MINNEAPOLIS — A couple of Valley sports icons showed up at joint practices between the Cardinals and Vikings in Minnesota. A Minneapolis boy and a Valley boy, both Arizona sports legends.
Up first, Vikings Hall of Fame offensive lineman Randall McDaniel. Simply put, he’s one of the greatest players to ever come out of Arizona.
McDaniel hails from Agua Fria High School in Avondale, where he was a 3-sports all-state selection.
He helped ASU get to its first Rose Bowl in 1987, then went on to become one of the best offensive lineman in NFL history.
McDaniel made the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
He and fellow Sun Devil Curley Culp are the only Arizona-born members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Larry Fitzgerald will be in the Hall of Fame soon. No more playing football, he’s fully retired going on 3-years now.
"There is nothing in me that wants to be out there," the former Cardinals receiver said with a smile. "But I can appreciate the quality and the skills that go into being out there."
Fitzgerald has a house near the Vikings practice facility and usually spends his summers here, so it was an easy trip coming to practice to watch the team he played for and the team he grew up working for.
"This is kind of where I cut my teeth, at Vikings training camp as a ballboy, and obviously my love for the Cardinals is where it's at and where it's always going to be. To be out there and watching my two favorite teams do it is cool."
Sports
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Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Cactus Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.