'Burgh's best to wear it, No. 1: Larry Fitzgerald, 37, prepares for his 16th NFL season

When you look back at Larry Fitzgerald’s time at Pitt and in the NFL, much of it is difficult to believe.

• In his second and final (sophomore) season at Pitt in 2003, he caught 92 passes for 1,672 yards and 22 touchdowns.

• Equally amazing, he didn’t win the Heisman Trophy that year. Oklahoma quarterback Jason White, who threw for 3,846 yards and 40 touchdowns, edged out Fitzgerald by 128 votes — and, then, never played a down in the NFL.

• The NFL is a young man’s game, but Fitzgerald — turning 37 on Monday — is preparing for his 16th NFL season, all with the Cardinals, who drafted him third overall in 2004. Eli Manning and offensive lineman Robert Gallery, who retired nine years ago, were taken ahead of Fitzgerald. He stands second all-time in receptions (1,378) and receiving yards (17,083) to Jerry Rice.

• Not included in those totals is his 64-yard touchdown reception with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left in Super Bowl XLIII, giving the Arizona Cardinals a 23-20 lead against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It would have been an iconic Super Bowl moment, if not for Ben Roethlisberger’s game-winning touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes 2:02 later.

• And for basic football plays that only a coach would appreciate, there’s this:

Fitzgerald never played a down on defense and has been targeted for pass receptions 2,263 times, but he has more tackles (39) than dropped passes (29).

For all those reasons, Fitzgerald is the Tribune-Review sports staff’s chosen 1 — the best athlete to wear the No. 1 jersey in Pittsburgh.

He played only two seasons at Pitt (2002 and 2003), but was draft-eligible in ‘04 because he was gone from high school the requisite three years. He left high school before graduation in 2001 to attend Valley Forge Military Academy.

Nonetheless, his stay at Pitt was memorable. He is one of only nine men to have their jersey number retired.

After catching 161 passes for 2,677 yards and 34 touchdowns, he became the first wide receiver in Pitt history drafted in the first round. It’s an exclusive group that now includes only Fitzgerald and Jon Baldwin.

Fitzgerald set three NCAA records and tied another at Pitt, including consecutive games with a touchdown reception (18), combined touchdown catches as a freshman and sophomore (34), receiving yards as a sophomore (1,672) and most games with a touchdown reception in a season, tying Marshall’s Randy Moss (12).

Among his most noteworthy NFL achievements, he led the league in receptions twice — 11 years apart. He caught 103 balls in 2005 and 107 in 2016.

Among other area athletes to wear No. 1:

• South African-born kicker Gary Anderson wore No. 1 through 23 NFL seasons, 13 with the Steelers.

He passed George Blanda for the all-time NFL scoring lead in 2000, and now stands third with 2,434 points, behind Adam Vinatieri and Morten Andersen. He kicked 309 of his 538 field goals with the Steelers.

He left the Steelers at the end of a bitter contract dispute in 1994 and kicked for four other teams through the 2004 season. He finally retired at the age of 45.

Anderson was the first NFL kicker to achieve perfection in the regular season, making all 35 field goal attempts while hitting 59 of 59 extra points in 1998 for the Minnesota Vikings. His only miss that season — a 38-yarder that would have given the Vikings a 10-point lead with 2 minutes, 7 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game — cost his team a trip to the Super Bowl.

• Pitt basketball’s notable No. 1 was worn by Julius Page, who stands 17th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,512 points. He started four years (128 games), helping lead Pitt to three Sweet Sixteens and a record 31 victories during the 2003-04 season.

Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.