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The Arizona Cardinals fell to 2-3 on the season after a one-sided defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, but star receiver and Pitt legend Larry Fitzgerald still managed to make the most of it.
Fitzgerald snagged his first pass of the day from quarterback Carson Palmer with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, gaining 15 yards and a first down on the play. And with that, he made history, becoming just the third NFL player to record a reception in 200 consecutive games.
Congrats to @LarryFitzgerald!
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 8, 2017
That's now 200 games in-a-row with a catch! pic.twitter.com/MJ4ceMNMhO
The former Panther finds himself in good company, too, as the only other pass-catchers to reach that milestone are Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice (274 games) and tight end Tony Gonzalez (211).
On the day, Fitzgerald finished with six catches for 51 yards in a 34-7 conference loss. It wasn't an earth-shattering performance, but it brought his career receptions total to 1,157, which ranks first among active players and third all-time. The two players ahead of him in terms of career receptions are, again, Rice (1,549 receptions) and Gonzalez (1,325).
In terms of career receiving yards, the ten-time Pro Bowler currently ranks eighth all-time and has a long way to go to catch up to Rice, who ranks first after amassing 22,895 yards over 20 years. However, with his career winding down, Fitzgerald could still find himself a place in the top three if he maintains his current pace of 65.4 yards per game.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that will happen, but he’s also on pace to reel in over 100 receptions for the third consecutive season, which should give him a fighting chance at another piece of history.