FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady became the third player in NFL history to throw 500 touchdown passes, reaching the mark in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Brady connected with wide receiver Josh Gordon on a 39-yard pass with 9:19 left to join Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508) as the only quarterbacks to throw for 500 touchdowns. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is on the cusp of becoming the fourth.
Brady credited his teammates for helping propel him to the record, calling it a collective mark.
“I think all these things like that, milestones, there are so many people that contribute, all the people that have really worked hard,” he said. “A quarterback doesn’t throw to himself.
“These are all great team awards, pretty cool.”
In joining that exclusive club, Brady became the first player to do so while playing for only one team.
“It’s an amazing milestone,” said Patriots running back James White, who caught one of three Brady TDs on Thursday. “That guy works extremely, extremely hard, on and off the field. Such a great teammate. He distributes the ball to everybody, we just have to make plays. You want to work hard for a guy like that.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick described Brady’s 500 career touchdown passes as “tremendous.”
“No quarterback I’d rather have than Tom Brady,” he said. “He does a great job week in and week out, year in and year out. All situations; I mean, he does a great job.”
Brady also set an NFL record by throwing at least one touchdown pass to 71 different players, breaking a tie with Vinny Testaverde for the most in NFL history.
“A great play Josh made jumping over two defenders,” Brady said of hitting the half-century mark for TD throws by connecting with newcomer Gordon. “It tells you kind of the confidence I have in him in a short period of time. Obviously he has earned it.”
Brady has also thrown 71 touchdown passes in the playoffs, but those don’t count toward NFL record totals. He entered Thursday night with 568 touchdown passes when including the playoffs. Manning threw for an NFL-high 579 total touchdowns when including the playoffs.
Brady has said in the past that the only stat that matters to him is victories, and he was in good position to tie Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri for most wins on Thursday night, with 226 (including playoffs).
Of Brady’s 500 touchdown passes, here are a few notable highlights:
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His first touchdown pass was to wide receiver Terry Glenn on Oct. 14, 2001.
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He is one of two players to throw for 50 touchdowns in a season, along with Manning.
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His longest touchdown pass was 99 yards to Wes Welker, on Sept. 12, 2011, against Miami. There have been only 13 pass plays of 99 yards in league history.
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He has thrown 76 touchdown passes to tight end Rob Gronkowski, his most to any player. Randy Moss, with 39, is next on the list.
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He has thrown 68 touchdown passes against the Bills, his highest total against any team.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Source:ESPN
