Larry Fitzgerald established his legacy as one of the greatest players in Pitt history during his brilliant two-year career as a Panther. Now the University will officially recognize his place in history by retiring Fitzgerald's No. 1 jersey.

Pitt announced the move Monday night at Stage AE on the North Shore during the celebration of the University's move to the ACC.

"The first thing that shot in my mind when I heard was, you think of Tony Dorsett; you think of Dan Marino; you think of Russ Grimm, you think of Mike Ditka and Hugh Green and the countless other players that have played at an elite level here at the University, and to be in the same breath with some of those names, it kind of throws you for a loop," Fitzgerald said Monday night. "I was totally surprised but I was so honored and so thankful for the relationships that I have built over the years here."

Fitzgerald was in Pittsburgh Monday for Pitt's celebration of the move to the ACC at Stage AE on the North Shore. The University officially joined the ACC Monday, and Fitzgerald joined representatives from the ACC, Pitt, and other conference schools in New York City for a press conference and an appearance at the New York Stock Exchange, where conference commissioner John Swofford and representatives from each school rang the closing bell.

Fitzgerald and the Pitt representatives then returned to Pittsburgh for the celebration, which served as the school's official ACC christening. Despite his many accomplishments at the professional level - the youngest player in NFL history to reach 700 career receptions and one of only two players in league history to reach 10,000 receiving yards before turning 30 - Fitzgerald still feels a strong affinity for his two years in Pittsburgh.

"It's a special day for our university, going to the ACC, embarking on a new journey, new experiences, new conference," he said. "It was a special day to be in New York as a representative of the University of Pittsburgh, and coming back here and being a part of this is really special. It just brings back so many fond memories seeing familiar faces. It's a joyous, joyous time. "

Pitt fans certainly have fond memories of Fitzgerald during his career. In two years, the native of Minneapolis, Minn., wrote his name into the record books many times over. 10 years later, Fitzgerald still holds the Pitt records for receiving yards in a season, receiving yards per game in a career, receptions in a season, receptions per game in a season, receptions per game in a career, touchdown receptions in a season, touchdown receptions in a career, and consecutive games with a touchdown reception. He set or tied four NCAA records, eight Big East records, and 11 Pitt records.

Fitzgerald burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2002 with 69 receptions for 1,055 yards and 12 touchdowns, an impressive season to announce his presence before exploding as one of the best players in college football the next year. In 2003, Fitzgerald was dominant, catching 92 passes for 1,672 yards and an almost-unbelievable 22 touchdown receptions and setting single-season records with each of those statistics.

Nationally, Fitzgerald got his due, taking home the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in the country (Pitt's second Biletnikoff in four years) and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award (the first sophomore to earn that award).

Fitzgerald left Pitt after his sophomore season and was the No. 3 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, where he has been selected to the Pro Bowl seven times in the last eight years. He has also been heavily involved in a number of charities and philanthropic work, but he still finds time to look in on Pitt, and he likes what he has seen from head coach Paul Chryst thus far.

"[The players] have a great leader in Coach Chryst. He's an unbelievable man and he has done a wonderful job at every program he's been to. He's going to get this program to the top of the ACC, I have no doubt, in a short period of time."

That quest for the top of the ACC will begin on Sept. 2 when Pitt hosts Florida State in the Panthers' inaugural conference game. Fitzgerald's number will be retired that night, and the players who take the field will do so with his banner hanging in the rafters.

But while Fitzgerald was honored by the sentiment of the jersey retirement, he encouraged the players to keep the focus on the team.

"It's never about the name on the back of the jersey; it's about the name on the front. That's what I always played for. Every time you run on the field, you saw the greats that came before you, and you wanted to make sure you represented yourself and the University the right way."

Fitzgerald is the ninth Pitt player to have his jersey number retired. The full list of retired Pitt numbers:

1 - Larry Fitzgerald

13 - Dan Marino

33 - Tony Dorsett

42 - Marshall Goldberg

65 - Joe Schmidt

73 - Mark May

79 - Bill Fralic

89 - Mike Ditka

99 - Hugh Green

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