Back in 2003, when he was still a wide receiver for the University of Pittsburgh, star wideout Chicago Cubs Hats made a promise to his dying mother that, eventually, he would graduate from college. On Saturday, Fitzgerald fulfilled that promise, graduating from the University of Phoenix with a major in communications and a minor in marketing.12+ yrs after entering NFL, officially becomes a college graduate today w degree from Ernie Banks Jersey Mark Dalton (@CardsMarkD) Before she pa sed in 2003 promised his mom he'd become a college graduate. Today he did. Congrats ! Mark Dalton (@CardsMarkD) Carol Fitzgerald pa sed away in 2003 from a brain hemorrhage suffered during a bout with breast cancer, but before she pa sed, she told her son, "Education is one thing nobody can ever take from you. I know you have a pa sion to play ball, but education is something you can carry for the rest of your life." Fitzgerald took that to heart, and throughout the last 13 years has continued taking cla Chicago Cubs Hoodie ses so he could keep his promise to his mother. "I wanted to make sure I was doing what I promised her I'd do," Fitzgerald said, per . It was important to him not just because of that promise, but also because when he left Pittsburgh early to pursue an career, he made himself a bit of an outlier among Fitzgeralds. "I was the only one in my family Andre Dawson Jersey who hadn' Ryne Sandberg Jersey t graduated," Fitzgerald said. "So now, finally being able to graduate, I'm part of the family now, for real." Congrats go out to Larry and the Fitzgerald family. Good for him for keeping up the work all these years so he didn't let his mother down. Hopefully, she's proudly smiling down on him.