FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady became the third player in NFL history to throw for 500 touchdown passes 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 remaining 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.
In joining that exclusive club, Brady became the first player to do so while playing for just one team.
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.
Brady has also thrown 71 touchdown passes in the playoffs, but those don’t count towards NFL records. 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 just 13 pass plays of 99 yards in league history.
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He has thrown 76 touchdown passed 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.