Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin shared a ton of experiences as teammates on most of the Arizona Cardinals teams in the previous decade. The two were among the biggest driving forces behind Arizona’s rise into a perennial powerhouse in the NFC West, and Fitzgerald simply can’t help but be emotional when asked by Josh Weinfuss of ESPN of to speak his mind with regards to the Boldin’s recent retirement.
“It’s bittersweet,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s like a big brother to me. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a big brother, but he was definitely that person to me.”
Boldin was drafted by the Cardinals in 2003, a year earlier than Fitzgerald. Upon Fitzgerald’s arrival to the team in 2004, Boldin took the rookie under his wing and helped teach the former Pittsburgh Panther standout the ropes in the pros.
While they weren’t able to win a Super Bowl in the six seasons they were together in Arizona, they did played tremendous roles in giving the team a shot at winning one in 2009, when the Cardinals reached the Super Bowl XLIII and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. That season, Fitzgerald and Boldin were first and second on the team in receiving yards, respectively.
Boldin announced his retirement from the NFL earlier this week, just a number of days after the Buffalo Bills took a gamble by signing the 14-year veteran wideout.
As for Fitzgerald, he’s a season shy of matching Boldin’s NFL career length. He’s coming off a 2016 campaign in which he showed there’s plenty left in his tank by recording 1,023 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions spread across 16 games played.
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