Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald Praised By Todd Haley on “Hard Knocks”

On the most recent episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks”, Arizona Cardinals’ receiver Larry Fitzgerald receives high praise from Browns OC Todd Haley.

Although the Arizona Cardinals aren’t featured on HBO’s newest season of Hard Knocks, that didn’t stop them from painting a Cardinals’ legend in a positive light. On the most recent episode — the second installment from of the weekly behind-the-scenes docuseries — Cleveland Browns’ offensive coordinator Todd Haley heaped praise on Cardinals’ wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

Speaking with newly-acquired receiver Jarvis Landry on the sideline of the Browns’ first preseason game, Haley instructed him to take rookie Antonio Callaway under his wing. Callaway, befuddled by off-the-field issues, had just flashed his on-field gifts with a long touchdown reception from quarterback Baker Mayfield. Landry, while agreeing with the suggestion, wasn’t very enthusiastic which prompted Haley to tell him, matter-of-factly, “Larry Fitzgerald would”.

You can view the clip here.

Haley, of course, got to know Larry Fitzgerald pretty well when he was Arizona’s offensive coordinator during the 2007 NFL season, as well as 2008 when the Cardinals went all the way to the Super Bowl.

During Haley’s two-year tenure in the Valley, the Cardinals took receivers in both the 2007 and 2008 NFL Draft: Steve Breaston, 2007; Early Doucet, 2008. These rookies, I imagine, were taken under Fitzgerald’s wing, like Haley referred to.

And it took.

Per Statista, the average NFL career for a wide receiver is 2.81 years. Breaston, as a member of the Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs, had a six-year NFL career (86 games with 255 receptions) while Doucet played five seasons (54 games with 139 receptions) solely with Arizona.

Fitzgerald has an A-plus reputation in the league and is a great role model, even winning the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.