Ichiro Suzuki was great every season, no matter how bad the Mariners were. He even set the MLB hit record in what was at the time the Mariners worst season. Then, after a decade of all-star seasons, Ichiro just stopped hitting in 2011. Then he continued to not hit in 2012. The weirdest part was that Ichiro did not look like his game had slowed down much, it was as if he was just in a very, very, very long slump. Then in the summer of this year, Ichiro approached his general manager, asking to be traded to a contending team. Shortly after, Ichiro was traded to the Yankees.

Ichiro hadn't been able to hit to save his life for well over a year, but when that trade happened, he literally returned to being the Ichiro of old on day one with the Yankees. At first, everyone just figured it was a humorous fluke, until that hot stretch continued the entire rest of the season. Ichiro hit .261/.288/.353 before the trade. After the trade he hit .322/.340/.454, and he started hitting immediately once he became a Yankee.

I've often wondered about that. Ichiro is a class act, but I also think that a decade of being wasted by his franchise finally got to him, and he lost the drive. I think it's also possible that he was aware that success was his own enemy- because if Ichiro had hit well in 2011 and 2012 as a Mariner, he'd almost certainly be a mariner in 2013 and beyond. Given the state of the Mariner franchise, I really don't think he wanted his career to end that way.

I think this year, we might have seen the same thing happen to Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is ALWAYS productive. He had some of the worst QB play in the NFL last year and still had 1411 yards and 8 TDs. The year before he had 1100+ yards catching passes from the NFL's worst QB group.

This year, Fitzgerald has not been productive. Barring a massive performance in week 17, he will finish with career low TDs and very nearly career low yards (rookie season).

Watching this unfold, I have to wonder if Fitzgerald has had his spirit broken by years of losing and years of having the same problems go unfixed. I also wonder if, were he traded to a superbowl contending team, if he would instantly revert to his best form instantly, just like Ichiro did. Then I wonder, is part of his malaise based on the hope that his team will gain the willingness to part with him?

Then I see Larry Fitzgerald, out of the blue, going out of his way to say very nice things about the Seattle Seahawks recently. Maybe I am over-interpreting, but I sensed a twinge of longing from that. Like a girl going out of her way to show interest in a guy she likes.

I don't think Arizona would ever trade Fitzgerald to the Seahawks. But I do think that might just be what Larry Fitzgerald secretly wishes for. If he's still a Cardinal next year (probable), I wouldn't be in a rush to draft him in any fantasy draft. I think he might just have checked out emotionally with that franchise, and probably won't check back in until he's playing for a winner.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

Mannn I wish you weren't over-interpreting!

He could ask for a release though couldn't he? and then go to a team he wishes to play for.

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Official Tharold Simon Fan Club Member

Could you imagine Fitz and Wilson????

...I have to go change my underpants....

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With Rice running opposite???????

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Official Tharold Simon Fan Club Member

I agree w/ a lot of that Kearly, playing for a perrenial crap team has got to way heavily on players and no matter how classy they are, it is bound to have a negative effect on them sub conciously.

But.
I watch bits and parts of most all their games and one thing I noticed. When Skelton first started for them he looked decent because he was just throwing the ball up to Fitz nearly every pass play and it was working great. 3 or 4 games in ppl got tape on him and started taking that away by doubling/tripling Fitz and baiting him in. Suddenly, he is throwing picks or eating sacks cuz he could not find other targets. The team really lacks much other threats and w/ a weak Oline "the QB is toast."

Summary; I believe Fitz does still have it and someone like Wilson throwing to him on a great team would be dreamy.

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Put them together, and this long-limbed, fleet-a-foot foursome forms a formidable force. ....Clare Farnsworth referencing the best NFL secondary also known as the "Legion of Boom"

Dammit....that was my last pair of shreddies. Now I have to do laundry.

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Seems worth it to trade Flynn for him, straight-up. They get a QB, we rescue Fitz. We kinda take it in the shorts, contract-wise, so no extra pieces thrown in.

I thought his effort on the pick 6 Sherman got was just fine, it was just a crappy throw.
I have a hard time thinking Fitz is going 100% all the time right now, but there hasn't been a lack of professionalism from him.

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I don't think it's a lack of professionalism, but more that the boat took the sails down to the bottom of the ocean with it, you know?

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I tweeted him to be a Seahawk a few weeks ago. I think we should all hound him!

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Just see how his numbers were when the Cards started 4-0 with a shot for the Superbowl. If they were bad, he's having a down year. If they were good, maybe he's not trying anymore?

What's up with all your Ichiro comparisons lately?

Why do you keep comparing excellent football players to a good defensive singles hitter?

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I've always wondered how Steven Jackson does it every year.

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If Ichiro was an NFL WR he would catch 150 passes for 300 yards and no TDs and would refuse to play on special teams.

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This post is intended for entertainment purposes only.

I might be wrong... but I'm pretty sure Fitz petitioned hard for the team to draft Michael Floyd... thinking it would create a Fitz/Boldin type situation again that would solve some of the issues. He backed the wrong horse, probably through sheer loyalty to the crappy QB's on the roster. And to think, he wasn't too far away from having Peyton Manning throwing him the ball.

Fitz also wanted Kolb real bad.

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SEAHAWKS.NET. We All We Got, We All We Need

He's a hell of a classy guy, but I think he should have looked out for #1 a bit more and gone to a contending team when he had the chance. Even most of the Cardinals fan base (at least, on forums I've read of theirs recently) wants to let him go so he can try to get a ring before he retires. It's sad.

Fitz, demand a trade and get your butt up to Seattle for a cheap price tag. We'll get you a ring.

Before we trounced them, the Cards were (if I remember right) the 5th best defense in the league (oh ya, and Wilson put up a lemon 48 QBR in that game, the cards are a really good defense). So they are basically a QB and a WR2 (plus turning wells to RB2 and replace with LeRod S-H) from being good in this division. Basically I'm saying they could become a legit team with a good QB (not a great QB).

I think a Fitz trade would end up being costly. Like a +1rst round pick kind of costly (because they would need to bolster thier receiving core when they already have needs on the offensive line.
Now what I would like is somebody to tell me "child please", and just why it's reasonable we could pick Fitz up, because the thought of Fitz/Rice/Baldwin/Tate is just to good.

Free Agent QB's: Horrible, you've got Campbell, Moore, and Flacco up. Plus of course rumors around Vick, Sanchez and Tebow. Which means Vick is really the only worthy candidate. I say this because I think Flynn's value is higher than we think.

Free Agent Wide Recievers (not Under: Restricted Free Agent contracts): Danny Amendola, Greg Jennings, Austin Collie, Brandon Stokely, Wes Welker, Brian Hartline, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, Dwayne Bowe.

Now depending on how we do in the post season, we could be a VERY appealing team to one of the big names. But, be it age, or they are not a true WR but a slot reciever, I don't see a lot of good options hear (as better replacements for what we have) save Bowe or Mike Wallace.

Thoughts?

This made absolutely no sense. He would play special teams, but would only do so if his interpreter was on the field with him.



Mainly because if Pete Carroll was starting a baseball team in 2001, he would have won the posting fee for Ichiro. Everyone just assumed Ichiro would suck because he was too unique. Pete hears "too unique" and laughs all the way to the bank.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

I don't think Fitz is checked out emotionally. He has always been productive with bad QBs, but Skelton and Lindley are on a historically awful level that Fitz has never seen. In Kolb's five starts, Fitz had 32 receptions for 367 yards and 3 TDs, which projects to 102 receptions for 1174 yards and 10 TDs over a 16 game season.