After the official signaled that Demaryius Thomas got in bounds and scored the 509th passing touchdowns of Peyton Manning's career, breaking the NFL record, a little more than a minute passed before the extra point was snapped. And that minute included the Denver Broncos' fun little game of keep-away.
When Thomas scored a 40-yard touchdown later in the game, 44 seconds passed from score to extra point. Which is to say, about an extra 15-20 seconds was carved out to celebrate one of the league's greatest records being broken. The NFL doesn't stop for records or ceremonies.
But some records do matter. Manning's touchdown record is one of the game's greatest marks. But is it the greatest? Let's find out.
In ranking the NFL's greatest records, let's set a few rules. This is just for individual accomplishments, career or season records. We'll try to avoid the arbitrary and obscure; basically whatever is on the back of a football card will be considered. This isn't the most unbeatable records or the most impressive records, just the top 10 based on what we all hold in the highest regard and got the most attention when they were broken:
Just missed the cut: Career receiving yards (Jerry Rice, 22,895)
This should be higher on the list. But do you remember when Rice broke it? Do you remember who held it before him? (Answers: 1995 on a 13-yard catch from Elvis Grbac, breaking James Lofton's record ... I had to look it up because I honestly didn't remember). And this will become like Cy Young's 511 wins record in baseball, so untouchable that we won't think of it very often. Rice is almost 7,000 yards ahead of second place. It feels like it should be on the list, but even something like Drew Brees' record of 54 consecutive games with a touchdown pass might be more famous, strangely enough.
This should be higher on the list. But do you remember when Rice broke it? Do you remember who held it before him? (Answers: 1995 on a 13-yard catch from Elvis Grbac, breaking James Lofton's record ... I had to look it up because I honestly didn't remember). And this will become like Cy Young's 511 wins record in baseball, so untouchable that we won't think of it very often. Rice is almost 7,000 yards ahead of second place. It feels like it should be on the list, but even something like Drew Brees' record of 54 consecutive games with a touchdown pass might be more famous, strangely enough.
10. Single-season receiving yards (Calvin Johnson, 1,964)Megatron's chase of Rice's record was a big deal, but maybe just because anyone breaking one of Rice's records is so unheard of. Someone will make a run at this record as teams play faster and rules keep making it easier for passing games, and we'll have the bonus of a chase for 2,000.
9. Single-season touchdowns (LaDainian Tomlinson, 31) You don't hear a ton of early-season buzz that so-and-so might beat Tomlinson's record, but maybe that's because it's so rare to see a player anywhere near this pace. Be honest, no matter how important this record is, before you saw Tomlinson's name on the list did you remember he held the record or how many he scored? Or who held the record before him? (Shaun Alexander, with 28.)
8. Single-season passing yards (Peyton Manning, 5,477)This record ranked higher a few years ago, when Dan Marino had owned it for more than two decades. Then Drew Brees broke it, other quarterbacks got to 5,000 yards, and it seemed a bit anti-climactic when Manning broke it last year, even though he did it on a touchdown.
7. Single-season sacks (Michael Strahan, 22.5)Considering the controversy that still surrounds how Favre helped Strahan beat Mark Gastineau's record, I'd say this one deserves to be on the list. Sacks are the defensive stat everyone holds in the highest regard. For whatever reason, this mark is more iconic than Bruce Smith's career record of 200.
6. Single-season passing touchdowns (Peyton Manning, 55)Dan Marino's 48, Manning's 49 and Tom Brady's 50 were all famous numbers for a while. Manning's 55 will be too. Why is this record a bigger deal than the single-season touchdowns record? I'm not sure, but it is.
5. Consecutive games started (Brett Favre, 297)Whether it's football or baseball, we have an incredible appreciation for the iron man who can show up game after game without fail. If anyone broke Favre's record (and it doesn't seem likely considering it would take more than 18.5 seasons), it would be worth all the attention it would get.
4. Single-season rushing record (Eric Dickerson, 2,105)The record is helped in status because it's close to a round number. The attention starts because a back is approaching 2,000 yards, then will just flow right into the chase for Dickerson's record. There has to be a reason NFL fans clearly remember "2,105," yet barely anybody knows "2,509," what it means, why it's important, or who is associated with it (it's Chris Johnson's single-season record for yards from scrimmage, which logically is a more important mark than just rushing yards alone, yet nobody really cares).
3. Career passing touchdown record (Peyton Manning, 510 and counting)It was a great moment on Sunday night when he broke the record. And given the status quarterbacks have in the game, and Manning's place in history, if anyone breaks this mark it might be even bigger than when Manning broke it against the 49ers. You could make a great argument this deserves to be No. 1 on the list.
2. Career rushing record (Emmitt Smith, 18,355)
Maybe this will move down the list as the league trends toward more passing offense and running backs continue to decrease in value, but it was a huge deal when Walter Payton broke Jim Brown's record, it was a huge deal when Smith broke Payton's record, it was a huge deal when Barry Sanders retired to give up a shot to break Payton's record, and if anyone is lucky enough to break Smith's record, that'll be an enormous deal too.
Maybe this will move down the list as the league trends toward more passing offense and running backs continue to decrease in value, but it was a huge deal when Walter Payton broke Jim Brown's record, it was a huge deal when Smith broke Payton's record, it was a huge deal when Barry Sanders retired to give up a shot to break Payton's record, and if anyone is lucky enough to break Smith's record, that'll be an enormous deal too.
1. Career touchdown record (Jerry Rice, 208)
The game is built around scoring touchdowns, right? Even with increases in scoring, nobody is coming close to this mark for a long time, if it ever happens. Consider this: The active leader in touchdowns scored is Antonio Gates, with 94, not even half way to Rice's mark. If someone breaks this mark, it'll be as big as it gets in the NFL.
The game is built around scoring touchdowns, right? Even with increases in scoring, nobody is coming close to this mark for a long time, if it ever happens. Consider this: The active leader in touchdowns scored is Antonio Gates, with 94, not even half way to Rice's mark. If someone breaks this mark, it'll be as big as it gets in the NFL.
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