Larry Fitzgerald.
Future Hall of Famer. One of the 10 greatest WR's of All Time. Franchise Icon. Community Giant. All Time Fan Favorite.
Savior of the Suns.
Makes sense to me.
For the last 10 years or so, these two entities have been on the opposite end of the Phoenix sports spectrum. Ownership of the Suns has brought the most pain to the Valley and Larry Fitzgerald has brought the most joy.
And now they are teaming up.
When Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski joined forces this morning like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage to break the news that the current Arizona Cardinals WR was buying a minority stake in the Suns, almost every Suns fan had one reaction: relief.
At least there's one hope for a buffer between Robert Sarver and the Suns.
Even Adrian Wojnarowski wrote about what this means for the team:
"An iconic Arizona sporting and philanthropic figure, Fitzgerald is expected to bring an additional level of credibility to Sarver and the Suns."
Woj is basically saying the Suns are in such dire straits credibility wise that they had to import it from the NFL. Thats insane.
But few people would argue with it.
Sarver has already chased away well respected former players and athletes from the organization in Grant Hill, Steve Kerr and to a lesser extent Steve Nash.
Maybe Larry Fitzgerald will be different.
Fitz told Jim Trotter of NFL.com that Sarver first approached him two years ago with the offer to buy in to the Suns.
It took Larry Fitzgerald two years to decide, "yes, I'd like to go into business with Robert Sarver" and I can't blame him.
The two have been friends for 15 years but I have a lot of friends and most of them I'd never go into business with.
But here we are. In most cases, a minority owner would likely have zero impact in turning a franchise around.
But would you rather have Robert Sarver making a final pitch to a marquee free agent or Larry Fitzgerald?
For most viable NBA teams the idea that they would need to add a current NFL player to help the franchise is a laughable proposition.
For Suns fans, its one of the best days they've had in years.
Which says a lot about both the Suns and Larry Fitzgerald.