Cards star gives 'em Fitz with push-off tricks
Larry Fitzgerald has mastered many things as the premier wide receiver in football. He has the strength of a battleship, the speed of a sprinter and soft hands that lead to few drops.
Quietly, with few fans and media noticing, Fitzgerald has mastered something else as well, and that's the intricate and subtle art of the push-off.
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| Larry Fitzgerald used everything at his disposal in his matchup with Charles Woodson, the Defensive Player of the Year. (Getty Images) |
"No wide receiver ever pushes off," Fitzgerald told me, his smile broadening before he politely declined to talk further on the subject.
Often, the telemetry of the push-off is in the eye of the beholder. Yet that's what makes it such an effective weapon, one Fitzgerald uses with great skill. Game officials often miss it and confuse a push-off with feet getting tangled or a clumsy defender.
This was the case in Fitzgerald's wild-card game against Green Bay. One of Fitzgerald's touchdowns came when all-universe cornerback Charles Woodson, the Defensive Player of the Year, was covering Fitzgerald and the push-off -- as subtle as it was -- knocked Woodson off balance.
On that play, the first of two Fitzgerald push-offs against Woodson, Fitzgerald ran what appeared to be a down-and-in with Woodson following closely. As Fitzgerald made his break inside, his right arm extended outward, creating space. Though it looked as if the two players' feet got tangled (that's what Fox analyst Troy Aikman wrongly concluded) Woodson's fall to the turf was more a result from the elbow bar than anything else.
Fitzgerald made similarly subtle push-offs on at least three other occasions in that game. Because Fitzgerald is as powerful as he is swift, even a minor push-off can create space. And when the quarterback is as radar-locked accurate as Kurt Warner, inches can make a difference in the success of a route.
Fitzgerald likely learned his trade from one of the push-off masters, Cris Carter. Fitzgerald was a ball boy for Minnesota when Carter was a Viking, and Fitzgerald digested a number of tips from Carter along the way (including embracing Carter's saying that receivers must make all the catches they're supposed to make, and a few catches they're not to supposed to make). Few great receivers were better at pushing off and not getting caught than Carter.
A New York Giants player once told me that when Carter went to the grocery store, he probably pushed off the apple juice to get to the orange juice.
I've witnessed Fitzgerald throw those subtle elbow bars for some years now. No receiver in the sport is slicker about getting away with it (Hines Ward is a close second), and I mean that as a compliment.
The problem for Fitzgerald is that teams are finally starting to complain to game officials about his tactics. I'm told by several NFL sources that teams in the second half of the season began warning officials during pregame warmups about Fitzgerald pushing off but it seems those warnings have done nothing to stop Fitzgerald from trying.
Again in the Green Bay game, there was an even more blatant example of Fitzgerald's push-off brilliance, and again the victim was Woodson. Actually, Fitzgerald's move was more like a mugging -- he simply shoved Woodson to the ground, then spun around to make a spectacular circus catch for a touchdown (make the catches you're supposed to and a few you're not).
There was a game official who saw the entire thing and didn't throw a flag.
None of this is a slight to Fitzgerald. In a way, his gorgeous push-off skills are a testament to his work ethic. It takes patience and practice to pull it off while not looking like a hockey goon doing it (most of the time).
One day, in the future, Fitzgerald might be introduced in Canton and join other receiving greats. At Fitzgerald's meteoric receiving pace, it's entirely possible.
Fitzgerald could push his way into the Hall, following his career of pushing around half of the defensive backs in football.
