When Patriots quarterback Tom Brady put up 447 passing yards yesterday against the Saints, it represented a new all-time high, the most yards ever for a quarterback 40 or older. And that will almost certainly not be the only age-specific record Brady breaks.
Brady is currently leading the league in passing yards, and if he leads the league for the entire season he’ll be the oldest player ever to do so, eclipsing Fran Tarkenton, who led the league in 1978 at the age of 38.
And with 714 yards this year, Brady is on pace for a whopping 5,712 yards on the season. Obviously, he’s unlikely to keep that pace up for 16 games, seeing as no player in NFL history has ever even had 5,500 passing yards in a season, but if Brady keeps up to anything even close to that pace he’ll easily break the record for a 40-year-old quarterback. Brett Favre had 4,202 yards in 2009 at age 40, and no other 40-year-old quarterback has ever topped 4,000 yards in a season.
Brady will get old eventually, because everyone does. But while 40 is typically ancient by NFL player standards, Brady is not acting his age.