In a landmark achievement, quarterback Aaron Rodgers surpassed Brett Favre in career passing touchdowns, further solidifying his legacy in the NFL. The achievement took place in Sunday’s game, when Rodgers threw a 12-yard pass to DK Metcalf over New England Patriots cornerback Carlton Davis III. This historic pass marked touchdown number 509 in Rodgers’ career, surpassing Favre’s 508. The touchdown gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter of the Week 3 game against the Patriots. Earlier in the game, Rodgers also surpassed Philip Rivers, moving up to sixth place in all-time passing yards. Ben Roethlisberger is just ahead of Rodgers in fifth place, with 64,088 career passing yards. This achievement positions Rodgers as the fourth player with the most passing touchdowns in NFL history, and the first among active players. Currently, Rodgers is 30 touchdowns away from Peyton Manning’s 539. Rodgers had tied Favre in the Week 2 loss against the Seattle Seahawks with a 2-yard pass to Metcalf in the second quarter.
Rodgers, selected by the Packers in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft, was in Favre’s shadow for three seasons before taking his place in 2008. Rodgers threw 475 of his touchdowns with the Packers, while Favre recorded 442 in 16 seasons in Green Bay. Rodgers added 28 in his two-season stint with the New York Jets, although he only played one season after missing 2023 due to a torn Achilles tendon in the season opener. Favre, for his part, threw 44 touchdowns in two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and 22 in one season with the Jets. In other results from Sunday, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford also moved up the career passing touchdowns list with two touchdown passes. These touchdowns, the 381st and 382nd of his career, placed Stafford in ninth place of all time, breaking a tie with Matt Ryan. The touchdown pass traveled 44 air yards and was his first touchdown pass of at least 40 air yards since Week 11 of the 2022 season.It’s just a longevity achievement. A lot of people are a part of that. Some touchdowns you make with exceptional plays. Others, the scheme is so good… all you have to do is not mess it up, and then, sometimes, you throw a short one to a guy, and he goes 60, and it goes in the column the same way.
Aaron Rodgers
