Having Been Blessed, Fitzgerald Says ‘You Have to Give Back’

By Mike Saucier

For Larry Fitzgerald Jr., it’s simple: “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

Those are the words he used in describing his philosophy toward community responsibility.

“I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to have a long career – and that comes with a lot of responsibility,” he told Frontdoors. “You have to give back. There’s no way you would be where you are or I would be where I’m at if it wasn’t for the dedication of many people.”

The Cardinals receiver, a 10-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer, is one of the greatest receivers to ever play the game. But his off-the-field actions are recognized as well. He was named the co-winner of the National Football League’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award in February, a league-wide honor which acknowledges a player’s work in the community.

Fitzgerald, 33, saw his mother and father giving to the community as he grew up in Minnesota.

“A lot of people sacrificed for you to be here, for me to be here,” he said. “I think it’s important to lend a helping hand to people that want to do the same things you’re doing. It’s something I saw my mom do. It’s something I saw my dad do. It’s something I saw the people who mentored me do and it’s something I’m always going to do.

His mother, Carol Fitzgerald, counseled HIV-positive patients at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic. When she died from cancer in 2003, his father, Larry Fitzgerald Sr., established a fund in her name to honor her and support the causes she held dearly.

Carol worked for the Minnesota Department of Health as a health investigator whose focus was meeting with people who had contracted HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. She would have to share with them the troubling results of their health tests.

Fitzgerald was made aware at a young age that there were people in the community who would need help, and when that happened people in the community rallied to their side.

One indelible image made an impression on the young Fitzgerald – a 1992 visit to Minnesota by Magic Johnson, the Los Angeles Lakers star who had been diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, which made explosive headlines across the world as fans reeled over the revelation.

“I’ll never forget in 1992 when Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV positive,” Fitzgerald said. “He came to Minnesota on a big HIV initiative and he came to the Metrodome and about 10,000 people showed up to raise awareness about the prevention of HIV.”

Fitzgerald, who said he was nine or ten years old at the time of the visit, wondered if Johnson had not used his celebrity status to draw attention to HIV and AIDS it would have received the attention it needed.

“I was a kid but I saw the impact somebody could have with that kind of platform,” he said. “I know he was devastated that that happened to him but he also knew that he could make a global impact and spearhead a lot of money being raised to help prevent other people from contracting it and so I saw that and said man that’s unbelievable that he would do that. Because most people, if you get a death sentence — well, it used to be a death sentence — might say ‘Oh woe is me’ and start thinking about all the bad things as opposed to going out there and making sure other people’s lives are affected in a positive way. That’s the way he looked at it and I was blown away by that.”

A natural transition for Fitzgerald after the NFL would be to continue his off-the-field work with his foundation and other causes. He has been careful not to say whether this season is his last or not. Clearly, the guy can still play at the highest level. But if he does decide to hang up his cleats, Fitzgerald said he will take some time to think about how best to spend his time.

“I think for the most part I’m probably going to take a little time and kind of digest everything and figure out what the next move is,” he said. “I have a lot of interests. I have a lot of things going on off the field as it is. I need to figure out what exactly is going to keep my attention so I can focus on that and give my complete energy to it.”

One option that’s always on the table for Fitzgerald is travel. Earlier this year he started his own travel agency, Nomad Hill, to help others see the world. He has explored Asia for 45 days, visited the Kremlin, surfed volcanoes in Nicaragua, biked across Vietnam, among other exploits in Egypt, Ethiopia and Japan.

Although travel is harder these days because of his kids’ schedules, he is itching to get to Scandinavia, he said.

“I’ve never been to Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, places like that that I really want to go to.”

He said the Czech Republic, Greece and Mongolia are also on his desirable destinations list.

Playing football or not, Fitzgerald said he is naturally moved to keep doing what he’s doing in terms of helping others and being the best person he can be.

“I would say I’m intrinsically motivated to do good, to do my best. I’ve always been that way.”