
Look Up to an NFL Player?
Are you kidding me? With so much stigma surrounding the NFL, I’d never have thought to tell my grandson to look up to one of its athletes. But I did, and in the following letter I wrote to Larry Fitzgerald, you’ll find out why.
My Letter to Fitz:
Dear Mr. Fitzgerald,
I know you receive far too many letters, emails, and social media messages to read them all. So I write with the hope this letter somehow makes its way to you. I hope you will find a few minutes to read it and take it to heart.
I thought about writing to Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, and every team owner to tell them exactly what I think of the NFL supporting “professionals” who behave badly. But I don’t suppose they’d care much what a grandmother, who rarely watches pro-football, has to say about the actions of their players. So I’m writing to you, Mr. Fitzgerald, and I do hope you hear my message loud and clear.
You see, I recently had a conversation with my nine-year-old grandson about NFL athletes and character. The discussion came about when I realized my grandson was looking up to one of the most skilled quarterbacks in your league which is something to admire. After all, he is a man who realized his dreams of becoming a pro-football player. He worked hard to get to where he is and continues to work hard at winning games. However, he lacks common decency in my opinion.
I won’t mention the player’s name. We all know there are plenty of them out there who are disliked for their arrogance, cockiness, and blatant disregard for player safety. Worse, there are those who are despised for their police records of domestic violence and reckless social behavior. I don’t need to mention any of their names because this letter isn’t about them. This letter is about you, Mr. Fitzgerald.
This letter is about you because, when my grandson mentioned the other player’s name, he saw disappointment on my face and asked, “What’s wrong G.G.?” (My grandkids call me G.G.) So, I said what any grandparent would say about someone who sets a bad example for kids. But then I said, “If you want to look up to an NFL player, look up to Larry Fitzgerald.”

He said, “You’re right, G.G. Fitzgerald isn’t cocky like (the other guy).” The point he made to me is that he’s noticed your behavior as much as the other guy’s. We went on to have an interesting conversation about cocky vs. respect, arrogant vs. humble, and entitlement vs. gratitude. My grandson, an intuitive young man, said he “got” what I was saying. He also said that he likes you, Mr. Fitzgerald. He likes you more than the other guy.
Well, that got me thinking about you beyond our conversation. After all, I want to make sure I didn’t give my grandson bad advice. So I did some investigating and learned quite a bit about you. In my research, I watched a twenty-minute clip of a film titled, A Football Life: Larry Fitzgerald in which your teammates describe you with high regard.
Carson Palmer said, “He’s not your 2017 superstar… he’s in that category skill-wise and productivity-wise, probably ahead of that category… but he is not in that group.” Palmer further explains how you’re better than that group because of the way you carry yourself, the way you act, and the team-mate that you are. He said, “there’s zero diva” about you.

Even players from opposing teams speak of you with respect. Richard Sherman of the Seahawks describes a time you blocked him with the ability to do damage but didn’t. “He’s as good as anybody because he cares. He could have killed me. He could have put me out of the game… and he made the block but, from what he could have done, it was pretty much a nothing hit. But then he comes up and apologizes. It just shows what kind of guy he is.”
When people talk about you, Mr. Fitzgerald, they spend less time talking about your record-breaking achievements and more time talking about your character. Although you’re one of the top-ranking NFL players today, it’s your character that stands out. Maybe it’s because you remember the professional athletes you looked up to when you were young like Barry Sanders and Chris Carter.
Because your father was a journalist, you were able meet people like Barry Sanders who reminded you to do well in school because “What you believe you can achieve.” Chris Carter of the Vikings attended your high school football games and said he did so not so much because you were a great athlete but because you were such a good kid. There’s no doubt you were a good kid because of the way your parents raised you and I’m happy to say that’s why my grandson is a good kid too. His parents are raising him well.
But you know as well as I that not all kids have stable homes… and this is where I hope you’re reading this and considering what I have to say. For those kids whose parents don’t know how to parent, they are looking up to other roles models – actors, musicians, and professional athletes. Sadly, young kids are picking up on bad habits of disrespect and arrogance because Hollywood and the NFL accept bad behavior as the norm.
I told my grandson to look up to someone like you, Mr. Fitzgerald, because it is fundamental for our world to continue to have real role models for our children. Not so they can aspire to be NFL players. But so they can aspire to have good character. So, please, keep doing what you’re doing.
Thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald, for rising above the stigma of the NFL. Thank you for being you and not like “the others.” Thank you for showing America that character really does count. Don’t change, Mr. Fitzgerald, because our country is watching you. So is my grandson.
Respectfully,
Gina Chaffin
While some take a knee, Fitzgerald honors.

Larry Fitzgerald honors WWII Korean, Vietnam veteran Col. James Ballard at Cardinals game.

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