Pitt Legend serves as honorary captain for Bobblehead Night

On By Yukito

If the stadium is giving away your figure, it only makes sense to make that player an honorary captain.

Pat Narduzzi announced that Larry Fitzgerald will be the honorary captain when No. 19 Pitt faces Syracuse on Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium. The first 7,000 fans to enter the stadium will receive a Larry Fitzgerald figurine.

During the game, Fitzgerald will be honored with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Fitzgerald spent just two seasons at Pitt, but he made an impact that won’t – and won’t soon be – forgotten. And this influence continues to this day.

In two seasons at Pitt, from 2002 to 2003, he recorded 161 receptions for 2,677 yards and 34 touchdowns. His sophomore campaign (92 receptions for 1,672 yards and 22 touchdowns) earned him the title of Heisman runner-up.

Fitzgerald was arguably college football’s best player during the 2003 season, earning Bikretkoff Awards, the Walter Camp Award, Big East Offensive Player of the Year honors and a unanimous All-American selection. A valid argument can be made that he too should have won the Heisman Trophy.

His dominance carried over to the NFL after he was selected with the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. Despite a career in which he played with rotating quarterbacks, Fitzgerald will go down as one of the best wide receivers in NFL history.

In 17 seasons, all with the Cardinals, he recorded 1,432 receptions (second all-time) for 17,492 yards (second all-time) and 121 touchdowns (sixth all-time). He added 57 receptions for 942 yards and 10 touchdowns in the postseason, including one of the best individual receptions in the 2008 postseason.

Fitzgerald is the Panthers’ sixth honorary captain this season, joining former offensive lineman Jason Pinkston, former long snapper Cal Adomitis, former offensive lineman Mike McGlynn, former tight end J.P. Holtz and former linebacker Clint Session.

There are only a few hours left until the game, kick-off at 7:30 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium, and Pitt is already a six-point favorite against the ‘Cuse. Both teams say goodbye a week before the start of the second half of the season.