After more than 40 years coaching football, Arizona’s Bruce Arians has delivered plenty of rah-rah speeches to his teams.
Another one could be coming to convince a future Pro Football Hall of Fame selection to play for one more season.
Arians knows there is a very real possibility that wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald may be playing his final game Sunday against visiting Los Angeles. Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio with co-host Bill Polian and me Tuesday night, Arians said there’s a good chance "it’s going to take me to talk Larry into coming back, which is hopefully not too hard."
Arians has a lot he can pitch. One inducement: “He might lead the league in receptions again," Arians said.
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Fitzgerald has a legitimate chance of doing that this season for the first time since 2005. With 102 grabs, Fitzgerald enters Week 17 four catches behind Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown. The Steelers, though, may be sitting Brown and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for Sunday’s game against Cleveland as a precautionary measure heading into the playoffs.
Not only would returning help Fitzgerald rise among the top 10 receivers in NFL history, it also would give him another shot for the Super Bowl ring that has eluded him. Despite a disappointing 6-8-1 record this season, Arians believes the Cardinals will be well-heeled for another championship push in 2017 with a flood of players set to return from injured reserve.
"I’m excited about next year already," Arians said.
Fitzgerald, 33, has remained non-committal about his NFL future. Arians understands why.
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"I don’t think he even knows," Arians said. "Larry is one of those guys who plays week to week. He plays as hard and passionate as everyone.
"I know he’s still got passion. He loves to be with these guys. When you lead the league in receiving, hopefully you want to come back one more time."
Alex Marvez can be heard from 7 a.m. ET to 11 a.m. ET Wednesday and Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio.