Although you may have missed it thanks to Alvin Kamara’s six touchdown eruption, Drew Brees once again went where no other quarterback has gone before. With his 311-yard pass during the Saints’ NFC South victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Christmas, Brees became the first player in NFL history to pass 80,000 yards in his career.
The veteran reached Week 16 as the best player of all time in the league and needed just 154 yards to reach the previously untouched milestone. Brees was able to overcome this thanks to a nine-yard pass to running back Latavius Murray in a third-to-five situation with 8:40 to play in the third quarter of the 52-33 win on Friday.
With rumors circulating about this possibly being Brees’s last year in the league, he may have yet another game of the regular season to rise through the ranks and establish his place in NFL history. While he currently sits as the league’s all-time pass yard leader, Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is right behind him with 78,457 yards. If Brady continues his career as Brees rides towards sunset after 2020, he will have a chance to not only cross the 80,000 mark, but to overtake Brees on the all-time list.
These two defenders are no strangers when they see themselves in the record book of defenders of all time, since they have also been hitting the touchdown mark of all time. Brees entered the season as the all-time touchdown leader, but fell behind Brady after he lost time due to an injury. Entering Week 16, Brady has 573 touchdown passes to Brees’ 568. The Saints quarterback did not play for a touchdown in Friday’s victory over Minnesota.
Although many are likely to join Brees – and possibly even jump over him – on this list, it is still a tremendous barrier that he was able to break before anyone else in the league.