Yeah, you've seen his face a lot lately. His son's too. The proud papa is, as he put it, this year's Archie Manning.
In the last two Super Bowls, it’s been the Mannings: Peyton, Eli, and father Archie...
Because of the Arizona Cardinals’ incredible season of success and Larry Jr. breaking the legendary Jerry Rice’s playoff records, the Fitzgeralds are suddenly a unique hot American story. Father/sportswriter Larry becomes the first to ever cover his son in the Super Bowl.
The "no cheering in the press box" rule - one of sports journalism's precious commandments - will be put to the test like never before. Larry Fitzgerald Sr., a sports writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, has covered the Super Bowl every season since the 15th (XV for the Romans reading) installment in 1981.
Each year, his job took him to the world's biggest sporting event. Sometimes he'd bring son Larry Jr. in tow. But, this year, Arizona wide receiver Larry Jr. punched a ticket with a job of his own to do.
After tying the record for most touchdown receptions in a postseason game with three - in the NFC Championship game, vanquishing the Philadelphia Eagles - and breaking Jerry Rice's postseason receiving yardage record - the new benchmark sits at 419, heading into Super Bowl XLIII - how is Larry Sr. to remain humble.
In his Super Bowl preview article, the elder Fitzgerald called his son "one of the best at age 25 to ever play this game" and "the best player on the field". While the words seem biased, they just may be true.

He explains in "keep it simple, stupid" detail, the 'who's and 'what's of the game to come, but quotes one of sources, forged by decades of work in professional football. "Tomlin comes from the Tony Dungy tree of NFL coaches, and one veteran NFL scout talking about Tomlin said, 'He’s got it.'"
Larry Sr. describes, in simple detail, the history involved - how Ken Whisenhunt and Ken Grimm, former Pittsburgh Steelers coordinators, were passed over before reinventing a perennial NFL punch line of a franchise. He gives the scores of the Super Bowl contenders' previous conquests, exuding none of the flash his son displays on the field he writes about.
He concludes the article with "a hunch" predicting a Cardinals victory, 28-27. Prophecy and sports journalism often go hand-in-hand. After all, there's a game every night, most hoisted high in Las Vegas with thousands upon thousands of dollars at stake. Any potential insight won't go unread. And who knows Larry Jr. better than Dad?
In the business of sports journalism, often you're asked to check your bias at the door or pack it deep inside your ribs. Anymore than a single clap in a press setting and you risk your reputation or, even worse, a death stare from colleagues.
But with newspapers floundering and the journalism industry lofted up the air like a Kurt Warner lob, maybe Larry Sr. can come down with the loose ball.
Who's to say that Larry, who covered Super Bowls every season without fail, should silence that inner voice? Through the birth of two sons, Larry in 1983 and Marcus in 1985, and the death of his wife of a brain aneurysm in 2003, Larry Sr. stuck with the trade, submitting to the often-formulaic will of his fellow media.
Why not let him say and show exactly what he feels? You'll find thousands of game stories Monday morning in hundreds of countries, but only one journalist has his son on the field.
Larry Sr. admits "it does not get much better than this", and why quiet that enthusiasm? Maybe it is a father's perspective - biased, affected, honest - that should have an unabashed place in sports journalism.
Call it "a hunch".
0 comments:
Post a Comment