Everyone knew that chances were very good that Saints quarterback Drew Brees was going to set the career passing yards record during Monday night’s game and it was all but certain that the record would fall by the time the Saints took possession of the ball with just over two minutes to play in the second quarter.
Brees was 35 yards short of the record at that point and Peyton Manning would be No. 1 for one more play. Brees hit Tre’Quan Smith down the sideline for the record and began to build his edge over Manning as Smith went 62 yards for a touchdown.
“I didn’t know it was going to happen on the first play to Tre’Quan,” Brees said, via the Associated Press. “But I don’t think it could have happened in any better fashion than it did. To have then that moment with my teammates on the field, the offensive line, it played out even greater than I ever could have imagined.”
The game was stopped so the moment could be recognized with Brees’ family and the removal of the ball so that it could go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brees called it part of “an unbelievable journey” that now includes four wins in the first five games of a season that is yet to feature a Brees interception.