Tom Brady Throws 600th Career Touchdown, Adding To All-Time NFL Record
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady can add another commemorative football to the trophy room.
On Sunday, Brady added to his lead in the all-time touchdown pass department, reaching the milestone of throwing regular-season touchdown No. 600 of his career.
Brady entered Sunday needing two touchdowns to reach the mark, and he got there before the end of the first quarter. Leading 7-0 already, he hit Chris Godwin for a four-yard touchdown on the Buccaneers' second possession of their game against the Bears. Later in the first quarter, Brady hit the milestone with a 9-yard pass to Mike Evans.
Evans didn't know the significance of his touchdown and actually gave the ball to a fan in the front row. A Bucs staffer had to negotiate to get that ball back for Brady.
According to Darren Rovell, that fan might have come out on the losing end of that bargain.
Consistency and health have played major factors in Brady reaching this mark, as he's only missed time due to injury in one season (2008) during his career. Sunday's broadcast noted that Brady has the longest active streak for QB starts in the NFL with 89, a stretch that began when he was 39 years old in 2016.
Brady, obviously, is the first player to reach the mark of 600 regular-season touchdown passes, as he's been the NFL's all-time leader in touchdown passes since last season.
(Brady has thrown 83 career playoff touchdowns, almost twice as many as anybody else. But those, of course, don't count toward the regular-season records.)
Drew Brees ranks second all time, with 571, followed by Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508). Those four players are the only QBs to have topped the 500-touchdown mark in their careers, though Aaron Rodgers (427) certainly has the chance to reach that mark as well.
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Among active quarterbacks, Rodgers (424), Ben Roethlisberger (403), Matt Ryan (357), Matthew Stafford (298) and Russell Wilson (277) are a long, long way from Brady, who continues to add to his NFL records on a weekly basis.
In this game, Brady ended up throwing four touchdowns before halftime, bringing the career total to 602.
