Former NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will be inducted into the Arizona Cardinals Ring of Honor and will have his No. 11 jersey retired at halftime of Sunday's home game against the Denver Broncos. The celebration that has been years in the making and comes after his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement in August.
However, a controversy has come to light on the occasion after the team allegedly denied media access to veteran journalist and Hall of Fame voter Howard Balzer.
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Balzer, a longtime NFL media veteran and Pro Football Hall of Fame selector, said he was denied access to Thursday's press conference for the event, and several media figures criticized the organization for it.
Cardinals Torched After HOF Voter Says He Was Denied Access to Larry Fitzgerald Ring of Honor Press Conference
Balzer covers the Cardinals for Cards Wire and has served as a Hall of Fame selector for over 20 years. He is also affiliated with SiriusXM NFL Radio and was an analyst on ESPN's first nine NFL Draft broadcasts from 1980 through 1988.
Balzer says the team revoked Cards Wire's credentials in March 2025, a move he alleges was retaliatory over something he had written the prior year. Balzer posted about the situation on X on Thursday, Oct. 22.
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"Press conference today for Larry Fitzgerald going into Ring of Honor, jersey retired & getting HOF ring, yet as someone covering team & HOF voter, I can't be there. Team should be embarrassed for their thin skin, being petty & vindictive. But they're not held accountable. Sad," Balzer wrote
.
He followed up with a post clarifying the full scope of what he says the Cardinals had done.
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"I've made this point in many replies, but to be clear, the Fitz presser wasn't a 1-time prohibition. Team revoked CardsWire credentials for all games, practice, media availability, open locker room in March, 2025, inventing a reason when it was really for what I wrote in 2024," he tweeted
.
Cardinals insider Kyle Odegard pointed to the missed opportunity for the organization given what was being celebrated.
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"Wow. Fitz Ring of Honor content is the easiest PR win the Cardinals will get all year, and they wouldn't allow longtime Cardinals beat writer Howard Balzer attend his press conference," Odegard wrote
.
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Fans and media slammed the team in the comments.
"I don't always agree with you, but I'd love to sit and have a beer to chat it up. What a disgrace of an owner. We all wish we had better!!" one fan commented
.
Arizona-based sports reporter Matthew Jacobson said the incident fit a pattern he had been warned about for years.
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"I've been told as long as I've been credentialed media not to bother requesting the Cardinals because they reject everyone, but an HOF voter can't even get into a press conference? I don't know why local media gives them the time of day, worst organization in Arizona," Jacobson wrote
.
D. Orlando Ledbetter, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame screening committee and former PFWA President, wrote
: "Shameful!!!"
Another fan summed it up bluntly. "Common Arizona Cardinals L. Can't even handle a ring of honor ceremony without being petty," the user wrote
.
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Sunday's halftime ceremony marks a formal chance for home fans to celebrate Fitzgerald, since he stopped playing after the 2020 season.
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He never formally announced his retirement after 17 seasons with the Cardinals, and his Hall of Fame enshrinement in Canton in August made this weekend the natural moment to bring the celebration home to Arizona.
Fitzgerald's Ring of Honor induction was originally planned around three years ago, but a family matter pushed the date back. The timing of this weekend was chosen in part to fall in October, coinciding with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a cause the Cardinals have supported for years.
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Fitzgerald spent his entire 17-year career playing for the Cardinals, during which he recorded 1,432 receptions for 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns.
The Cardinals host the Denver Broncos on Sunday at State Farm Stadium.
This article originally appeared on
Pro Football Network
.
