Derrick Mason joins 800-reception club

Only 22 receivers in the history of the National Football League did it before him.  Yesterday Derrick Mason became the 23rd player to reach the 800-reception milestone as the Ravens improved to 3-0 with a 34-3 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

“The best part of the day,” Mason said (via Ken Murray of the Baltimore Sun), “is that we got the win.”

That being said, Mason doesn’t like to be labeled a possession receiver saying, “I’m more than just what you want to try and label me as. …”

“I can do just about anything, you know, and when you have a quarterback like Joe, you can run a 5-yard route, or you can run a 50-yard route, and he can get the ball to you. That’s all that matters.”

Mason gave credit to Steve McNair as well.

“Over half of them were from him.  We built a bond on the field that a quarterback and receiver have to have in order to be productive in this league. We build that bond for the 10 or 11 years I played with him. A lot has to be contributed to him and I when were in Tennessee, and then here.

In his career, Mason has 802 receptions for 10,257 yards.

Although there are several active players between Mason at 23 and Keenan McCardell, who’s tenth on the list, Mason is only 81 receptions out of tenth place on the all-time receptions list.  Last year, Mason had 80 receptions.

The Ravens’ offense has surprised many this season as they rank second in scoring offense (34.3 points per game) and second in total offense (430.3 yards per game).  The Ravens are sixth in the NFL in passing yards (281 ypg) and tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (6).

Tags: Derrick Mason, Joe Flacco, Steve McNair