How many drops does Larry Fitzgerald have?
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has put together an NFL career that will be talked about for a long time.
At 37 years old, Fitzgerald is playing in his 17th NFL season and has played all 17 years with the Cardinals. His peak came in 2008, when he was voted All-Pro First Team for the only time in his career, and he helped lead the Cardinals to the Super Bowl for the only time in franchise history. Although Arizona lost that Super Bowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Fitzgerald cemented his legacy as one of the Cardinals' all-time greats.
Today, as his storied career approaches its end, "Fitz" isn't even the best wide receiver on his team -- that would be younger, in-his-prime superstar DeAndre Hopkins -- but he's still as reliable as ever.
That's because Larry Fitzgerald might be the most sure-handed receiver in NFL history.
One thing that has always been a certainty with Larry Fitzgerald is that no matter who throws him the football, he's going to catch it.
Larry Fitzgerald's NFL career
Larry Fitzgerald has played 8,320 snaps for the Arizona Cardinals. He has played in 260 games. The Cardinals wideout has been targeted 2,320 times over his 17-year career.
Fitzgerald has made it to 11 Pro Bowls and has been selected to one All-Pro team. He was also named to the Hall of Fame's 2010s All-Decade Team and he won the 2016 Walter Payton humanitarian award. Larry Fitzgerald is a professional on and off the football field.
The Cardinals wide receiver has racked up 1,421 receptions and 17,419 receiving yards throughout his career. He has also built up 120 receiving touchdowns. Looking at the numbers, it's a no brainer that he is a Hall of Famer.
Larry Fitzgerald has the most reliable hands
When we look at Larry Fitzgerald's career numbers in receptions, it would make one think that there is a significant amount of drops.
This is something that is not true with Fitzgerald. He has only dropped 29 passes in his NFL career.
Larry Fitzgerald has been through a number of quarterbacks throughout his career in the NFL. Since he was drafted in 2004, the Arizona Cardinals have been through a lot of quarterbacks. Fitzgerald has been through 34 quarterback changes in his 17-year career. The 34 QB changes has not been different quarterbacks, but it has been a combination of 15 different quarterbacks.
Larry Fitzgerald has only dropped 29 passes
The Arizona Cardinals wide receiver has two interesting facts when it comes to his 29 dropped passes.
Fitzgerald has more tackles than he does drops. Fitzgerald has never played a snap on defense for the Cardinals, but he has 39 tackles, mostly on plays where the Cardinals' offense turned the ball over and then had to prevent a pick-six or a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
The Arizona Cardinals have had 34 quarterback changes. These two stats are remarkable when it comes to Fitzgerald's NFL career. Both the 34 quarterback changes and the 39 tackles both are more than the number of passes he has dropped over the past 17 years.
We will be seeing Larry Fitzgerald in the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame when his career is over.