Inside The Panthers

Pitt WR Larry Fitzgerald Debuts on College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

The best receiver in Pitt Panthers history is eligible of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt WR Larry Fitzgerald Debuts on College Football Hall of Fame Ballot
Pitt WR Larry Fitzgerald Debuts on College Football Hall of Fame Ballot /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers will be well-represented on next year's College Football Hall of Fame ballot, with two repeat candidates and one new face eligible for the first time in 2024. 

Former Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald will join running back Craig Heyward and quarterback Matt Cavanaugh on the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame ballot. This will mark Fitzgerald's first year of eligibility while Heyward and Cavanaugh are entering their second after being introduced last summer. 

Fitzgerald is undoubtedly the best wideout in Panthers football history. He owns the program record for receiving yards in a season (1,672, 2003), receiving touchdowns in a season (22, 2003) and for a career (34) and most consecutive games with a receiving touchdown (18, 2002-03). He was named a Heisman Trophy finalist and won the Biletnikoff Award in 2003 before leaving school early for the NFL Draft, where were he was selected third overall by the Arizona Cardinals. 

Heyward, the father of current Pittsburgh Steelers Cam and Connor, used a devastating, other-worldly combination of speed and power to star for the Panthers during the mid-1980s. His 1987 season, in which he amassed nearly 2,000 all-purpose yards and 13 total touchdowns made him a consensus All-American and a household name. The New Orleans Saints selected Heyward with the 24th overall pick of the 1988 Draft and enjoyed a ten-year career as a professional. Heyward fought cancer for eight years before his untimely death in 2006.

Cavanaugh, who concluded his career having thrown for the second-most passing yards in a season in school history, earned MostValuable Player honors in Pitt's 1977 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, a victory that clinched that year's national title. He played in the NFL for 15 seasons and coached for 27 more. He was most recently an offensive assistant for Washington during the 2019 season.

The College Football Hall of Fame is an exclusive club. Just 0.02% - 1,056 of the 5.54 million individuals that have ever played college football - have earned induction to the Hall. 

Election is determined partially by votes from the more than 12,000 members of the National Football Foundation and the NFF Honors Court, chaired by former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, will make the final selections. The last Pitt Panther to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame was Ruben Brown in 2015. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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