Former Arizona Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald has turned the personal pain of losing his mother to breast cancer into a mission to help families confronting the disease.
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Fitzgerald → turn → disease
Fitzgerald’s mother, Carol, died from breast cancer in 2003.
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mother → die → 2003
His foundation has since partnered with DraftKings on its annual Pink ’Em campaign, which has raised more than $700,000 for breast cancer awareness, research and patient support since launching in 2019.
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which → partner → 2019
Fitzgerald spoke with OutKick about the campaign, the influence of his mother, his friendship with the late Sen. John McCain, the relationships that defined his 17 seasons with the Cardinals and the current NFL season.
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that → speak → Cardinals
Questions and answers have been shortened for brevity and focus.
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Questions → shorten → brevity
Your foundation’s partnership with DraftKings through the Pink ’Em campaign has raised more than $700,000 for breast cancer awareness.
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partnership → pink → awareness
What does that mean to you personally?
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that → mean → you
Well, it means a lot that you can raise this type of awareness together in a partnership.
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you → mean → partnership
And I think that’s what makes partnerships so special, especially when you have one as longstanding as this.
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you → think → this
Every single year, obviously, we’re raising money for a wonderful cause, but also getting people on our platform to play in our Pink ’Em campaign.
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people → raise → campaign
And it’s a win-win for everybody.
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it → ’ → everybody
We get to raise awareness, and it’s a beautiful thing.
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it → get → awareness
When did you first become passionate about this cause?
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you → become → cause
Fitzgerald: In 2003, I lost my mother to breast cancer.
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I → lose → cancer
And so this has been something that’s near and dear to my heart.
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that → ’ → heart
I have a couple other family members who’ve battled it.
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who → have → it
People in my organization at our foundation have done it as well.
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People → do → it
And so it’s something that I live with, I think about, I hear about often in terms of treatments and cutting-edge results that are happening from some of the life sciences that are occurring now.
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that → ’ → sciences
And so this is something, I live this every single day.
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I → live → this
When you think back on your mother, what do you think she would think of where your career has gone and how you’ve created this foundation and championed this cause?
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you → think → cause
So I know that it would be something that she would be happy about.
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she → know → that
As a child, I was always going to events that she was either a part of, or she was a part of organizations that supported them.
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that → go → them
My hope is that she would be proud of the work that we’re continuing to do.
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we → continue → that
And I think she would want me to continue to stay motivated, to not take my foot off the gas and keep my focus on serving.
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me → think → focus
What’s the biggest thing your mother taught you while you were growing up that you’ve carried throughout your life?
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you → ’ → life
There’s a lot of people out there that are in need.
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that → ’ → need
And sometimes somebody needs just a helping hand, a hello, a thank you, "How are you doing?" Just to be seen and thought about.
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you → need → you
And I always saw that she would always do that.
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she → see → that
And it’s something that I tried to implement when I was a youngster and still to this day.
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I → ’ → day
How do you think that helped shape you during your football career?
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that → think → career
Fitzgerald: It’s something that I think is a part of you no matter what you do.
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you → ’ → what
It doesn’t matter if it’s in my current occupation or my former occupation.
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it → matter → occupation
Being thoughtful, caring, really enjoying cultivating relationships and developing relationships is something that is important in anything that you do in life.
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you → care → life
It doesn’t matter if you’re on TV, if you’re a garbage man, if you’re a doctor.
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you → matter → TV
Having that human connectivity is important.
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Having → have → connectivity
One of the friendships you made during your career that really stood out was with the late John McCain.
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that → make → McCain
Yeah, I mean, Senator McCain was a wonderful man and influence in my life.
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McCain → mean → life
He’s one of the people that I credit with helping me mature and seeing the world in a different light.
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me → ’ → light
Traveling to Vietnam and doing a lot of his events with him opened my eyes and my world up to things I never would have thought I’d been exposed to.
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I → travel → things
And so, really, really thankful and appreciative of the relationship that I’ve had with him and so many others.
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I → have → him
…and 120 more, not listed.
The Aporia
