Jason Witten Records 1,000th Career Catch vs. Redskins: Comments and Reaction

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten hit a major milestone in Monday night's 19-16 win against the Washington Redskins when he became just the 12th player in NFL history with 1,000 receptions.

The team tweeted its congratulations following the play:       

NFL.com provided video of the historic catch: 

He would go on to haul in five total receptions on the night for 45 yards. 

Witten joined future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (1,325 receptions) as the only tight ends in history to make 1,000 catches. Three years ago, he passed Michael Irvin for the most receptions in team history. 

Cowboys digital media producer Kent Garrison and Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News shared that the 13-year veteran had some special company on hand to watch him reach the milestone:

The 33-year-old was the second player in Week 13 to join the exclusive 1,000-catch club, along with Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who at age 32 became the youngest player to do so, according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com.

Witten talked about the prospect of accomplishing the feat last month to Peter King of the MMQB:

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The reason why I am acknowledging it and am humbled to join that group is because of the names on that list. ... To me, the highest honor you can have is when people say you played the game at a high level and you played it at a high level for a long time. To reach a milestone like this, that is consistency. ... I can't even put it into words what an honor it is to say I could shortly be a part of that group.

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Reaching this milestone should only help Witten's Pro Football Hall of Fame case. More playoff success would surely improve Witten's chances, but the Cowboys are currently last place in the NFC East and struggling offensively with starting quarterback Tony Romo sidelined.