You Can Come Home Again, Sort Of

Pretty much every Vikings fan would go ballistic if receiver Larry Fitzgerald came home to play football. He's set to become a free agent after this season. Unless the Cardinals fail miserably to come up with a solution at QB (Kevin Kolb?), I really don't see Fitzgerald leaving Arizona. The gifted receiver grew up in Minnesota. His father is a radio personality in the Twin Cities, and is a good friend of former Vikings coach Dennis Green. The Fitzgerald family has long had a close relationship with the Vikings. So close that little Larry was a team ball boy in the late '90s. Cris Carter, Jake Reed and a rookie named Randy Moss took the lad under their wings. Taught him some tricks of the trade. You can see the hands of Carter and body positioning of Moss in Fitzgerald's game.

For the past few years, Larry Fitzgerald has come home to Minnesota for some serious football training. So serious that Vikings receiver Sidney Rice, always in great shape, barely made it through his first workout. Fitzgerald takes young receivers like Rice, Jaymar Johnson and Eric Decker under his wings much like Carter, Reed and Moss did for him a decade ago. These workouts aren't just for receivers. Someone has to throw the ball. This summer, with time to burn, Vikings rookie Christian Ponder was doing some of that. Other Vikings players like LB Jasper Brinkley, DE Brian Robison, TEs Visanthe Shiancoe and Kyle Rudolph and linemen John Sullivan and Jon Cooper have spent time at Fitzgerald's camp this year. Several players from the University of Minnesota take part every year. Old guys like Cris Carter and Michael Irvin have been known to pop in. It's a fun time and well known for the intense work.

I've always liked how Fitzgerald comes back to Minnesota and sets up these workouts. It's always just before training camp. It's a time when most players want to get away. A last breath of freedom before the drudgery of camp. It's a sign of the respect and influence that Fitzgerald has earned throughout the league that the workouts are so well attended. It's also a sign of the quality of football work that takes place. It may not be quite the same to many Vikings fans, but Fitzgerald does come home every year.