For Larry Fitzgerald, retirement is merely a state of mind rather than a final destination.

As Fitzgerald prepares for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this Saturday, he stands firm on his belief that he hasn’t truly retired. In fact, he challenges the very notion of retirement altogether.

The acclaimed wide receiver credits a pivotal conversation between his grandfather and John Stroger, a former Chicago politician, for shaping his perspective on retirement.

Reflecting on that discussion, Fitzgerald shared on Thursday with ESPN, “I recall them conversing about how retirement kills more people in our country than anything else. That idea has always resonated deeply with me. Therefore, I just don’t buy into the concept of retirement.”

“To me, it’s all about moving smoothly into different phases of life, especially for athletes,” he added, emphasizing a continual journey rather than a conclusive ending.

Fitzgerald, who spent his entire 17-year NFL career with the Cardinals, played his final game at 37 years old in 2020.

“Retired? What do you mean retired?” Fitzgerald said about the word. “There’s no retirement in sight. And, so, I don’t know. I protest the word more than the actual thing.

“So, I just want to acknowledge that.”

The questions surrounding Fitzgerald’s retirement followed him during his final few seasons, with the 11-time Pro Bowler insisting that he did not want a farewell tour to close out his NFL career.

During his NFL tenure, Fitzgerald racked up 17,492 receiving yards and 121 touchdowns on 1,432 receptions. He was also named to the league’s 2010s All-Decade team in 2020.

Despite remaining in Arizona for his entire career, Fitzgerald revealed that he had considered leaving the Cardinals at one point.

“I would be lying to you if it didn’t cross my mind, I didn’t think about it, maybe even had conversations about it, but never seriously tried to put it in motion,” Fitzgerald said. “I loved where I was at.

“And quite frankly, I don’t know if it would’ve meant the same for me if I went to somewhere where it was already some super team.”

Fitzgerald is set to enter the Hall of Fame alongside Drew Brees, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and Roger Craig as part of the Class of 2026.

Sophie Cunningham, Caitlin Clark, and the rest of their Indiana Fever squad enjoyed a chance to escape the relentless scrutiny that had been trailing them after Thursday night’s game.

Returning to their home turf in Indiana offered a stark contrast to the buzz-filled rallies that defined their recent away games. The jeers that haunted them last week had transformed into supportive applause from their loyal fans.

The backlash against Cunningham’s controversial opinion on excluding transgender women from women’s sports had, at least for now, ebbed away.

Players and fans alike seemed eager to shift past the tumultuous debate, even if this brief reprieve is limited to Indianapolis.

‘It feels overdue. I’m really looking forward to focusing on the game,’ expressed Carmen Edmainiston, a die-hard Fever enthusiast aged 24.

Thursday’s game was another marquee matchup between the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and the most visible and televised team in the league. The Aces won it in overtime thanks to Chelsea Gray’s buzzer beater.

They met in last year’s WNBA semifinals and twice earlier this season, with the Fever winning each game by more than 15 points on the road.

Despite a sellout crowd decked out mostly in Fever red, a street vendor selling a T-shirt with a shot of Cunningham pointing with the phrase ‘Sophie Point God’ and loud roars during Indiana’s player introductions, there also were reminders of the controversy that has engulfed the WNBA.

A lone protester outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse made his argument in support of Cunningham’s position with a bullhorn. Inside, the signs carried messages such as ‘I want to play like Sophie’ and ‘Thank you for standing up for girls, Sophie!’

That wasn’t the reception Cunningham got last week in Seattle, Portland or Minnesota, where coach Cheryl Reeve wore a T-shirt during Sunday’s game with the message ‘Trans kids belong.’

The Fever are expected to be greeted with another rally when they travel to Chicago on Saturday because Cunningham has not backed off her stance despite the criticism.

‘I was asked a question and that’s simply what it was. I wasn’t trying to make a statement. I was trying to clear the air, and I did that, back in February, so it is what it is,’ she said Wednesday at practice.

‘We’re in the middle of the season, so I’m going to keep it at that. Our team is good, my teammates are good, our locker room is great.’

Cunningham’s position is merely the latest episode in a Fever season filled with drama.

While Clark and Angel Reese each have seven technical fouls, the most in the league and one short of an automatic one-game suspension, Clark also has been involved in a sideline spat with coach Stephanie White.

And, some of the contact she has incurred this season has stirred a debate that has reached the U.S. Congress over whether she’s being unfairly targeted.

Following a rare three-day break away from her usual media duties, Clark weighed in when asked during a pregame news conference how she has dealt with life inside of a bubble where her every move and word is scrutinized.

‘I think first and foremost, you speak when you feel like you want to speak,’ she said. 

‘I’ve been in this position for what, five years now, four years, and I think I have a good feel of what’s going to be asked, what’s not going to be asked, how to approach each situation and I try to just show up and be myself every single day, and I hope fans can feel like they can connect with me in that way.’

In Washington, a dramatic 40-minute standoff concluded with the arrest of a suspected impaired driver, captured on newly released body camera footage. The tense situation unfolded when police deployed a K-9 unit through the car’s driver’s side window after the suspect refused to surrender.

On Thursday, the Vancouver Police Department shared footage from both body and dash cameras depicting a chase on July 26. The pursuit came to an end when K-9 Midas made a decisive leap through the window, aiding officers in apprehending the suspect.

The police were alerted to the situation after receiving several reports about a driver exhibiting signs of impairment. Witnesses described the driver as unconscious behind the wheel and allegedly using compressed air cans while operating the vehicle.

Upon locating the vehicle, officers witnessed the driver continuing to inhale from a can, prompting them to initiate a traffic stop in an effort to address the dangerous situation.

Police said the driver refused to stop. Video shows the vehicle striking a curb, accelerating and nearly driving into a yard as it attempted to evade officers.

According to police, the driver’s actions posed an immediate danger to others on the road, prompting an officer to deploy a Grappler device that successfully brought the vehicle to a stop.

Even after the vehicle stopped, the driver refused repeated commands to get out, police said.

Officers spent more than 40 minutes communicating with the driver and evaluating multiple options to gain compliance, including a 40mm less-lethal launcher and pepper balls.

Police said the driver continued inhaling from compressed air cans throughout the standoff and refused repeated commands to surrender.

After multiple warnings, officers deployed K-9 Midas through the driver’s side window.

The video shows officers quickly surrounding the vehicle after the K-9 entered the car before safely taking the driver into custody.

The suspect, Brandon Wells, was booked into the Clark County Jail on charges of attempting to elude police, driving under the influence, reckless driving and resisting arrest.

Friends of the late Nolan Wells, the college football star who mysteriously disappeared and was later found on Horn Island during a Fourth of July celebration, are planning a return trip to the site. Their attorneys have confirmed that this visit aims to offer a closer understanding of the area where Wells was last seen.

Warren Hudson, who calls himself Wells’ closest companion, will accompany fellow friends Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour to return to Horn Island on Friday. They will be joined by their lawyers, J. Tyler Cox and Edward Andrew Paltzik, who shared this update in a joint statement to TMZ. The group intends to assess the location where Wells went missing on July 4.

The legal representatives explained that the primary goal of this visit is to grasp the “layout and dynamics” of Horn Island. They emphasized that there would be no collection of evidence, as the island lies roughly 10 miles away from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Renowned attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik, known for representing President Trump in significant media cases, mentioned his necessity to personally observe the island, according to reports.

The friends initially sought the counsel of Mississippi-based attorney Cox before enlisting Paltzik, an expert in defamation and media law, following the bewildering circumstances surrounding Wells’ tragic demise.

The legal duo said they are “proud to stand with and fight for three innocent young men,” in a separate statement to TMZ on Thursday.

“Starting today, those who wish to continue trafficking in lies about these Good Ocean Springs People will be held accountable to the maximum extent of the law,” Cox and Paltzik said. 

“We, on the other hand, will be focused solely on the truth, which is that these innocent young men had nothing whatsoever to do with the tragic death of Nolan Wells.”

The attorneys said they will be digging into mainstream and social media coverage for allegedly defamatory statements against the three friends and promised to go after offenders “big or small, national or local, libel or slander.”

Wells, an athletic 18-year-old college football star, disappeared after a boating trip with his friends to Horn Island on July 4.

His body was tragically found two days later near the island.

The results of his official autopsy have not been publicly released, but investigators believe the teen drowned.

Officials say no evidence thus far points to foul play, but Wells’ family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been turning over every possible rock in the hopes of proving the teen was murdered.

The Post reached out to attorneys J. Tyler Cox and Edward Andrew Paltzik who did not immediately return a request for comment.

From his hospital bed, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton managed to voice a heartfelt plea to his worried mother with just three poignant words.

“I need help.”

These were the words relayed by a long-time family confidante, shedding light on the turbulent events before Hilton’s alarming mental health episode on Tuesday—a situation that remains a puzzle even to him.

“He’s really suffering. The pain he’s enduring is immense,” the source revealed, emphasizing that Hilton is focusing more on his physical state as it intertwines with his emotional distress. “No one should have to endure the agony he’s facing,” the source continued, confirming Hilton’s stable and alert condition.

While Hilton has been able to communicate with his mother, the insider noted that he’s not yet fully aware of the situation’s depth and complexity.

‘He’s still in a dark place as I understand it. Just very very sad.’

The 48-year-old, born Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr, was hospitalized on Tuesday evening after a TikTok livestream showed him seemingly covered in blood, holding a large knife and appearing to harm himself in his Miami home. 

But just hours earlier, the friend said nothing had suggested what was to come. 

‘He was acting normal. That’s the thing. He was getting excited about future projects. It had been a good day up to then.’

Hilton woke up in his Miami home and did as he had done for decades: discussed work with colleagues and texted sources while chasing pop culture scoops, according to the longtime friend.

But things took a terrifying turn that evening. 

Deputies from the Miami Dade Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to Hilton’s home and performed ‘de-escalation measures’ after receiving multiple calls from viewers reporting the distressing TikTok livestream. 

According to audio from the 911 dispatch, officers were responding to an apparent ‘suicide attempt’ at Hilton’s address and were reportedly at the home for hours before Hilton was transported to a hospital to receive medical attention.

In a statement released today, Hilton’s family revealed that shortly before he went live on TikTok, his children, niece and sister were inside the home. 

‘When it became clear that Perez was experiencing a severe mental health crisis and harming himself, they immediately fled to protect the children from witnessing any further trauma,’ the statement said.

‘Our highest priority right now is helping the children begin to heal from what they experienced. An important part of that process is allowing them to safely return home and begin rebuilding a sense of security and normalcy.’

Hilton has three children: son Mario, 13, and daughters Mia, 11, and Mayte, eight, who were born via surrogate. He raises them with the support of his mother, Teresita Lavandeira, according to the family friend. 

The source said Hilton and his mother had a longstanding arrangement under which she would take the children out whenever he needed a break. 

‘She was the one who met the cops there and told them’ about what was going on inside Hilton’s home, the source added.

Meanwhile, friends are still struggling to understand what may have triggered Tuesday’s crisis. 

‘There was nothing specific that happened that anyone knows of. He hasn’t been particularly depressed,’ the family friend said.

‘Nothing bad has happened – he was actually looking forward to new opportunities and new projects. The numbers on his website had been low, but they had been going up, not down.

‘So there wasn’t like a big event. We think it’s the stress from the move. He can get very overwhelmed sometimes. Everyone knows that. But never to this extent.’

Hilton had also just moved from Las Vegas to Miami earlier this summer to focus on his family after being hospitalized with sepsis in March. He told the Daily Mail in April that he had spent 21 days in the Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas, undergoing two surgeries as well as treatment for multiple subsequent health conditions.

The medical scare, he said, made him a born-again Christian, but also left him facing financial pressures, later launching a line of religious-themed clothing to help pay his bills.

‘I thought that was a little strange,’ a second source who became close to Hilton in Las Vegas said about the sudden pivot to religion.

‘But again I just thought, “OK, this is a man who almost lost his life.”‘

Looking back now, the source wonders whether if it reflected a broader struggle, and said that Hilton had confided that he found the move to Florida difficult.

‘He did let me know he was already missing Vegas and he hoped he’d be back,’ the source said, noting that Hilton had admitted he felt ‘overwhelmed.’

‘He did tell me that he was stressed out but, at the time, I thought it was because of the move. I didn’t know that it was because of anything else.’

They added: ‘Whether it’s…the stress of having three children and looming bills and the inability to work while you’re navigating medical issues and just normal-life stressors – plus, I don’t know what his doctors were telling him about his condition – I think all of that contributed to this.’

A longtime industry friend also suggested Hilton hadn’t wanted to leave Las Vegas, and that he’d done it for his family. 

‘Those close to him started to get the feeling that he didn’t want to go to Miami and only did it for his family,’ the friend said, adding that ‘not many people have stayed in contact with him since he left Las Vegas.’ 

According to the source, Hilton had also been struggling with the realization that his career wasn’t what it used to be. 

‘Seeing everyone on TikTok do what he did years ago isn’t easy,’ they said. ‘He should’ve just been living a chill life in Vegas, but that’s hard when you’ve been in the spotlight for so many years.’ 

The Daily Mail previously reported that Hilton was low on money and had been struggling to find work, and that reality show pitches to production companies had not survived past initial stages.

While Hilton was said to have recently signed a deal with a TV production company to host a show about cyberbullying, a source said that Hilton had not been paid and that bosses were still trying to make a role for him.

Meanwhile, Hilton’s mother has been left devastated, according to the longtime family friend. 

‘She has been crying a lot. She’s frantic. Even now. She’s devastated,’ the longtime family friend said. ‘She’s keeping the kids, she’s let DCF [Department of Children and Families] know that she’s willing to have them as long as needed.’

Our second source said that Hilton’s role as a father has always been central to his life. 

‘Being a good dad is part of his identity,’ they said.

‘When he first moved to Las Vegas, he was looking into schools for the kids and he incorporated them into everything he did. He’s an amazing father and he always had his mom supporting him because three [kids] is a lot.’

The longtime family friend also told the Daily Mail that Hilton has made arrangements naming his mother as guardian of the children should anything happen to him. 

‘She’s actually the one that is supposed to raise the kids if anything ever happened to Mario, typical stuff parents put in their wills. So she will take care of them.’

Despite what critics may think about Hilton’s controversial antics as a celebrity gossip blogger, the insider concluded: ‘No one deserves this.’