Common bond: The night Larry Fitzgerald's son met Cardinals rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. (2024)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — A couple of months ago, Devin Fitzgerald was about to leave Texas Roadhouse when he spotted a familiar face inside the Tempe restaurant. It was Marvin Harrison Jr.

The Arizona Cardinals had selected Harrison with the fourth pick of April’s NFL Draft, injecting immediate excitement into the Valley of the Sun. The Cardinals won only four games last season, but they showed promising signs under first-year coach Jonathan Gannon. A receiver such as Harrison was exactly what they needed.

Devin, 16, wanted to talk with Harrison, but Harrison looked like he was dining with his mother. Devin left the restaurant and waited. He thought of a couple of questions and typed them into his phone. He had much in common with Harrison.

Like the former Ohio State star, Devin, 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, also was a receiver. Devin had started getting college attention after a strong finish to his sophom*ore season at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. He was listed as a three-star prospect by 247 Sports with scholarship offers from schools including Arizona, Washington State and Pittsburgh. Brophy coach Jason Jewell considered Devin among the program’s most improved players, growing in size and skill.

But Devin and Harrison were also linked in a more complicated way. Devin is following in the footsteps of his father, Larry Fitzgerald, who played 17 seasons with the Cardinals, finishing as one of the game’s great receivers, a future Hall of Famer. Harrison is doing the same, following Marvin Harrison Sr., who played 13 seasons for the Indianapolis Colts, earning Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2016.

After 15 minutes, Harrison walked out of the steakhouse. Devin approached and introduced himself, explaining that he was Larry Fitzgerald’s son.

“I was wondering if I could just talk to you for a second?” he said.

“Yeah, for sure,” Harrison said, according to Devin. “I haven’t met your dad yet, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Larry Fitzgerald on his son’s football potential & Arizona HS football 🌵 @LarryFitzgerald

(@FootballBrophy / @BrophyAthletics / @devinfitz118) pic.twitter.com/pn7RjNXzKS

— MaxPreps (@MaxPreps) July 20, 2024

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The two sat on a bench outside the restaurant, located a mile from the Cardinals practice facility. Devin expected to spend maybe five minutes with the Cardinals rookie. Instead, they talked for 45.

Devin asked Harrison when Harrison started to feel like his own person, and not just Marvin Harrison’s son. Harrison agreed that both their fathers had made a great impact in football and that establishing an identity inside the game had been difficult. Harrison said it wasn’t until his final college season that he felt completely free from his father’s shadow.

Devin asked Harrison how he dealt with the pressure of being a Hall of Famer’s son. Harrison told him “you just kind of use it in your own way.” He said he used it as fuel, which pleased Devin because that is what he tried to do at Brophy Prep.

By the time the two finished, it was after 9 p.m., and the Texas Roadhouse parking lot was nearly empty. Devin could not believe how easy it had been to talk with Harrison and how generous he had been with his time. He admired Harrison. He wanted to follow a similar path.

He couldn’t wait to tell his dad.

Twenty years ago, Larry Fitzgerald was in Harrison Jr.’s shoes. The Cardinals selected Fitzgerald, a star receiver at Pittsburgh, with the third pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. Like Harrison, he had been a Heisman Trophy finalist, a receiver pegged for stardom.

In a recent phone conversation, Fitzgerald said he thinks Harrison is entering a better situation in Arizona than he did. Harrison had created a local buzz for much of the draft’s buildup. He was the popular choice. The playmaker everyone wanted. Fitzgerald said that wasn’t the case with him.

In 2004, the Cardinals were coming off a four-win season and a coaching change. Dave McGinnis was out and former Vikings coach Dennis Green was in. Green and Fitzgerald had history — Fitzgerald had worked as a ball boy under Green with the Vikings. But the Cardinals had several needs entering the draft, and receiver was not among them.

The previous year, Arizona had drafted Penn State receiver Bryant Johnson in the first round and Florida State receiver Anquan Boldin in the second. Boldin finished with a rookie-record 101 catches and won AP Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He was a rising star.

Fitzgerald said he felt an unpleasant vibe during his early days with the Cardinals. Like, “Why in the hell do we need another receiver?”

“It was the first time I walked into a scenario where I kind of felt the resentment of teammates,’” Fitzgerald said.

Missing the first day of training camp because of an unresolved contract situation didn’t help. Fitzgerald wondered if teammates looked at him as a prima donna. In addition, some teased him about his relationship with Green, telling him, “Oh, you’re lucky your uncle drafted you,’” which Fitzgerald wasn’t sure how to take. He felt stressed and overwhelmed.

His response was to sharpen his resolve.

“I just kind of went into ‘prove it’ mode,” said Fitzgerald, an approach that started well but then stalled because of a sprained ankle suffered in Arizona’s first preseason game. “(Like), ‘I’m going to show them that I’m worthy of being drafted in this position in everything that I do. I’m going to learn, I’m going to study, I’m going to build relationships, I’m going to do everything in my power to control the narrative.’ But I definitely felt it early on.”

(Note: Nate Poole, a former Cardinals receiver who helped mentor Fitzgerald, said he couldn’t recall any locker-room resentment, but he understands. “Knowing Larry, I totally get it,” Poole said. “He didn’t want to let the team down because he’s a team player. He didn’t want to let Coach Green down because they had known each other for years. He didn’t want to let the state of Arizona down. … I get that. And I can only talk about my room — who knows what the defense was saying — but in the receiver room, it wasn’t that way.”)

Fitzgerald doesn’t expect Harrison to face similar hurdles. He had first heard of Harrison during the receiver’s high school days at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia. Friends from the area had told him: “Hey, Marvin’s son, he’s electric, man. You got to check him out.” Then, like most everyone else, Fitzgerald followed Harrison at Ohio State, where he became the nation’s top receiver.

Fitzgerald knows Harrison is talented and selfless. He knows quarterback Kyler Murray will not be afraid to “put it in there and give him a shot.” And he knows that one night in May, Harrison went out of his way to be nice to his son.

“If he would have talked with him for five minutes, that would’ve been a blessing,” Fitzgerald said from Minnesota. “But he sat down on a bench and answered every question that he had, gave him advice. … I look forward to meeting him in person and thanking him for that one day.”

Marvin Harrison Jr. is off to a strong start to training camp. Gannon’s expectations for the rookie have been simple: “Get open, catch the ball, score points.” Veteran lineman Kelvin Beachum said Harrison has been professional, efficient and as “quiet as a church mouse.” He likes silent assassins.

Marvin Harrison Jr coming at you. pic.twitter.com/xGC3CejP6I

— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) July 25, 2024

After Friday’s practice, Harrison, 21, signed autographs and left the field at State Farm Stadium. As he walked to the locker room, he was told how much Larry Fitzgerald had appreciated him talking to his son that evening. Harrison smiled. “That’s awesome,” he said.

To Harrison, this was no big deal. As he talked at Texas Roadhouse, his mom waited in the car. Then it was just two football players and a common bond. Larry Fitzgerald finished with 1,432 career catches, second-best in NFL history. Marvin Harrison Sr. finished with 1,102, good for fifth. Those are intimidating numbers.

“I know what it feels like to be him, to be in his shoes, to be the son of someone so great,” Harrison said. “You want to do the same thing and play football, but you also want to pave your own path, so I can understand the struggle that he may be going through. There’s not many like us really in the world. You see like LeBron James’ son in basketball and all the scrutiny that he gets. I just understand how hard it can be.”

Harrison said he had three jerseys growing up — his father’s, Hines Ward’s and Larry Fitzgerald’s. Fitzgerald is the reason he wore No. 11 as a high school freshman. Since the draft, everyone has asked if he has met the Cardinals’ legend. Harrison said he hopes to soon. Like Fitzgerald’s son learned from him, he wants to learn from Fitzgerald.

“Hopefully, he can give me some wisdom,” Harrison said.

Since leaving Texas Roadhouse, Devin and Harrison have stayed in touch. Harrison said he wants to check out one of Devin’s games this fall. Anything he can do, any advice he can give, he’s willing to do to help the young Fitzgerald. Because he’s been there.

“He’s a very humble kid,” Harrison said. “He just wanted to take all the information that he could get from me and just learn. He has a great heart, and I can’t wait to see what he does in the future.”

(Top photo of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Devin Fitzgerald: Joe Rondone and Michael Chow / USA Today)

Doug Haller is a senior writer based in Arizona. He previously worked 13 years at The Arizona Republic, where he covered three Final Fours and four football national championship games. He is a five-time winner of the Arizona Sportswriter of the Year award. Follow Doug on Twitter @DougHaller