Larry Fitzgerald Record: Arizona Cardinals Wide Receiver Set to Join Jerry Rice as Only Players with 1,400 Catches

Tonight, Larry Fitzgerald has a chance to reach yet another milestone in his legendary, game-changing career.

If the Cardinals WR hauls in just a single catch against the Seahawks on SNF, he’ll become the second player in NFL history to reach 1,400 career receptions. The only other person to accomplish this feat is Jerry Rice, who has 1,549 catches.

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1,399 Catches Earlier: The Larry Fitzgerald Story

Fitz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he would grow up and attend high school at the Academy of Holy Angels. Not surprisingly, he dominated and was named First-team all-state WR twice.

However, he failed to meet the academic requirements for the NCAA and had to attend military school in Pennsylvania for a year. When he finished, he stayed in the state to play football at the University of Pittsburgh.

In his 2 years at Pitt, Fitzgerald would manage to rack up 161 receptions for 2,677 yards and 34 TDs. In his second year he was runner-up for the Hesiman Trophy and in 2013 , the university retired his jersey.

After just 2 seasons with Pitt, he decided to enter the 2004 NFL draft. Although this technically was against the rules, the NFL granted Fitz an exception because of his time at military school.

Thanks to his outstanding college career, the Cardinals selected him with the 3rd overall pick and the rest is history. In a situation that’s almost unheard of these days, he has stuck with the Cardinals for 17 seasons (including 2020).

In his long career, he has 1,399 receptions (and counting) for 17,228 yards and 120 TDs. The Minnesota native is a 11 time pro-bowler, 2 time receptions leader, 2 time receiving TDs leader, and the list honestly goes on.

Perhaps the only knock on his success is the lack of a Super Bowl ring. He did come close in 2010 when the Cardinals made it to the big game, but narrowly lost to the Steelers. Unfortunately, given his loyalty and age, it is highly unlikely that he will retire as a super bowl winner.

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Interesting Fitzgerald Facts

• The veteran has more tackles than drops in his 17 year career (yes, you read that right).
• Fitzgerald worked as a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings briefly. In fact, the Cardinals coach in 2004, Dennis Green, knew Fitzgerald because of this before he drafted him.
• He was featured on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden 10 with Troy Palamolu. It was the first time that the game had two cover athletes.
• He was named Walter Payton man of the year in 2016 for his efforts off the field.