As I posted earlier, I had the opportunity to meet and workout with Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald at an Athletes Performance facility. The workout was great and meeting Fitzgerald was even better. I finally converted the whole interview to text and I won't waste anymore time. Enjoy.
What do you think of the name(Revenge of the Birds)?
It's cool.
Would you like to get revenge on the Saints in the NFC Championship game next year?
That would be nice.
What are your thoughts on this workout for race car drivers?
I've trained here before. I'm familiar with a lot of the movements. The thing is, with any athlete I don't care what your job is if your NASCAR, a golfer, a football player, or a basketball player, you have to be in peak physical condition. They might not be running, but as soon as their car going 200 mpg, 500 laps, that's endurance. You have to be hydrated, you have to be unbelievably mentally strong to be able to sit in there and do the same thing for hours on top of hours. There's training that has to be done to be elite in anything.
In response to how much his workout has changed since working out with strength and conditioning coach John Lott...
I don't know if its changed. The way I work out, I feel like I'll always push myself to work hard, but he's raised the bar, and he treats every person different in terms of what there specific needs are. Lets say you're an offensive lineman and he feels you need to lose 10 pounds and it's going got make you that much more explosive, then he's going to challenge you to do that. If you're a defensive tackle that he feels needs to gain weight to be stronger and hold down the trenches, he's going to challenge you to do that. I think he does a great job of finding each man, what their strengths and weakness are, addressing those, and pushing you.
Have you had a chance to workout yet?
Oh yeah as soon as I got off the plane yesterday I got in there and got my workout in with the guys. I got to workout this morning and that's just important to get back into the grove of things. My teammates voted me the caption last year, so that carries a lot of weight. You got to be responsible, you got to make sure you lead by example.
Have you met any of the new players?
Oh yeah everybody's over there working out, so I got a chance to meet everybody. I'm really looking forward to working with the guys, the new guys, and a great 2010 season.
In response if he feels more motivated to lead now that Kurt Warner retired...
No, I'm not going to change anything I've done. I'm a quiet guy. I'm not going to say too many things but I think people better understand the leader you are is by the way you work on the practice field, by the way you work in the gym, and things like that...
In response to if he is on a tight nutrition plan...
Very tight. I have a personal nutritionist, I also have a chef that prepares pretty much all of my meals. I did that a couple of years ago. I'm trying to regulate my weight. I've played a little bit heavy, and I'm wanting to get down to the low teens. I put that into effect. After all my workouts all week I drink my shakes, I make sure I replenish all the fluids I've lost and that's helped me out tremendously, making sure I'm not losing anything. I'm always gaining from my workout.
Quarterback coach Chris Miller revealed that Kurt injured his shoulder last year and he didn't want to make the deep throw all season. Do you feel that effected the deep ball?
No not really. Kurt is a hall of fame player. Kurt is one the best quarterbacks to ever play this game. If he was hiding the injury - he still had a pro bowl season, led us deep in the playoffs, had probably one of the best playoff games anyone has ever seen against the packers. He was an amazing, amazing player - we're going to miss him a lot.
In response to if he thought Steve Breaston and Early Doucet were ready...
I think we've seen a lot of what Steve can do already. Hes' been explosive over the last three years. Steve is getting an opportunity to out there and be a #2. It's also a contract year for him, there's lots of incentives for him to go out there and be at his best. I know Steve will do that for us. Early's been working really hard. He's been working out, he took two weeks off after the last game of the season and he's been working all the way through[since then]. His body looks fantastic. He's out there catching from Matt already. He's showing that camaraderie and that chemistry we'll need, and I expect big things next season.
In response if Matt Leinart is ready and if the competition will be good...
I think they brought Derek in to compete and motivate and push. I think everytime you compete no matter what position it is, you're going to get the best player. I think that's no difference at the quarterback position. Matt's putting in his time. He's earned the opportunity to go out there and be the leader of this team. We're going to do whatever we can to help him, support him, be there for him, and to make sure he is successful.
In response to how his trip went and where he went...
I went to China, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand, and also India and Napal. I like to get around and travel and see all of what the world has to offer. It was a fantastic tour and I look forward to a few more of those.
Many members at ROTB have been wanting me to ask you if you've ever read Revenge of the Birds or what you think about blogging in general..
I'm not really up on that. I got a twitter account. Is it like a a social networking thing?
We cover the Cardinals year round just as any news source.
Okay. We appreciate the positive support in any form. We work hard at what we do. We want our fans to appreciate and love us, just come out and support us.
In response to what it was like working out after the trip...
I'm extremely tired. My body clock is really thrown off right now. I wanted to get back to work with my teammates. They've been texting me since I've been gone, 'Fitz where you at? Why aren't you here?'. I wanted to make sure I got back to working out with them. I beat them all down today in the sprints so I feel good about that.
In response to what the hardest workout is...
Our strength coach really pushes us, we're running really hard, doing sandpits, doing competitions. If I had to pick one specific thing, I would say when we do 300-yard shuttles that are really realy difficult, that's probably the most difficult thing we do.
In response to what makes it so difficult...
It's a mental battle just preparing yourself, just knowing they are coming. It pushes you, it burns your chest, its' a mental battle, you don't want to do it, you want to push through it. I think that's why they are the most difficult.
At the end of the interview, Larry jokingly asked me if fans talked a lot of smack about him on ROTB. In all honesty, I told him nobody did. He didn't believe me, so I brought up an example. I reminded him about the fumble he had against the Packers in the playoffs. "I fumbled? I don't remember that", Larry laughed. I told him that there was no negative reaction from the fans or even myself. I proceeded to shake Larry's hand and get a picture with him for my personal collection. Overall, meeting and talking with Larry was a great experience. He's a very down to earth guy if you didn't know already, but also a comedian. I look forward to his play next season and getting the chance to talk with him again.