste have yet to return.
“It’s been an interesting last two weeks,” Fitzgerald said Thursday during a video conference call with reporters.
Fitzgerald said he’s hoping to play this Sunday when the Cardinals (6-6) travel to East Rutherford, N.J., to meet the New York Giants (5-7). The final decision will be up to coach Kliff Kingsbury, who has said, “We’ll see how the week goes and how he feels.”
“I hope I’ll be able to play,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’ve been here the last 17 years. It’s not to be watching from the sideline or especially be watching from home.”
Being away from the team for two weeks was difficult, he said, adding, “It stinks to not be out there and be able to help your team. It’s a pretty helpless feeling to sit there on your couch and not be able to do anything. You can’t talk to anybody. You’re not helping anything.”
Fitzgerald used the time at home to catch up on some reading and finish some necessary paperwork he had been putting off. Some of that, he shared, included updating his estate planning and revising his will. Contracting the coronavirus, he said, put everything into perspective — even for a man who has it all.
“The scariest part I think for anybody that’s had it is nobody really can give you any answers,” he said. “I mean, you learn new information every single day. You feel symptoms and you ask, and nobody really can tell you it’s going to be better or this is how long it usually lasts. There are no real answers.
“So, your mind kind of wanders. You’re sitting at home and you’re watching TV and you see the cases and you see the deaths across the nation. All these things are running through your mind. Obviously, you worry. Fortunately, I was able to get through it and I feel much better.”
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If there was a positive to come from him testing positive for COVID-19, Fitzgerald said it the outpouring of love and support he received in the days following his diagnosis. It was overwhelming and emotional.
“You really kind of re-evaluate things and it makes you really appreciate the health that you have and talking to your kids every day and to see their concern,” Fitzgerald said. “Another thing that you, I wouldn’t say take for granted but some people take for granted, is if there was ever a doubt in my mind that I was loved and appreciated, those questions were put to bed.
“I mean, I was getting two, three four hundred text messages a day, honestly, and phone calls and people checking on you. It makes you feel very thankful for the relationships you have. Those kind of things really puts life into perspective and you really appreciate the things that you do have in life.”
Kingsbury said it’s been a privilege just to be around the 11-time Pro Bowl performer. He said that in response to a question as to whether this could be Fitzgerald’s final year and with it, the last four regular-season games he possibly plays in his 17th NFL season.
“It’s been an honor since I stepped foot in here, the way he’s shown this entire coaching staff respect and listened to us with a completely new offense and completely new scheme to anything he’s ever done,” Kingsbury said. “He welcomed us with open arms and his work ethic and the way he treats people, he’s as good as anybody who’s ever done it. I know I speak for the entire staff, we’re all just honored to be around him each and every day and I hope he plays five more years.”
If you know Fitzgerald, you know he’s not one to ever give a clue about his future. For the past handful of years, he’s preferred to sit back after the season, bide his time and take stock of his options, and then decide if he’s ready to call it quits for good or come back for another year.
Asked Thursday if his time in quarantine made him reflect on his future, Fitzgerald gave a compelling response.
“I didn’t really look at it like that,” he said. “It was more so the immediate future, like staying alive and things of that nature. Football and how long I play football didn’t really cross my mind. I’m just happy to be back.”
Also happy are his teammates and his legion of fans, near and far. Quarterback Kyler Murray, for one, said he is thankful just to see Fitzgerald get activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list and be with him on the practice field again.
“I think it’s huge to have him back out there, that feeling of comfort knowing he’s out there, obviously, with the leadership he brings,” Murray said Wednesday. “I think everybody else feels a lot more comfortable when he’s out there. I’m definitely glad to have him back out there and I know the guys are, too.”