By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-07 17:40:58 | Updated at 2026-08-07 19:35:33
3 hours ago
Legendary NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is set to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame this Saturday - despite the fact he is refusing to officially retire.
Fitzgerald, who spent the entirety of his 17-year career with the Arizona Cardinals, bowed out from football in 2020 after racking up 17,492 receiving yards and 121 touchdowns in 263 appearances.
Yet over six years on from his final appearance, the 11-time Pro Bowler told Arizona's official team website on Thursday: 'I have not committed to retirement.'
Players cannot be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame if they are still active, but Fitzgerald has no plans to return despite his refusal to recognize 'retirement'.
Ahead of his big honor on Saturday, the Cardinals legend explained that his grandfather and a longtime friend had strong thoughts on the concept of retirement that have stuck with him over the years.
'They'd talk about retirement killing more people in our country than anything,' he recalled. 'It always stuck with me. I just don't believe in retirement. I just think you transition into different phases, especially as an athlete. I was done at 38. Retire? There is no retirement in sight.
NFL icon Larry Fitzgerald is refusing to retire despite being inducted into the Hall of Fame
Fitzgerald says he protests the word 'retirement' more than the concept of ending his career
'I protest the word more than the actual thing. So I just won't acknowledge that.'
Fitzgerald is second in the all-time NFL receiving yards and receptions charts, and sixth in career receiving touchdowns.
He was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2026.
Away from football, the 42-year-old is a venture investor, a minority owner of NBA franchise the Phoenix Suns and a philanthropist, having established the Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund to help kids and families in crisis back in 2014 and frequently visited soldiers overseas while raising funds for injured and ill members of the US military.
He also won a humanitarian award for establishing the Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund in honor of his mother, who died of breast cancer in 2003.
Earlier this year NFL fans were left baffled when they spotted Fitzgerald sitting behind Donald Trump's new man for the Federal Reserve at his confirmation hearing.
Kevin Warsh, who was Trump's pick to be the new chair of the Federal Reserve, was on Capitol Hill for Senate hearings over his nomination from the president.
And as Warsh fielded questions, Fitzgerald was bizarrely seen directly behind him in Washington D.C.
It remains unclear why the football icon was in attendance for the hearing on Capitol Hill.
