Saints quarterback Brees four shy of joining Patriots’ Brady in 500 Touchdown Club
>> NEW ORLEANS: Seventeen years after throwing his first NFL touchdown pass to Terry Glenn, Tom Brady joined an elite club on Thursday night with an optimistic heave into double coverage.
New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon came down with the ball and caught the 500th touchdown pass — a 39-yarder — of Brady’s illustrious career.
Brady is only the third member of the 500 Touchdown Club, joining Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508).
“It’s tremendous. It’s a lot of touchdown passes to a lot of different guys, too. ... No quarterback I’d rather have than Tom Brady,” coach Bill Belichick said of the record-breaker with 9:19 minutes left in Thursday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is four shy of 500, and doesn’t take the field until Tuesday morning, Thai time, against the Washington Redskins. Brees is also 201 yards away from passing Manning as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards.
Brees joked on Thursday that he came into the NFL as the first pick in the second round out of Purdue just hoping to be a backup. As the 199th pick in the NFL draft out of Michigan, Brady was much the same.
“To be sitting here, 18 years later, in striking distance... it’s just kind of mind-boggling,” Brees said. “It speaks to longevity. And it says a lot about the teams I’ve been on, the coaches, the teammates, the players. Everyone has a hand in this, and I hope they know that.”
Redskins running back Adrian Peterson will be on the opposite sideline this week, but was a teammate with the Saints for six months. While the 33-year-old runner stands as a pillar of longevity at his position, he marvels at Brees’ accomplishments but is not surprised by his continued success after getting an up-close look at his preparation and dedication.
“Being up there in New Orleans just for that short period of time, and just seeing him, man, I’m talking about clockwork,” Peterson said.
The same can be said of Brady, who continues to put up video-game statistics at age 41.
“It’s just surreal what he’s doing at his age, how he feels, just the work ethic he has and how he brings it every practice and every game,” tight end Rob Gronkowski said. “He just doesn’t stop. It’s an honour to be out on the field with him.”
Brees is third behind Favre in career passing yards entering the game, but with 100 yards will climb into second place.
“For me this isn’t a time for reflection,” Brees said.
“For me, it’s focusing on the game, focusing on what to do to win the game, doing my job, being the best decision-maker that I can be, putting us in the best position to succeed and put us in a position to win the game.”