Fitzgerald Looking to Become 11th Player with 1,000 Career Receptions

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald needs eight catches in Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams to become the 11th player in NFL history with 1,000 or more career receptions, per pro-football-reference.com.

Fitzgerald currently sits in 12th place (992) on the all-time receptions list, just six behind Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (998), who will face the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football this week.

If Fitzgerald catches fewer than eight passes in Sunday's game, Witten will very likely become the 11th player to reach the milestone.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin, a long-time teammate of Fitzgerald's in Arizona, also figures to reach 1,000 catches by the end of the season, currently sitting at 984 with five weeks remaining.

This feat, while unheard of before the 1990s, has become increasingly common in today's pass-friendly NFL.

It probably won't be long before there are 20+ players with 1,000 career receptions, but Fitzgerald still figures to retire as one of the all-time prolific receivers, with numbers that will likely outpace Boldin's and Witten's by a wide margin.

While his counterparts are declining, the 32-year-old Fitzgerald is surprisingly enjoying one of his finest seasons, currently on pace to catch 121 passes for 1,443 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Boldin and Witten are still productive players in their own right, but it will be a major shock if either of them finishes close to Fitzgerald on the all-time lists for receptions, receiving yards or receiving touchdowns.

In addition to sitting No. 12 in catches, Fitzgerald enters Sunday's action ranked No. 16 in receiving yards (13,143) and No. 11 in touchdown receptions (96).