Here's How Tom Brady Will Be Adding To Historic Legacy In 2022
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady has concluded arguably the worst retirement in the history of retirements. He's finally found something in the football realm that he's not very good at.
When it comes to playing football, of course, he's quite good. Historically good, in fact. So good that he's the all-time leader in just about every category a quarterback would aspire to lead.
That's why, when he takes the field this coming fall, all he'll be doing is adding to those records, thus widening the gap between himself and the entirety of NFL history in the process. In doing so, he'll make it even harder for the current generation of young All-Pro quarterback and future generations of All-Pro quarterbacks to catch him in the record books.
To get an idea of where Brady's at and where he can go, let's look at his current spot on all-time leaderboards. (All of these stats are for the regular season. We'll get to the postseason later.)
He's the all-time leader in completions, with 7,263. That's already 121 more than Drew Brees. Among active quarterbacks, Matt Ryan has 5,242 completions (2,021 fewer than Brady) and Aaron Rodgers has 4,651 (2,612 fewer than Brady).
COMPLETIONS, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 7,263
2. Drew Brees, 7,142
3. Brett Favre, 6,300
4. Peyton Manning, 6,125
5. Ben Roethlisberger, 5,440COMPLETIONS, ACTIVE QUARTERBACKS
1. Tom Brady, 7,263
2. Matt Ryan, 5,242
3. Aaron Rodgers, 4,651
4. Matthew Stafford, 4,302
5. Joe Flacco, 3,771
That, though, is just the completions record, inarguably the least exciting of the records. Nobody ever aspires to be the all-time leader in completions.
What a young QB may hope to one day become is the all-time leader in touchdown passes. Brady's obviously achieved that feat, distancing himself a bit last year from Brees. Brady's the only QB to hit the 600-TD mark, as he has thrown 624 touchdowns in his long career. Brees ranks a distant second, with 53 fewer touchdowns. Peyton Manning ranks third, 85 TDs behind Brady.
Among active QBs, Rodgers ranks second, with 449 TDs -- or 175 fewer than Brady.
TOUCHDOWN PASSES, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 624
2. Drew Brees, 571
3. Peyton Manning, 539
4. Brett Favre, 508
5. Aaron Rodgers, 449TOUCHDOWN PASSES, ACTIVE QUARTERBACKS
1. Tom Brady, 624
2. Aaron Rodgers, 449
3. Matt Ryan, 367
4. Matthew Stafford, 323
5. Russell Wilson, 292
It's a similar scene in the passing yards category. Brees and Brady once existed in their own stratosphere. Brady has since elevated even more, already with more than 4,000 yards of distance between himself and his brief NFC south rival.
Among active quarterbacks, nobody is within 24,000 yards of Brady.
PASSING YARDS, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 84,520
2. Drew Brees, 80,358
3. Peyton Manning, 71,940
4. Brett Favre, 71,838
5. Ben Roethlisberger, 64,088PASSING YARDS, ACTIVE QUARTERBACKS
1. Tom Brady, 84,520
2. Matt Ryan, 59,735
3. Aaron Rodgers, 55,360
4. Matthew Stafford, 49,995
5. Joe Flacco, 41,269
While Brady is the all-time leader in these volume stats, now is the right time to throw in one of the best ways to summarize his place in NFL history. That would be by listing where he sits on the all-time interceptions list. This is, obviously, not a list that quarterbacks want to climb.
MOST INTERCEPTIONS, ALL TIME
1. Brett Favre, 336
2. George Blanda, 277
3. John Hadl, 268
...
8. Dan Marino, 252
9. Peyton Manning, 251
...
T-13. Drew Brees, 243
...
T-29. Tom Brady, 203
Aaron Rodgers, who's tied for the 128th-most interceptions, may end up with a better TD-to-INT ratio. But outside of that, Brady's distance from the NFL's all-time leaders in this category speaks volumes about his play.
So, too, does his postseason record. While postseason stats aren't often used as historical markers (owing to the inconsistent opportunities presented to every player to actually partake in such contests), it's nevertheless striking to see where Brady sits on those leaderboards as well.
PLAYOFF COMPLETIONS, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 1,165
2. Peyton Manning, 649
3. Aaron Rodgers, 501
4. Ben Roethlisberger, 498
T-5. Drew Brees, 481
T-5. Brett Favre, 481
7. Joe Montana, 460
8. Dan Marino, 385
9. John Elway, 355
10. Donovan McNabb, 341PLAYOFF PASSING YARDS, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 13,049
2. Peyton Manning, 7,339
3. Ben Roethlisberger, 5,972
4. Aaron Rodgers, 5,894
5. Brett Favre, 5,855
6. Joe Montana, 5,772
7. Drew Brees, 5,366
8. John Elway, 4,964
9. Dan Marino, 4,510
10. Kurt Warner, 3,952PLAYOFF TOUCHDOWNS, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 86
T-2. Joe Montana, 45
T-2. Aaron Rodgers, 45
4. Brett Favre, 44
5. Peyton Manning, 40
6. Drew Brees, 37
7. Ben Roethlisberger, 36
8. Dan Marino, 32
9. Kurt Warner, 31
10. Terry Bradshaw, 30
Among active QBs behind Brady and Rodgers, there is Patrick Mahomes with 28 playoff touchdowns, with Russell Wilson and Joe Flacco tied for fourth with 25 touchdowns apiece. Matt Ryan is next with 20, followed by Josh Allen with ... 14.
"Wins" aren't a real "stat," per se, as football games are played by football teams, not just by quarterbacks. Yet given the significance of the position, the connection of wins to the best QBs in the sport is not coincidental. So we'd be remiss to not at least include the wins rankings.
REGULAR SEASON WINS, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 243
T-2. Brett Favre, 186
T-2. Peyton Manning, 186
4. Drew Brees, 172
5. Ben Roethlisberger, 165
6. John Elway, 148
7. Dan Marino, 147
8. Aaron Rodgers, 139
9. Philip Rivers, 134
10. Fran Tarkenton, 124PLAYOFF WINS, ALL TIME
1. Tom Brady, 35
2. Joe Montana, 16
T-3. Terry Bradshaw, 14
T-3. John Elway, 14
T-3. Peyton Manning, 14
T-6. Brett Favre, 13
T-6. Ben Roethlisberger, 13
T-8. Troy Aikman, 11
T-8. Aaron Rodgers, 11
T-8. Roger Staubach, 11
No records in any sport are ever safe, and the addition of a 17th regular-season game does theoretically endanger Brady's spot in the history books. But given that massive distance already existing between Brady and everyone else -- 175 more TDs than any active QB, 24,785 yards more than any active QB, and forget about the playoff numbers -- it does feel safe to say that Brady's records are going to stand for a very, very long time. Anything added in the coming season is merely icing on top of the icing that's already been laid on the cake.