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NFL Nation, ESPNAug 28, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
Only eight NFL quarterbacks have reached 60,000 regular-season passing yards in their career, and two more could join the 60K club during the 2024 season.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 945 yards away and the Los Angeles Rams‘ Matthew Stafford needs 3,943 yards.
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Rodgers, 40, enters the season ranked ninth all time in passing yards (59,055) and should easily be able to join the 60K club if he stays healthy. After playing four snaps in 2023, his first with the Jets, he went down because of a season-ending Achilles injury.
Stafford, on the other hand, has some work to do. If he repeats his production from last season (3,965 yards), he’ll be in. But first he must pass Eli Manning (57,023 yards) for 10th on the all-time list, needing 976 yards.
Matt Ryan was the last quarterback to cross the 60,000-yard threshold in 2022, but after Rodgers and Stafford, no other active quarterback is close. Joe Flacco (43,936 yards) and Russell Wilson (43,653 yards) enter the season as the only others with more than 40,000 passing yards.
Here are the eight quarterbacks who have passed for 60,000 yards:
1. Tom Brady: 89,214 yards
Seasons: 23
Teams: New England Patriots (2000-19), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2020-22)
No player has won more Super Bowl championships (seven) than Brady, who had a famous response when asked which one was his favorite. “The next one,” he’d say. Such competitiveness, and clutch play, defined him.
Brady ended his career as the NFL’s leader in passing yards (89,214) and touchdown passes (649). He is a five-time winner of the Super Bowl MVP award. Brady also holds career records for regular-season wins (251), Super Bowl appearances (10), playoff games (48) and wins (35), as well as playoff passing yards (13,400) and touchdowns (88).
Brady also became the first quarterback to eclipse 100,000 passing yards (playoffs and regular season combined), finishing with 102,614.
“The thing about Tom that I think is so impressive, so unbelievably impressive, is he avoided bad plays,” former Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “With Tom, through his decision-making, preparation, the numbers are just historical in terms of fewest turnovers, fewest negative runs, fewest offensive penalties. I think that’s underappreciated; sometimes people don’t give him enough credit for how very few bad plays he had. Of all Tom’s great qualities, that’s one of the greatest — he always protected the team.” — Mike Reiss
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2. Drew Brees: 80,358 yards
Seasons: 20
Teams: San Diego Chargers (2001-05), New Orleans Saints (2006-20)
When Brees was on the field, he always gave the Saints a chance to win despite the team’s inconsistent defensive play until the latter years of his career. Most of Brees’ receivers wouldn’t be considered household names.
He is one of the most accurate quarterbacks of all time, holding six of the top 10 spots for single-season completion percentage. He could run the two-minute drill as well as anyone, ranking fifth with 36 fourth-quarter comebacks and is tied for third with 53 game-winning drives. Brees also was durable, sitting out 10 games because of injury in the 15 years after his shoulder was surgically repaired in 2005.
“He’d be the first one in the locker room — not the old way of saying, ‘Oh, he’d be the first one in the locker room and the last one out,'” said Cameron Jordan, the Saints’ longest-tenured player who was Brees’ teammate from 2011 to 2020. “He was always that. And even in later years when he wasn’t throwing every ball, you could still see him with a towel in practice making each and every mental completion. And that’s from the moment I got here.
“He was always looking downfield, anticipating, and way more slippery in the pocket than guys give him credit for. You see him shrug off plenty of sacks, you see him able to get off the back foot, get 15-20 yards downfield on a dot. … The experience, the knowledge that he brought to the game. You could see the evolution of that when he was with the Chargers. And sure he had a big arm or whatever it was, but he came to the Saints and it was like everything molded into straight precision.” — Katherine Terrell
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3. Peyton Manning: 71,940 yards
Seasons: 17
Teams: Indianapolis Colts (1998-2010), Denver Broncos (2012-15)
Pick practically any stat and you’ll find an illustration of Manning’s greatness. Let’s start with the game’s highest regular-season honor — most valuable player. No one in history has earned more MVP awards than Manning’s five, a remarkable achievement despite his career overlapping with the likes of Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.
Manning’s statistical accomplishments could fill a book: 14 Pro Bowl nods, seven first-team All-Pro selections (most among quarterbacks) and 539 touchdown passes.
But just as noteworthy is the arc of his career. After a record-setting 13 seasons with the Colts, Manning recovered from a career-threatening neck injury to reestablish his greatness in four seasons with the Broncos that concluded with a Super Bowl victory in his final season, 2015. Along the way, he set a single-season league record with 5,477 passing yards in 2013.
Manning left a legacy that has given the Colts’ current quarterback some big aspirations.
“I’ve definitely watched [film of] him a lot,” Anthony Richardson said. “Just him managing the game, being the quarterback. That’s the best thing as a quarterback. You’ve got to be able to manage the offense, do your job the best way you can and that’s what I’ve been trying to do pretty much my whole career.” — Stephen Holder
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4. Brett Favre: 71,838 yards
Seasons: 20
Teams: Atlanta Falcons (1991), Green Bay Packers (1992-2007), New York Jets (2008), Minnesota Vikings (2009-10)
Favre’s best attribute among many was his toughness. It’s what allowed him to start a record 297 consecutive games and ultimately what set him on the path to all the passing milestones he achieved. Teammates and coaches alike raved about his ability to play through injuries that might have sidelined lesser players for weeks at a time.
“I don’t think he’s human,” said Hall of Fame safety LeRoy Butler, who played with Favre for 10 seasons. “Whenever it’s his time to leave this earth, I want to see the X-rays. I don’t believe it. He’s not human, I’m telling you. The guy’s a mixture of Wolverine, RoboCop and Superman.”
There wasn’t a play Favre didn’t think he could make. At times, it resulted in big mistakes; he still holds the career record for most interceptions (336). But it also allowed him to make the spectacular play. Said Butler: “That’s how we won a Super Bowl. There’s not another guy who has that kind of moxie and the kind of confidence to say, ‘You know what? I’m going to make this throw. Forget about the checkdown in the flat. Forget about the wide-open guy that will get me eight yards. I’m going for 25 because I can make that throw.'” — Rob Demovsky
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5. Ben Roethlisberger: 64,088 yards
Seasons: 18
Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers (2004-21)
Not only did the former Steelers quarterback throw for more than 64,000 yards in an 18-year career, but he also won two Super Bowls and was selected to six Pro Bowls. Roethlisberger’s durability and longevity paired with a big arm and play-extending scrambles helped the Steelers to a mostly prosperous two-decade era.
“He was so strong,” said Charlie Batch, who backed up Roethlisberger for the majority of his years with the Steelers between 2005 and 2012. “He knew he could break tackles, and he was one of those ones that the first read could be there — he could have taken the first read. Ben’s like, ‘No, there’s a bigger opportunity if I hold onto this ball and throw that ball 20 yards down the field.’ … His mindset was, ‘I got to make a bigger play,’ as opposed to picking up three [yards] here, picking up there. He’s like, ‘Shoot, if I can hit 20 yards, we’re scoring in two minutes versus these four-minute, five-minute drives.’ That was the mindset that he had.”
The Steelers’ knack for drafting top-tier wide receivers gave Roethlisberger a plethora of targets, including Hall of Famer Hines Ward and Antonio Brown. His most productive seasons came late in his career when he threw for a league-leading 5,129 yards in 2018 and 4,952 in 2014. — Brooke Pryor
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6. Philip Rivers: 63,440 yards
Seasons: 17
Teams: San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (2004-19), Indianapolis Colts (2020)
Rivers played 16 years for the Chargers organization becoming one of the most beloved players in franchise history for his trash-talking, which famously never involved cursing, and some of the most successful seasons in team history. Rivers had 12 seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards, his highest total coming in 2010 when he threw for 4,710 yards.
Former Chargers running back Austin Ekeler said Rivers’ attention to detail is what made him great. When the team moved to L.A., for example, Rivers rode to practice in a sprinter van so he could watch film in the back on the way from his home in San Diego.
“This man lives and breathes football,” Ekeler said. “He always knew how he wanted it done. He knew everything from the steps to the splits.” — Kris Rhim
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7. Matt Ryan: 62,792 yards
Seasons: 15
Teams: Atlanta Falcons (2008-21), Indianapolis Colts (2022)
Arguably the greatest player in Falcons history, Ryan embodied everything it means to be a franchise quarterback. He put up historic numbers — throwing for more than 4,000 yards and 20 touchdowns for 10 straight seasons — and was a pillar in the community.
The Falcons went to the playoffs six times in his 14 seasons, including a trip to Super Bowl LI, the year he won NFL MVP.
“Poise, leadership, attention to detail, knowing exactly who he was, exactly what he could do and [finding] ways to execute it,” said Falcons coach Raheem Morris, who was on the team’s staff from 2015 to 2020 with Ryan. “And the last thing I remember is not accepting anything but excellence.” — Marc Raimondi
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8. Dan Marino: 61,361 yards
Seasons: 17
Teams: Miami Dolphins (1983-99)
Forty years before NFL quarterbacks made eye-popping passing numbers look routine, Marino did so in South Florida. Of the 50 most prolific seasons in NFL history in terms of passing yards, only three occurred before the turn of the century; two of those belong to Marino. His MVP season in 1984, in which he threw for 5,048 yards and 48 touchdowns, still represents the 12th-most and fifth-most single-season marks of all time, respectively.
Marino’s 420 passing touchdowns rank seventh most in league history and his 61,361 career passing yards were an NFL record when he retired in 1999. He is one of seven players in NFL history to throw for both 60,000 yards and 400 touchdowns — and the only member of the club to start his career before 1990.
Marino also excelled at protecting himself and navigating the pocket, taking only 270 sacks in 17 seasons. The other seven members of the 60K club were sacked an average of 474 times in their careers.
“Danny was probably … the best quarterback I’ve ever seen within a 3-yard square behind the center,” former Dolphins linebacker Kim Bokamper said. “Moving up in the pocket, sliding up, sliding back, sliding diagonally, sliding sideways — just to get someone to miss. His ability to maneuver in a small pocket was the best I’ve ever seen.
“His ability in that pocket really saved himself a lot of wear and tear and a lot of sacks. I know most people don’t notice that, but it’s one of the things that I always admire about him is just his ability to work in that little square back there.” — Marcel Louis-Jacques
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