I was debating if I needed to dodge this for fear of jinx, but I laugh in the face of such superstitions! This weekend Steve Smith will surpass Muhsin Muhammad as the Carolina Panthers all time leading receiver. It was something that got lost in the shuffle a little bit with Cam Newton's emergence, but we need to make sure this momentous achievement for Smitty doesn't ignored.
Smith is now sitting at 9,233 yards, just 22 yards shy of Muhammad's mark. Smith is already the Panthers' leading TD scorer with 54 touchdowns, and following Sunday's game he'll have the yards. The only remaining receiving record for him to get is total receptions, which he needs another 60 receptions to beat Moose's 696 number.
It couldn't be more fitting in a year where Smitty has been rejuvenated by an open offense and a strong armed rookie QB to have him capture the record now, it's just a shame he won't do it at home.
After the jump and look at Smitty's career stats
CAREER STATSMORE
Season
Team
Receiving
Rushing
Fumbles
G
GS
Rec
Yds
Avg
Lng
TD
Att
Yds
Avg
Lng
TD
FUM
Lost
2011
Carolina Panthers
3
3
16
349
21.8
77T
2
--
--
--
--
--
1
1
2010
Carolina Panthers
14
14
46
554
12.0
39
2
1
9
9.0
9
0
3
2
2009
Carolina Panthers
15
15
65
982
15.1
66
7
5
22
4.4
17
0
1
0
2008
Carolina Panthers
14
14
78
1,421
18.2
65T
6
5
40
8.0
23
0
1
1
2007
Carolina Panthers
15
15
87
1,002
11.5
74T
7
9
66
7.3
22
0
1
1
2006
Carolina Panthers
14
14
83
1,166
14.0
72T
8
8
61
7.6
24T
1
2
0
2005
Carolina Panthers
16
16
103
1,563
15.2
80T
12
4
25
6.3
20T
1
2
1
2004
Carolina Panthers
1
1
6
60
10.0
15
0
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
2003
Carolina Panthers
16
11
88
1,110
12.6
67T
7
11
42
3.8
14
0
5
0
2002
Carolina Panthers
15
13
54
872
16.1
69
3
1
-4
-4.0
-4
0
5
2
2001
Carolina Panthers
15
1
10
154
15.4
33
0
4
43
10.8
39
0
8
3
TOTAL
636
9,233
14.5
80
54
48
304
6.3
39
2
29
11