SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Steve Smith worked on mastering in-routes for two days in training camp and was satisfied with his progress. Now, he wants to focus on the comeback route.

His goal: Be unstoppable no matter what plays he runs.

Another goal: Finish his career as one of the leading pass-catchers in NFL history.

Smith, the Panthers' star receiver, revealed Monday that he has a laminated piece of paper listing the league's career leaders in receiving yards.

Now atop that category is former San Francisco 49ers great Jerry Rice (22,458), followed by former Oakland Raider Tim Brown (14,934).

Smith said he typed a challenge for himself and affixed it to the paper: "Where will I be at the end?"

At age 29 and entering his eighth NFL season, Smith has 431 receptions for 5,927 yards and 37 touchdowns.

He'll need many more outstanding seasons to get near the top of the all-time list.

"Only time will tell where I will be," Smith said. "It doesn't matter where I would like to be. What matters is where I will be at the end."

Smith is a work in progress but has matured greatly since he entered the NFL as a dynamically talented player with an explosive temper.

Smith has befriended some of the legendary receivers of the past, such as Rice and former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin.

After Irvin spoke at a Charlotte Touchdown Club luncheon this summer, he went to dinner with Smith and fellow Panthers receiver Ryne Robinson.

"It was a regular old three wide receivers chomping it up, talking about politics, religion, all the way to football and all that stuff," Smith said.

Irvin, a Hall of Famer, has endured highs and lows ranging from his three Super Bowl titles to struggles with drugs and other legal problems. However, Irvin has persevered and, like Smith, relied on his Christian faith as he has gotten older.

"I relate to Michael because he's a man who has faults, has failed, he's stood up and said, 'I failed,' " Smith said. "But does that mean you go in a shell and wither away? No, he's taking it all in stride and moved forward.

"I've had the opportunity to meet and to learn who he truly is, more than a 10-minute conversation. That's the part that has grasped me and made me look at him differently and have a real relationship."

Beneath it all, Smith knows people view him a bit like Irvin. Some judge him for his mistakes and are reluctant to acknowledge that he's a far different person than when he entered the NFL in his early 20s.

"That's one of the reasons why I prefer not to talk to the media, not because I hate you guys or dislike you," he said. "People cast perceptions."

Smith particularly takes issue with the notion that he's tried to recast himself in recent years with what amounts to public relations spin moves.

"I'm not trying to spin anything," he said. "I know impressions are important, but when you sit down with [somebody] for 10 minutes or 45 minutes, you have no way to know what's in that person's heart."