Tag: career touchdown passes

Drew Brees is two touchdown passes away from breaking the all-time record again

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees temporarily lost the NFL career touchdown passes record to Tom Brady, but he could win it back.

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Don’t look now, but Drew Brees is on the cusp of making NFL history. Again.

Last year, he overtook Peyton Manning to become the league’s all-time leader in touchdown passes, finishing the 2020 season ranked above Tom Brady with 549 scores thrown in his career. But Brady leapfrogged Brees on Sunday in Tampa Bay’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders, now leading the race with 559 touchdown passes to Brees’ 558.

However, Brees can recover his record next week as the pair continue to jockey for position in the record books. Brees is scheduled to play the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Nov. 1, but Brady must wait until Monday, Nov. 2 to take the field again. They should continue to trade punches until the Buccaneers Week 13 bye, when Brees and the Saints visit the Atlanta Falcons.

So there’s a good chance Brees finishes the year where he started, as the NFL record-holder with strong bragging rights. But the expectation is that he won’t return for the final year of his contract in 2021, instead retiring to take the broadcasting position with NBC Sports he’s already lined up for himself. If that happens, Brady is likely to win in the end by playing another season with Tampa Bay.

But you never know just how things will turn out. Maybe Brees will surprise us yet again. Here’s the active leaders in career touchdown passes, with their ages in parentheses:

  1. Tom Brady (43): 559
  2. Drew Brees (41): 558
  3. Philip Rivers (38): 404
  4. Aaron Rodgers (36): 381
  5. Ben Roethlisberger (38): 376
  6. Matt Ryan (35): 333
  7. Matthew Stafford (32): 266
  8. Russell Wilson (31): 249

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Tom Brady reacts to Drew Brees’ near-record-breaking touchdown

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady saluted New Orleans Saints passer Drew Brees after he nearly broke Peyton Manning’s record.

The New Orleans Saints were so close to pulling out all the stops for Drew Brees’ record-breaking touchdown pass, which would have been No. 540 in his career — surpassing both New England Patriots passer Tom Brady (538) and retired quarterback Peyton Manning (539), ranking for the most of any player in NFL history.

But a dubious offensive pass interference foul wiped it away, protecting Manning’s hold on the record. His thoughts on the near-historic moment aren’t clear, but Brady happened to be interviewing with Jim Gray of Westwood One Radio at the time, and shared his take.

“I know, a little anticlimactic,” Brady joked. “There might be some silver linings though. You actually get to celebrate the record twice. You know? You celebrated it once, maybe you’ll get to do it again here in the second half. He’s just playing incredible and that offense, once they get it rolling they’re pretty tough to stop.”

Brady also offered a hat-tip to Brees in his pursuit of the record and his performance on the year so far. It’s clear that there’s plenty of respect between Brady and Brees, and as fortune would have it, Brady was right: because Brees found tight end Josh Hill from five yards out to seal it early in the third quarter.

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