No one has thrown for 540 touchdowns in the NFL until tonight, and Purdue grad Drew Brees is that man now. With his third TD pass of the night against the Indianapolis Colts Brees grabbed his third major NFL passing record with his 540th career TD pass (and it SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS 541ST THANK YOU VERY MUCH, REFS!). That moved him past Peyton Manning, ironically against Peyton’s old team.
Brees actually entered tonight in third place on the all-time list. He had 537, one behind Tom Brady and two behind Manning. That means this record is far from set in stone. By missing a few games earlier this season due to thumb surgery Brady caught up with Brees. They have since gone back and forth and this is likely a record that will not be set until one of the two retires.
Whoever gets the final record will probably have it for a while. As far as active quarterbacks on the list, Philip Rivers is sixth at 395 TDs, followed by Eli Manning at 366, Ben Roethlisberger at 363, and Aaron Rodgers at 362.
Here is the complete list of NFL all-time records Brees now holds:
Pass completions: 6,800 and counting, almost 500 ahead of Brady.
Passing Yards: 76,600 and counting, more than 2,600 ahead of Brady.
Completion Percentage: 67.5%, .5% ahead of... Kirk Cousins!?!?!
Pass completions (single season): Brees has the three best seasons in this category (471, 468, 456).
Completion Percentage (single season): Brees has the three best seasons in this category (74.4%, 73.6%, 72%).
Completion Percentage (single game, set tonight): 96.67%
He is also closing in on passes attempted, as he is within 100 of Brett Favre and will likely have it by the end of the season.