TAMPA, Fla. — On Sunday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady required 164 passing yards against the Los Angeles Rams and became the first quarterback in NFL history to reach 100,000 passing yards in his career (regular season and postseason combined).
Brady hit the milestone midway through the fourth quarter with a 15-yard completion against running back Leonard Fournette that led to a 50-yard field goal from kicker Ryan Succop. Fans cheered as the Raymond James Stadium PA announcer acknowledged the performance, although Brady didn’t look up as the video screen showed him on the touchline staring at his iPad as the Bucs were 13-9 behind.
Brady went on to engineer a game-winning drive, with the penultimate passing touchdown of his career leading the Bucs to a 16-13 win. Brady passed Peyton Manning for the most successful drives since the merger at 55 in 1970.
Brady said last week that the 100,000m milestone is as much about the people around him as it is about his personal achievement.
“I think for me it’s a credit to all the guys I’ve played with who blocked for me, who caught passes,” Brady said. “I don’t think I can do anything in this league without the guys doing what they’re great at.”
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It was the latest addition to Brady’s collection of NFL records that have appeared in particularly significant games over the past few years.
Last year, when Brady returned to Foxborough, Massachusetts, in Week 4, where he led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowls in 20 seasons, he set the NFL passing yards record for 28 yards in a 19-17 win (regular season) to pass to wide receiver Mike Evans. The previous record was held by Drew Brees with 80,358 yards.
He then snagged the win over the Buffalo Bills last season in Week 13 in the Bucs’ Week 13 overtime and clinched an all-time NFL finishing record at 7,142 with a 20-yard completion against Evans in the second quarter , which Brees had also held. In overtime, Brady threw Breshad Perriman his 700th career touchdown pass, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 700 career touchdown passes.
“These are great achievements, but as much as people want to say, ‘Oh, that’s what Tom Brady did,’ I think that’s what I and all these other people who have contributed to my life have done good,” Brady said.
When asked what he would have thought if someone had told him 23 years ago as the 199th draft pick that he would reach 100,000 passing yards, Brady said, “I think everyone would have said we were crazy, including me.”
“All these kinds of lifetime achievement awards are great to celebrate with everyone and one day I’ll look back and think it was pretty cool, although my kids probably won’t care at all,” he joked. “That’s okay. It’s a credit to all the people I’ve played with.”
It’s a record that may not fall for decades — if ever — even with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes already amassing 24,531 passing yards in Week 9 of his sixth and fifth seasons as a starter, and Bills quarterback Josh Allen at 18,030 Passing yards in the middle of his fifth NFL season heading Sunday.
The next active players are Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan, who had 64,415 passing yards before Sunday’s game but was benched in favor of Sam Ehlinger, and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had 63,054 passing yards on Sunday and 39 years old will be in December.