Cardinals Legend Snubbed From Top 100 List

Arizona Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald was nowhere to be found on ESPN's Top 100 list.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) warms up before playing against the Philadelphia Eagles Dec. 20, 2020. Eagles Vs Cardinals / Michael Chow/The Republic via Imagn

ARIZONA -- Arizona Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald is among the most beloved figures in all of the Valley for what he did on and off the field during his lengthy tenure in the desert.

Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest NFL receivers of all-time, though that wasn't good enough to land him on the list of ESPN's Top 100 athletes since 2000.

ESPN comes out with the list of the greatest athletes since 2000. @LarryFitzgerald was not one of them.https://t.co/pW9jGCkKw7

— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) July 18, 2024

As far as NFL players go, the league saw the following land on the list:

• No. 5 - Tom Brady
• No. 20: Aaron Donald
• No. 26: Peyton Manning
• No. 27: Randy Moss
• No. 57: Calvin Johnson
• No. 58: J.J. Watt
• No. 61: Ray Lewis
• No. 91: Aaron Rodgers
• No. 96: Darrelle Revis
• No. 99: Ed Reed
• No. 100: Charles Woodson

The methodology, as explained by ESPN:

"Experts in individual sports were asked to vote to rank the top athletes in their sport since Jan. 1, 2000 (no accomplishments before this date were to be considered). Those votes pared down pools in each sport to lists of 10 to 25 athletes each, which constituted the overall candidate pool for the top athletes of the 21st century so far.

"Each voter was presented two randomly selected names and asked to pick which one has had the better career in the 21st century. Across repeated, randomized head-to-head matchups, more than 70,000 votes were cast at this stage, and using an Elo rating system, the list was pared down from 262 to 100.

"That list was then evaluated by a panel of experts for any inconsistencies or oversights, resulting in the top 100 ranking seen here."

Fitzgerald has similar numbers to the receivers listed and other prominent consideration when compared to the other NFL players listed.

Fitzgerald - who will shortly go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame - earned 11 Pro Bowls on top of three All-Pro nods. He received spots on the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary Team.