Larry Fitzgerald, Shane Doan and Luis Gonzalez to Particpate in John McCain Funeral Service
Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, former Arizona Coyotes forward Shane Doan and former Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Luis Gonzalez will each participate in Sen. John McCain's memorial service this week, according to the late U.S. Senator's website.
Fitzgerald is one of six speakers who will read a tribute honoring McCain. He was also one of several athletes who took to Twitter to share tributes to the senator on social media.
Cindy McCain, wife of the late senator, asked Fitzgerald to speak at the service a couple of months ago, when the wide receiver visited the family at their ranch in Cornville, Ariz., according to ESPN.
Fitzgerald said he was first "really taken aback" by the request before accepting.
"It's truly one of the greatest honors of my life to be able to talk about somebody who served his country so passionately and had been so dedicated to policies of this nation," Fitzgerald told ESPN.
Fitzgerald also said that he has five to six mintues to speak, where it will be tough to include everything he wants to say about McCain.
"You think about those 60-plus years and everything he's done from his time served as a POW to all the years in the senate, the things he's done here for the great state of Arizona -- and to be able to do that in five or six minutes is extremely difficult," Fitzgerald said. "I'm going to do the best I can and try to honor him for the wonderful man that he is."
Both Doan and Gonzalez were chosen to serve alongside 12 other people as pallbearers. All three Arizona sporting legends are listed as being friends of McCain, who passed on Saturday, Aug. 25, at the age of 81 years old.
The ceremony will take place on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 1 p.m. ET at North Phoenix Baptist Church in Phoenix, Ariz. Roughly 1,000 seats have been made available to the public.
