Former Pitt star Larry Fitzgerald was honored before last night’s Hall of Fame game as he prepares for his induction to the Hall this weekend.
As Channel 11 found out, he has a special bond with another Hall of Famer you’re all familiar with - Jerome Bettis.
“Bussy, he walks on water for me,” Fitzgerald said.
“My bond with Larry goes back to college here in Pittsburgh. We had a really good relationship,” Bettis said.
During his freshman year with the Panthers came a moment Fitzgerald will never forget.
“I guess it was an article that came out about mom being sick,” Fitzgerald said.
Bettis heard the news and arranged for the two to meet at their teams’ shared facility.
“He was like, ‘Hey, I heard about your mom. I’m really, really sorry to hear about your mom. You know, I have a suite at the Hearnes Field, and you know, I know it’s getting cold. But you know, it’s like I read that your mom was doing chemotherapy. If she’s trying, if she’s coming out to the games, I don’t want her sitting down in the cold, you know. She can, she can sit up in the suite, you know. Most times we don’t use it.’ And so he, like, he gave my, he gave my mom the ability to sit up in a warm seat, and then he would put food in there, like he didn’t have to do that.
“I was just a nobody, freshman, 18 year old, I hadn’t accomplished or done anything, and you know, he was well on his way to, you know, the Hall of Fame, and, and you know, it’s, it just says a lot, you know, when people like that, at that, that is, you know, show you that they care,” Fitzgerald said.
The bond between the two is growing and deepening through the years, and now it’s continued to the next generation
“His son and my son are really close friends at Notre Dame; both of them are receivers,” Bettis said.
“Devon’s learned a lot from Junior, you know, he’s been a great big brother to him, similar to Jerome was to me, you know, as a youngster,” Fitzgerald said.
As friends often do, the two are always there for each other when one of them needs it most.
Including when Bettis was driving a Tesla for the first time.
“I don’t know how to start the car. there’s no button to start the car. So, I’m sitting there for 30 minutes trying to figure out how to start the car, and the only person I knew that had a Tesla was Larry Fitzgerald. I call Larry. I said, ‘Larry, how do I start the car?’” Bettis said.
“If you come from, you know, combustion engine, you know it’s very different, you know, you don’t need any keys, you don’t know if the car is on or off. When you get in, you know, there’s a lot of technology in the vehicle, and so if you’re unfamiliar with it, you know it can make it a little difficult. But you know, Bus is a quick study. I told him kind of how to throw it in gear, what to do with it, use cameras around it, and he was in; he was just fine,” Fitzgerald said.
The two will have yet another memory cemented: the moment Fitzgerald dons his gold jacket for the first time, and sees his bronze bust in Canton.
“For him to be going to the Hall of Fame, I can welcome him in as a Hall of Famer. It’s going to be a great moment,” Bettis said.
The induction for Larry Fitzgerald and the rest of the Hall of Fame class of 2026 is Saturday at noon in Canton, Ohio.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW